Tracker ir or Freetrack, thought and considerations ...

[glazier1333]

I'm in the process of setting up Freetrack head tracking , and I'm having problems with PPJOY. I'm thinkin about just biting the bullet and getting Tracker IR, thoughts ?

[cichlidfan]

Track IR works, right out of the box! You can have my TM Warthog before I will give up my TIR.;)

[WynnTTr]

TrackIR = no fiddling, works right after install. Easy. Up to you how you want to set your curves, if at all. Pricey.

 

Freetrack = Free. All you need is time and a decent webcam and means for a headtracker.

 

If I had to choose between the two I'd personally go for TIR. Only for the fact that I'm a lazy, impatient bastard and would rather fly than try to make up a head tracker myself. I want to just plug it in and for it to work. That's what I got with TIR.

[MustangSally]

Same here. TrackIR is the way to go.

[Cali]

TrackIR = no fiddling, works right after install. Easy. Up to you how you want to set your curves, if at all. Pricey.

 

Freetrack = Free. All you need is time and a decent webcam and means for a headtracker.

 

If I had to choose between the two I'd personally go for TIR. Only for the fact that I'm a lazy, impatient bastard and would rather fly than try to make up a head tracker myself. I want to just plug it in and for it to work. That's what I got with TIR.

 

+1, to add to what has been said already, with a TrackIR there are already profiles made for it....not sure how Freetrack works. If my TIR broke, I wouldn't fly again until I got a new one. The only way for it to break is if my kids do it. No moving parts and it just sits on your monitor or where ever you want to put it. It is a very important piece in flying, to me it's like flying using the keyboard, if you don't have one.

[Tek]

I tried Freetrack and initially thought WOW, this is awesome. However i soon found it annoying as it ended up very jerky and stabilising it meant making it sluggish, not to mention that ppjoy kept giving me crashes. I too bit the bullet and bought TiR5 with the clip and i can honestly say that sims will never be the same again. It is a must and you will think so too once you get yours!

[Boulund]

Why are you messing with PPJOY? There's no need, check out this thread:

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=75917

 

If you're still not satisfied with Free-Track then by all means go on to TrackIR, not trying to keep it from you ;). I'm just personally very pleased with my Free-Track solution (stable, quick, cheap!) and comparing to experiences from friends' TrackIR I see no benefit in going there.

[BigBANGtheory]

There isn't many objective articles about comparisons between TiR5 and the 'free' alternatives. I would suggest that if you want to get on and enjoy the games rather than playing about and experimenting with headtracking then TiR5 is the way to go and that I'm afraid comes at a cost.

 

TiR5 also seems to have an excellent resale value on eBay atm so if you don't end up using it you'll recover 70% of your costs I'd imagine.

[BIGNEWY]

I use facetracknoir ( no ir head device just a webcam )

 

sure I had to play about with it to get it just right but it was worth it and it saved me some dosh.

 

I made a small donation for the facetracknoir 1.6 update and it worked :)

 

I have sent for a ps3 eye camera £10 which will give me 120fps tracking ( hasn't arrived yet )

 

so for under £20 I have headtracking and a saving of over £100 ?

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=79645

 

:D

[Ragtop]

I've spent a lot of time messing about with Freetrack in the past, and never being completely satisfied with the results. Eventually I dropped the cash on a TrackIR5, and to be frank, there is no comparison.

 

For the amount of work you have to put in, and what you get out, I wouldn't even blink at paying for another TrackIR.

[Mustur]

Freetrack + Wii remote is the only combo that gets close to TIR5. The Wii remote has an IR camera that is specifically designed to track IR blobs at 100Hz, while the TIR5 tracks at 120Hz.

 

So if you happen to have a spare Wiimote and a few IR diodes go for it, otherwise TIR5.

Edited October 25, 2011 by Mustur

[PoleCat]

Simple choice, TIR is better and costs money, free track is ok and free.

 

I like the first option because it is better. If you have no money or are a cheap sob then free track or something like it is the only way to go.

 

Out

[Gisen]

The problem with TrackIR is that naturalpoint is a dodgy, anticompetitive company who use shady business practices (E.G. trying to force games companies to ONLY support their brand of head tracking and to actively suppress others). If it wasn't for that I'd have bought trackIR. Freetrack with wii remote is better if you have the patience to set it up properly.

[Wolf Rider]

Gisen, there isn't any need for that kind of posting... its not constructive, necessary, acurate or verifiable. It isn't even On Topic.

 

and yes, the arguments for/ against, etc, etc have been done to death... so there's no need to proceed down that road either.

 

:huh:

[BigBANGtheory]

I use facetracknoir ( no ir head device just a webcam )

 

sure I had to play about with it to get it just right but it was worth it and it saved me some dosh.

 

I made a small donation for the facetracknoir 1.6 update and it worked :)

 

I have sent for a ps3 eye camera £10 which will give me 120fps tracking ( hasn't arrived yet )

 

so for under £20 I have headtracking and a saving of over £100 ?

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=79645

 

:D

 

Well no you don't really what you have is a headtracking solution costing about £20 + 'a volume of your time' that gives result A vs. a £140 retail solution that gives result B.

 

What we really need is a respected source to do a fair comparison, but its interesting to hear the opinions of people having tried FreeTrack and FTNoIR and then moved to TiR5. Mainly because having taken the plunge their expectations must be quite high, and if they don't like it they don't have to hold onto it because the resale value is pretty good.

 

I wonder if SimHQ are avoiding it because of Natural Point advertising, who knows but it does seem an obvious target article for their readers.

Edited October 26, 2011 by BigBANGtheory

[Gisen]

Gisen, there isn't any need for that kind of posting... its not constructive, necessary, acurate or verifiable. It isn't even On Topic.

 

and yes, the arguments for/ against, etc, etc have been done to death... so there's no need to proceed down that road either.

 

:huh:

I'm sorry, but it is entirely on topic. The OP wanted to know pros and cons of buying trackir. I told him/her one con, a fairly large one IMO.

And it is also necessary, accurate and verifiable. There is plenty of evidence of what they did, even DCS have stated that they were pressured into only supporting trackir.

[EtherealN]

even DCS have stated that they were pressured into only supporting trackir.

 

Nitpick: DCS is a brand. There is no company named DCS. There is TFC (The Fighter Collection) and ED (Eagle Dynamics). ;)

 

Anyways, how come ED released an API for the use of the FreeTrackNOIR project? ;)

[joey45]

Yes they did and I believe they were told not to...

 

 

But I maybe wrong.

[sobek]

Anyways, how come ED released an API for the use of the FreeTrackNOIR project? ;)

 

Well, they released it some 2+ years after the problem first surfaced. No idea how they were able to circumvent NPs request without shooting themselves in the knee, but they did, so kudos.

[Ragtop]

I don't see how it's a con to using a TrackIR. So what if they pressure developers into not using other systems, by that point you're already using one so it doesn't matter what else is supported :P

 

Narrow minded maybe, but it's not a con to using TIR.

[sobek]

I don't see how it's a con to using a TrackIR. So what if they pressure developers into not using other systems, by that point you're already using one so it doesn't matter what else is supported :P

 

If there is no competition, the price can be dictated. So, if you like to pay non-competitive prices, yes, it doesn't matter. :)

[Boberro]

I used FreeTrack and was happy. Worked as it should. Remember getting TiR you pay for luxury of installing and instant working. It is as same as being served by waiter in restaurant. If you want to save money get FreeTrack or FaceTracknoIR. Don't know how about you but I would never pay natural Point 100 euros for their product. Not only it is too expensive but also NP behaviour is questionable.

[joey45]

Buy a decent webcam or TIR..

[Wolf Rider]

Nitpick: DCS is a brand. There is no company named DCS. There is TFC (The Fighter Collection) and ED (Eagle Dynamics). ;)

 

Anyways, how come ED released an API for the use of the FreeTrackNOIR project? ;)

 

yes, they did... and kudos indeed

How did they do it, without shooting themselves in the knee? dunno... but obviously the method was engineered outside of the TIR-SDK-NDA and any copyright (perceived or actual) infringement/s. Plus it wasn't to suit one TIR alternative product only (afaik)... and look what happened... the FT developer, has been heard very little of since, support is tragic and after all the supposed "freeware" and "open source" raves, it has a small dll being held to ransom - it is payware, to have the FT working properly... yes, the bloke seeks reward for his efforts yet cans others for doing so.

 

(onya ste, for keeping things honest though)

 

 

Perhaps some other sites/forums have the right idea of canning discussion?... it leads to polarised division of the members who bunker down and (usually) end up hurling nasties at each other from their respective trenches?

 

anyway, to each their own... "caveat emptor" as they :huh:

Edited October 27, 2011 by Wolf Rider

[Dudikoff]

and look what happened... the FT developer, has been heard very little of since, support is tragic and after all the supposed "freeware" and "open source" raves, it has a small dll being held to ransom - it is payware, to have the FT working properly... yes, the bloke seeks reward for his efforts yet cans others for doing so.

 

Well, FaceTrackNoIR works even now with only a webcam (very convenient if you play on a laptop). There are some incompatibilities it seems, but the next public release is supposedly next month. So, it's not really like it's all for naught.