TrackIR 5 Problems with Upward Pitch Movement

[siefex]

Hello all,

 

I just posted the following message on the NaturalPoint forums but wanted to post it here as well in case any of you, who are far smarter than me ha!, would have any additional ideas / input of what I should do. Thanks! -

 

I just received my TrackIR 5 and enjoy using it. I, however, have encountered a problem when I look up (i.e. pitch movement up) with either the TrackClip Pro or the hat TrackClip. What happens is, when I look up about 30 degrees from center, a red dot appears underneath the middle tracker of the TrackClip Pro or two red dots appear underneath the two bottom trackers of the hat TrackClip. This causes sporadic movement in-game when I look up at the aforementioned angle. I am absolutely positive no light sources are interfering with the operation of the TrackIR sensor, and I am sitting about 2.5 feet away from the sensor with it mounted slightly to the left of the top of my monitor at eye level.

 

Since this issue occurs for both the TrackClip Pro and hat TrackClip, I do not believe it is a problem with either of the head sensors. Instead, I am concerned that the camera itself is damaged or is malfunctioning for some reason. I have tried using light filtering but that has not helped at all and I've tried using the sensor in other locations without any external light sources but, again, the problem persists.

 

Please allow me also to emphasize that, aside from 30+ degree upward pitch movement, all other movements are captured perfectly by the sensor, regardless of which head tracking device I use.

 

Anyway, I wanted to mention this issue here on the forums in case other uses have encountered this issue or to inquire if my sensor itself is faulty. Thanks in advance for any input offered.

[Wolf Rider]

glasses?

[siefex]

glasses?

 

No, not wearing any glasses. Although my face does shine with radiance every now and then. Perhaps that is it?

[ilikepie]

have you tried repositioning the camera so it is "looking down" at the sensors as such. i have come across this as well and had to move the camera from off centre to centre high with a down angle. its sits about 5 inches above the monitor now in the centre. are you using the latest drivers for it? i have found them to be a pita and cause more problems that anything else, but thats just my experience with them. if there is no difference in tracking with the repo of the camera and your not happy, send it back for another (if you can)

[siefex]

have you tried repositioning the camera so it is "looking down" at the sensors as such. i have come across this as well and had to move the camera from off centre to centre high with a down angle. its sits about 5 inches above the monitor now in the centre. are you using the latest drivers for it? i have found them to be a pita and cause more problems that anything else, but thats just my experience with them. if there is no difference in tracking with the repo of the camera and your not happy, send it back for another (if you can)

 

ilikepie, What did you do to "raise" your camera 5 inches above your monitor? I think this would help me a great deal. When I put my monitor in portrait style and use it, the fact that the monitor is higher in the air does alleviate the problem. But, when I"m upside down in the plane and want to look at the ground, my view starts to jump all over the place if I look too far upward.

 

Thanks for the input!

Edited February 7, 2011 by siefex

[ilikepie]

i have my centre speaker from the 5.1s above the monitor and it just sits on top of that for now, i will have to rethink when i move the comp from the lounge to the room down stairs.

 

it could be a combo of distance and angle for you, have you tried it using the clip closer to the camera?

 

Edit: perhaps a way around it is to raise the monitor on a stand or a couple of phone books so sits higher and then angle the camera down.

Edited February 7, 2011 by ilikepie
caffeine kicked in.....

[siefex]

i have my centre speaker from the 5.1s above the monitor and it just sits on top of that for now, i will have to rethink when i move the comp from the lounge to the room down stairs.

 

it could be a combo of distance and angle for you, have you tried it using the clip closer to the camera?

 

Edit: perhaps a way around it is to raise the monitor on a stand or a couple of phone books so sits higher and then angle the camera down.

 

Thanks again for your input Ilikepie! I have my monitors on movable arms which can lift the monitor very high in the air or close to the desk surface. I will try raising the monitor more tonight and see what that does.

 

For all practical purposes, this is really a minor problem. I can still look "up" in my cockpit to see all my instruments; it's just that, once in a blue moon, I really need to look up to see something on the ground when upside down. I just don't like being limited where I have to wonder, if I look up too much in this situation, will my camera go crazy?

 

My main concern is if the camera itself is bad. I will, however, first try reverting my drivers and see what that does. I just wish this device was less finicky. That aside, Track IR is truly amazing. I can't imagine flying without it anymore.

 

Do let me know if you have any further thoughts. Peace!

[hassata]

Sounds like your reflective dots are going outside of the camera's point of view. To confirm, go into the software and select the panel which shows the actual dots as seen by the camera. My guess is when you go 30+ degrees up, your loosing one or more dots. make sure you center correctly and mess around with the placement of the clips so that they remain seen through the most travel.

[siefex]

Sounds like your reflective dots are going outside of the camera's point of view. To confirm, go into the software and select the panel which shows the actual dots as seen by the camera. My guess is when you go 30+ degrees up, your loosing one or more dots. make sure you center correctly and mess around with the placement of the clips so that they remain seen through the most travel.

 

Trust me on this one: I am not going outside the camera's FOV. The dots are still completely in view. Even when I put the camera at eye level and sit 3 feet away from it and move my head a completely reasonable amount of distance up, the red dots appear in the locations I specified. So I don't know man. Any other ideas?

[hassata]

Download and use Wags profile: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bz0lI78t-DeZYzc5ZjdiNTUtOWY0YS00NjIwLWJkN2EtMTQ0OTFmMGViMDc1&hl=en&authkey=CIfq4akH

 

Also go into options and make sure the trackir axis are not assigned to anything else.

[S77th-konkussion]

Trust me on this one: I am not going outside the camera's FOV. The dots are still completely in view. Even when I put the camera at eye level and sit 3 feet away from it and move my head a completely reasonable amount of distance up, the red dots appear in the locations I specified. So I don't know man. Any other ideas?

 

 

What's on your shirt? Any reflective logos? Like the "C9" brand..

[Succellus]

Sounds like your reflective dots are going outside of the camera's point of view. To confirm, go into the software and select the panel which shows the actual dots as seen by the camera. My guess is when you go 30+ degrees up, your loosing one or more dots. make sure you center correctly and mess around with the placement of the clips so that they remain seen through the most travel.

 

This!!

You can try 2 fixes:

1) Reposition yourself, your monitor and your camera so its in a better spot and doesn t loose track dots or

2) play with settings so you don t need so much movements to achieve the same

 

Or some of the 2.

 

I know i had to do minor tweaks on both until i felt confortable.