Freetrack again

[Cionara]

Hi guys I want to know which camera is the best for freetrack.

I already had freetrack with a Wiimote but connecting the Wiimote to the bluetoothstick which I had to connect to the PC first was annoying.

Now I got Track IR 5 but it stutters and I dont wanna pay 150 bucks for some stuttering sh*t.

 

Heard some people talking about freetrack and Playstation 3 Eye.

 

Or do you know another nice camera ?

 

greetz Cionara

[Boberro]

I advice Microsoft VX series (1000 and 3000). I use 1000 and it works well.

Also Mediatech PK-333 is good.

 

Remember to get this camera which can give you 30 FPS.

 

If you have FT with LEDs in rack module you can use VX camera. If you use reflection stripes you can use Mediatech PK-333 but than light LEDs solder in IR diodes.

Edited September 20, 2009 by Boberro

[Boulund]

... TrackIR 5 stuttering? Sounds like setup issues to me.

I'm personally on FreeTrack as well, but I'd go for TIR any day. Don't get me wrong, I love FT but man is it mean to setup and my LED-cap eats batteries like nothing else =)

 

I also use FT with a Logitech VX-1000 and it's so far the best webcam I've tried for FT after the Wiimote (have built in bluetooth so it's nothing that bothers me really, besides the extra set of batteries running out).

 

So far I've tried three cams with FT:

A4-tech PK635 (something like that) and it worked perfectly in XP, but not at all in Win7

Nintendo Wii Remote via Bluetooth, THE most awesome I've tried so far, but another piece consuming batteries

Logitech VX-1000, works good in both XP and Win7. The most reliable so far.

 

I've applied no modifications to my webcams either, only taped a piece of negative (completely black, exposed to light and processed) photographic film in front of the lens (totally reversible yeay!=D).

 

After these 8 months of FreeTrack-usage I've accumulated I can say that the most important thing (if you want to go for a three-point-LED-type rig) is to get good quality leds (either with wide angle lenses or thorough filing) and build a sturdy frame for them to sit on. Accurate measurements of this frame is paramount when setting up the software later, so make sure to do it symmetrical and note all measurements! Get someone to measure distances from the top LED to your head's pivot point (where it is attached to the neck) so you get accurate representation of movement in FT.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Boulund

[CyBerkut]

Did FreeTrack with a Wiimote here. Finally went to TrackIR 5.

 

I don't know what you have tried with correcting the Track IR problem, but I'd encourage you to give it another try if you still have it. Natural Point tech support, or somebody in the forums, ought to be able to steer you in the right direction.

 

I know what you mean about the bluetooth being a pain. That is what primarily drove me away from using the Wiimote / FT solution. Personally, I wouldn't want to use FT with a significantly lower FPS solution, like a typical webcam... but that is just me. Plenty of people seem to be happy with theirs. I remember questions in the FreeTrack forums about the Playstation 3 Eye. I don't know if anyone ever posted about getting it working, but it is probably worth your time to go see what they have in the forums now. Good luck with it, however you end up going!

[Cionara]

Ok I uploaded a video, it's about 120mb and it would be very nice if you could look at it. It's short and big because I wanted to capture the microstutters at high quality and with 60fps.

 

http://rapidshare.com/files/282233238/trackir5stutter2.zip.html

 

It's annoying because it is damn fluent and then these little stuttering comes in.

 

You know, some won't be worried about that, and others don't even have that fluent framerate. But it drives me crazy.

 

I already asked in the forums if these stutters are usual or a known problem but they couldn't help me.

 

Do you have this little stutters, too ? Best noticeable when moving very slow and in precision mode, also harder to notice when framerate below 55/60.

 

 

They look close to the microstutters in fallout 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9OBNM8H8m4

But there it is a problem of the game enginge. My microstutters are in the TrackIR software, too.

Could it be dust reflecting the infrared or something like that ? ^^

Edited September 20, 2009 by Cionara

[Boulund]

I couldn't play your video but judging from your description it now sounds like you've more likely got general issues with frame rate than your TIR 5 unit. I believe that the microstutters you are referring to are in fact slow-downs related to when your frame rate dips below your monitors refresh rate. As you say the microstutters are harder to notice when frame rate is below your refresh rate, which I believe is because your head isn't getting used to the smoothed output of fps high above monitor refresh rate that occasionally drops below the refresh rate giving you very noticeable drops.

 

Try capping your frame rate at 60 so that you don't get massive drops when the game pushes your computer to hard. Going from 60 to 55 isn't as noticeable as going from 90 to 50 fps (almost half!). Try it first by just enabling Vertical Sync I'd say.

 

I also think that you should get the described microstuttering even with FreeTrack, but less noticeable since you're already capturing head-movements at sub game fps speeds.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Boulund

[julian265]

I think you're going to have trouble getting a smoother output than that from freetrack. I am a freetrack user, by the way. I prefer sensitivity and quick response however, so I use a minimum of filtering. My LCD monitors (asus, and samsung 2233sw) also have noticable fade times, which mask your jitters a bit, but I can see what you're talking about.

[Cionara]

Thanks for the answers.

I think you need the program FRAPS to play it because i recorded with that, sorry forgot to say that, couldnt convert because otherwise it would become laggy and stuff.

I got Vsync always enabled. And strange thing is that it stutters in Track IR software, too. As far as I know the software is running at 30fps capped.

I started the games with FRAPS and the microstutters occured while I was at constant 60/30 fps. It's not my system.

I guess it's something stopping the input or the infrared for a part of a second.

Edited September 21, 2009 by Cionara

[huteng]

TRACK IR 5 is much better than wiiremote+freetrack,If money is not an issue, it is strongly recommended to buy TRACK IR 5

[GGTharos]

If it stutters in the TIR software also then you may have lighting problems, or the unit may be defective - there are other possibilities also.

FT will not beat TIR for the quality you are looking.

Please direct your questions to naturalpoint support, as they are usually better able to determine if it's your unit that's defective or if there's a different problem.

 

Thanks for the answers.

I think you need the program FRAPS to play it because i recorded with that, sorry forgot to say that, couldnt convert because otherwise it would become laggy and stuff.

I got Vsync always enabled. And strange thing is that it stutters in Track IR software, too. As far as I know the software is running at 30fps capped.

I started the games with FRAPS and the microstutters occured while I was at constant 60/30 fps. It's not my system.

I guess it's something stopping the input or the infrared for a part of a second.

[Cionara]

Yea I know but they answer damn slow...

And yes I had a VX3000 lying around here so I setup Freetrack with it.

I can't notice any stuttering there. It's not as precise as the TIR 5 and also twitchy

but I can make easy fluent movements with it and I don't see stuttering there.

 

Hm there are some threads about lagg/stutter with Track IR 5 but natural point didn't answer.

They just get your money and run away.

 

I maybe spend 8 hours on this problem and still didn't get it fixed....

Edited September 21, 2009 by Cionara

[julian265]

^ sounds about right.