Opentrack or directly trackir5?

[BaronVonVaderham]

I was contemplating getting a trackir5 type setup until such time that I go mixed reality (not for another year).

trackir5 it’s quite expensive, at over 200€. Even if I get a clone it’s still 100€ without the pro clip.

 Soo I was thinking going the direction of opentrack. I’m sure I can find the GitHub for it (I understood it’s on a GitHub somewhere).

i don’t have a webcam though, and I was wondering if someone could recommend a sub 10€ webcam.

 As an alternative, I could get the track clip pro for about 65€, but I would need a trackir cam, and I cannot seem to find one. Any suggestions for this alternative route?

[bones1014]

DelanClip is also an option. You can get a whole kit for 49 GBP.
Head Tracking Shop - Delanclip (delanengineering.com)

 

[MAXsenna]

I believe you need a TrackIR camera to use the software. Which is probably better than OpenTrack in some features. Don't know because I use OpenTrack, and bought a complete set frome Delanclip. It uses a PS3 camera, and OpenTrack has its own drivers for it now. With a little bit of tinkering. 

Bones beat me to the link for the Delanclip, but here is the OpenTrack link.  

https://github.com/opentrack/opentrack/releases

[sobe]

If you have a smart phone, try the app SmoothTrack.  It works over WiFi or USB.  It is only $10 and will get by until you go VR.

 

[BaronVonVaderham]

I’ve ordered a cheap 60fps webcam, figuring I’ll be needing one sooner or later for my pc.

 Any tips for using Opentrack and aitrack for head tracking would be very helpful.

 For those looking into the subject, I found a link that goes into depth on head tracking solutions on an IL2 forum. it’s ridiculously extensive and worth making a pinned reference: 

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/34403-a-complete-guide-to-set-up-head-tracking-opentrack/

 

[BaronVonVaderham]

Thought I’d let people know I installed aitrack and opentrack.. took me a moment to set it up to operate smoothly, but I think I’m pretty close to a smooth and effective operation. Don’t know if trackir works better, but this seems good enough for me for now.

[BaronVonVaderham]

Quick note on continued use of Opentrack:

i think you need to make sure everything is dead Center for it to work well. In my case, the display I use is angular on my desk, I don’t sit entirely straight on my desk and the camera is also not perfectly mounted. 
this all adds up and affects smooth operation. 
in addition, I found that it’s surprising how the system picks up smash head movement caused just by glancing somewhere. When I move my eyes a tiny bit, assistentie my head moves a tiny bit as well, as the system immediately reacts to the small head movement. 
i think I need to pay around with the camera angle and the settings for turning my head. At the moment I turn my head less than 45  degrees each way to look back (basically my nose points to each edge of the monitor). This works great for the system to see my head move (the greater the angular displacement the more chance of errors in registering head movement), but it’s counterintuitive for natural head movement. Need to get used to that. 

[MAXsenna]

Setup deadzones, linear and logarithmic axis. It took me trials and errors for years to get mine pretty perfect. 

Not at home, or I would paste my settings. 

[martinistripes]

I went, TrackIR > VR > SmoothTrack > AITrack with OpenTrack

TrackIR, didn't like wearing the track clip on a baseball cap. Tracking was often affected by lighting in the room.

VR, Not enough clarity on my Valve Index and also not enough framerate.

SmoothTrack, worked kinda ok but didn't like that my phone was tied up while tracking and would also need some kind of mount to make it centre of my view (rather than off to the side of my screen). You've also got potential latency issues.

AITrack combined with OpenTrack, I'm happy with this for now. Works off my laptops built-in webcam. Tracking is fairly accurate and smooth enough and both pieces of software completely free 

EDIT: Forgot to say, it's important to add a key binding for centre view and also a pause tracking on your controls. I also have a switch assigned for slow zoom in and slow zoom out. When I want to do detailed work down on the MPDs/MFDs, I just pause the tracking and use a bit of zoom. Works great.

Edited November 23, 2024 by martinistripes