One hughe benefit of TrackIR that I'd like to add is the simple knowledge of where you are looking. If you steer your view vía buttons, you don't have direct feedback of you view direction. Using TrackIR you know where you are pointing, which gives you a better sense of where an enemy is in a dogfight. This is especially valuable in bubble canopys where reference points to the sides and upwards are unavailable.
If you are reading this and you are a flight simmer without track IR I also highly recommend it, the immersion and natural feeling of looking around with your head rather than key binds is truly stunning, I flew for a few weeks when I first started with flight sims, when I first got my track IR I immediately started to enjoy flying so much more. It is honestly a great investment if you even slightly enjoy flight sims or even games like arma or some racing games.
Claes Wikberg That's what i just say , the nice thing with the TIR is that you can play with it on almost every sim (It's just awesome on PCars and Assetto Corsa ) .
Bashfulfruit Is your comprehension that bad? I fully understood what he was saying. If you have it. Its so good that you can never play without it. You take it too literally.
Bait Gatsby Who are you? I was talking to Teko, saying "thats what I just said" means, literally, and this is when its constantly used, that someone has repeated what you have already said, since when has "thats what I just said" ever not been literal? the only times is when someones being sarcastic when they said the polar opposite and thats for comedic purposes.
One thing I really would recommend is investing in a HTV Vive. Not only do you get the head tracking, but the sense of scale and immersion is downright amazing. When you skim past a destroyer in War Thunder it's...well...destroyer sized. Also makes your shooting a lot more accurate because it's about a billion times easier to judge lead when everything is in 3D. It honestly feels like you can reach out and touch the instruments in your cockpit They're added preliminary support for IL2 - BOS as well...very rough at the moment because it doesn't run natively on SteamVR, but definitely has potential. Only downside is you're essentially blind to the real world when you're playing so finding keyboard controls can be a bit of a pain...but it's as close as you can get to flying for real without actually buying a war surplus spitfire.
19:00 -- Great tip re: checking what the camera sees. I've used FreeTrack in the past without a clip of any kind, simply a camera and a pair of glasses... and my bald skull, for the third point. :P
Been using TrackIR myself no since about 2009 and it has become vital for me in any simulation that has a cockpit view. The level of situational awareness you get and the ease of use drastically improve your chances. I mainly used it with Rise of Flight, a game I still frequently play on default settings coupled with a Logitech Force 3D pro. A part from a joystick I believe it's a mandatory piece of kit for anyone who seriously plays simulators.
i play with the hat switch and its not that much of a challenge. ive never used keys to check my surroundings but ill give that a try, also im new to sims and always loved the immersive play style it gives and thanks to this video i have a sudden change of mind into buying track ir.. much thanks bismarck.
10:30 "After playing those games for 20 hours or so..." Me: *looks at 1,500 hours recorded in War Thunder on Steam* "yeah, I think I'm gonna get a trackIR"
For War Thunder's Simulator, I used an Xbox One controller, having a second joystick at your fingertips makes camera controls really easy in my opinion.
If zooming in WT bothers you, just disable "TrackIR Zoom" from the ingame options menu. Generally speaking always endeavor to disable axis within the game itself if you need to do so and not in the TrackIR client. The reason being in the case of a game like War Thunder and others is that even if you may not want to zoom, you can still take take advantage of View-Relative-Translations (in TrackIR this is called "TrueView"). What this means if you turn your head 90 degrees right and lean forward the software understands that you want your character to turn their head to the right and bring their face closer to the canopy glass. Now if you didn't have the axis enabled in the TrackIR client you wouldn't be able to do this. The benefit is that it makes it much easier to turn your head and look around the headrest to check six, and in games like ToH/ArmA3 you can lean out of the helo and check below you. There are also advantages in a game like War Thunder SB where you can lean past the cockpit spars in a zero for example. Lean forward a little to get a better look at a cockpit dial etc.
OMG THANK YOU! I've been playing rise of flight using the hat switch to look around. It is so clunky I considered not even playing until I build my own tracking clip. Now that I switched to keys instead it is MUCH less confusing and I can actually play. Still not perfect but gosh is it an improvement.
I'm using TrackIR now for a long time ... really loving it. Espacially with SpaceSims like Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen. But improves immersion also for Car-Games like Assetto Corsa or even Euro Truck Simulator 2.
I got a pretty big screen, and my head/clip was leveld with the trackir camera, and alot of times i tried to view up, my cap blocked the reflectors, so i build a little stance for the camera, basicly just a stick i taped on to raise the cameras point of view. Still can have problems viewing left and right and one of the reflectors getting outside the cameras view or just blocked by my cap. Leaning my head can also be a problem, sometimes i can look perfectly behind me and lean my head, some times i just cant lean my head, getting stuck looking at my neck rest. Some unconsistant results, but i really like it! Helped out alot, feels really fun in other games too, racing games and so on! 10/10 would buy agian!
I just downloaded 'Rise of Flight' which is the first serious flight sim I've played since the 2001 release of 'Il-2 Sturmovik' (which is about how old my Sidewinder Pro 2 is) and tried flying with just the joystick alone. I have been seriously motivated to invest in a set of rudder pedals and I'm really thinking about the Track IR system as well. I found it incredibly difficult to operate the rudder and the thumbstick without also bumping around pitch/roll at the same time. Of the two, which would you recommend investing in first? Head tracking or rudder controls?
+jonskowitz Good question. I got both at around the same time and can't remember which one came first. Looking around without trackIr is probably more difficult than rudder with twist but without pedals. As such I'dlean towards getting head tracking first. Might be worth checking out/waiting for promotions etc if you are unsure. Alternatively, invest in pedals but custom build your trackIR (many manuas online and it costs a fraction of the price).
Bismarck Thanks for the speedy reply. I went ahead and bit the bullet buying the whole thing in one kit from a piloting supply store (rudder pedals, GA style control yoke, throttle quadrant set, AND Track IR). Much cheaper than a' la carte, ran about $600US all said and done with. I figured that I'll be needing it this spring when I start working on my IRL pilot's license anyway. I really was on the fence though, the advantages of the Track IR system was obvious, but the badly shaped grip on that old joystick made flying using twist to control the rudder painful (limiting my endurance to about an hour before the cramping becomes too much to handle)
Bismarck Oh, believe me, the sticker-shock was harsh... but like I said, cheaper in the long run and it's all stuff I knew I'd wind up buying anyway. Hope to see you in the skies :)
TrackIR is definitely a must for any semi-serious fighter sim pilot. I do have pedals as well, good ones (ch-products), but I ended up not using them and stick to twist. It's just quicker for me. But if I could glue pedals to the floor - maybe it would be fun.
I agree - once you start using it - it is hard to do without. Now if Gaijin would only fix the 3rd person view. It should work like the mouse free look, but since 1.47 they reverted it to 1.37 (and every one complained back then) - which has the camera view trailing the plane about 30 meters, which sucks
Hey Bismarck have you tried an Oculus yet? Its not quite ready for IL-2 because of the limitations in resolution, but once the CV release comes out and the resolution is 'good enough' it'll be a game-changer AFAIC.... I never could get used to the Track IR. Leaving my eyes behind while my head turns just always felt unnatural. I sold my Track IR once I got the Rift.
another option if you dont have / cant afford one, is to play with the mouse look. It allowes for smooth tracking. its weird at first but you get used to it really fast. I have the throttle set up for the mouse buttons
I am using a Track-Clip Pro with a Track-IR 3. Have heard of the issues with the Pro as well, however have been so far been fortunate not to have issues. The good thing with the pro is the active lighting; that makes the sensitivity much less receptive to sunlight (and since I'm using headphones anyway, it works great with that). You might want to look into a similar setup with three IR-LEDs, since it lessens the impact of the issues you are having.
Tigrisshark I'm using TrackIR 5 and my TrackClip Pro has never had any issues with breakages despite dropping my headset multiple times. About the only issue I did have with it is the clip system that holds it on my headset, after a while the foam rubber sort of lost it's 'bounce back' and it kept falling off. Nothing a small cable-tie from left over from my PC couldn't rectify ;)
1) player made profiles. I have to disagree, I use other peoples profiles, such as Dsylexi's of Arma fame and find it fine. Also, Elite Dangerous needs a custom profile due to the head look sensitive pop up displays and I had instant success with someone else's ED profile. 2) head tracking is FABULOUS for infantry movement in Arma and DayZ! So immersive and natural. Definitely gives me more situational awareness. I even use it in tanks in War Thunder. 3) I use the Pro clip and I am very careful how I put down my headset. No breakages, but if there was,I imagine glue to be ok to fix, unless wiring is problematic to fix. The Pro clip will give you longer viewing distance too, as I sit in front of my 55" TV I use as my PC monitor. A TIP For Pro users, using wireless headsets. Attach a USB battery to your wireless headset with a rubber band or Velcro and you can be fully wireless again, with the pro clip! Works fine! 4) I learnt the hard way with reflective interference too a window letting in to much light was creating problems. The TrackIR hurt the pocket to buy, but its one of the best gaming peripherals I have ever bought.
Well, it basically involves building a lightweight frame that you can attach to your headset (I use magnets for this), wire up three infrared LED's and glue them to this frame. Make sure you get LED's with a large radiation angle, otherwise the camera might lose track of it if you turn your head too far to the side. The LED's can be powered by a battery pack or with a modified USB-cable, as I prefer it. Make sure you add a 47 or 100 Ohm resistor in front of each LED, depending on its maximum power output, and wire them up in parallel, otherwise they will burn up instantly or simply not work. Then you need a camera which can track the movement of these LED's as you move your head. I use an old PS3eye-camera which has an infrared pass filter mounted in front of it's lense, these things are usually used for fotography. It makes the camera see nothing but the infrared-LED's and in my opinion, this highly improves the performance of my setup. However, make sure that you get a filter that matches the wavelength of your LED's! If you plan on getting the PS3eye, make sure you get the version with the *flat* front lense. The version with the round lense has a built in IR-filter which will block out the IR-light from your LED's. As a final step, you need a software which interpretes the 2D picture that the camera gets into 3D. "Opentrack" is probably the best way to go since it is still actively supported by its programmer. After installing the software, you feed it the distances between the LED's and do some calibration. The calibration part can be quite frustrating and take some time until you get results of your liking, but in my eyes it's worth the saved 250 bucks. I kept tweaking the settings for about two weeks after I started playing with it and now the pilot head movement is absolutely smooth and precise. I recommend googling for "[How to] Selfmade Headtracking with Freetrack", as it is a good guide to get you started. Also, there are plenty of tutorials on UA-cam. Don't bother with the guys cracking open their PS3eye, they bought the one with the round lense. Also, I recommend getting all the stuff on Ebay, as all the parts are extremely cheap when ordered in China, with free shipping on top of it. However, I bought the LED's at a local electronics store because I wanted to have the ones with the largest radiation angle. That information is only found in datasheets, and those are usually not provided on Ebay.
Finally - Thank you. I have actually never even used the TrackIR zoom in WT. Got my push-button for that. I think WT has a "lazy" movement. Regardless of how I set up my profile in NP software. Can my cat highjack my sensors woth it's low light vision ? I want cat eyes
I have had mine for a few years now and for games like Arma, War Thunder. DCS are now impossible for me to enjoy without it. Dayz is great with it too when you play on first person servers. EDIT: The tracking problems you are showing with the software and shiny things is almost completely gone with the trackclip pro. I can'y play with my blinds open if I don't use the pro one.
The pro really is required. The regular version bugged out on me all the time. Sometimes it was my glasses reflecting thermal radiation, and around christmas it completely stopped working. When I opened up the calibration software, I could see all the lights on my christmas tree lit up behind me. I guess they put out a ton of heat.
I still reckon European Air War has the best flight characteristics of any WWII sim (I have some experience IRL) BUT, I could never get over not being able to look around the windscreen framework to keep an eye on my bogey/check 6. So much so that I've just re-installed IL2 just so I could use 6DOF. Game-changer for SA and tracking, and easy to get a closer look at gauges when I get the engine overheat warning... I did finally manage to get POV hat working quite well but could never manage complete scanning when zoomed in. Now with TIR it's look and zoom. I learned that I turn my head as I'm about to shoot ! (As I do when I'm about to throw a ball as it turns out - to do with improving depth perception by changing the distance to each eye) but not helpful when about to squeeze the trigger and glance at my right wing...A few things which really made a difference for me - 1 - trackclip pro. If not, then read previous comments regarding what the camera sees. Plus I reckon it just works better. Beforehand it always seemed just a bit jumpy. Had a dot, then had the metal thingy, but I never truly fell in love with my TIR until I got the trackclip pro. Yes mine broke and I've hot glued it. 2 - create a tiny dead-zone in x+y axes. You want to be able to look at your keyboard without changing your view, and you don't want every tiniest head movement to have your view change. 3 - Use Smooth in Motion Control - you'll know what I mean when you open the software. I have mine maxed out. 4 - You can use one of the preset profiles as a starting point for your custom profile - I used 'Smooth' preset, added some deadzone, then saved it as 'Smooth DeadZone'. Outstandingly clever name, I know.
you wont have the reflection problem with the track clip pro. I have one and I absolutely agree that it is too easy to break. its acutally my second one already and its also broken now. BUT: nothing that a bit of duct tape couldnt fix!
How to play gunner with this? I have a problem that when I started the game with tracking and then want to play gunner it doesnt work even if I switch te tracking software off
played 30 hours of BoX, bought a ps3 eye cam to get head tracking working, and because i live in australia its cheaper to buy the track clip pro than to buy an alternative so thats what im doing. also looking at second hand rudder pedals to complete the set
In War Thunder, 3rd person view with trackIR is really weird. You can't see your plane anymore, when you look behind you. Though you can more or less estimate your direction from movement, and your inclination from your speed/altitude readouts. Still weirds me out every time though.
I noticed there is a "smoothness" setting in IL-2 camera settings, which goes from 0-100. I can't tell if this changes the smoothness of the track ir, do you know if it does?
How do you think this will work compared to some of the VR headsets that are coming out soon? 160€ seems a bit steep for a Track IR, considering that the upcoming VR headset start around the same price.
DaveMoustache Just buy a Delanclip (or built your own), a ps3eye camera and download facetracknoIR and you got a great working Trackir for like 50$. The problem with the VR systems like the Oculus is that you can't see your keyboard , joysticks etc ... It's a little bit less immersive but once you used to it the TIR is "as good" as an OR .
DaveMoustache I don't think VR in its current state is useable for flight sims. The resolution of an Oculus Rift is so poor you'll have a hard time reading text on screen let alone spotting hostile fighters 10km away.
***** Good point. Spotting really is key, and a 720p display might not be good enough. Perhaps in a year or two VR headsets will be good enough for flight sims. ***** I don't look at my joystick / keyboard while playing, so that shouldn't be an issue. Then again, I don't play DCS. There are a lot more keys to keep track of in DCS than in War Thunder, so VR is probably bad for DCS.
***** That could be remedied by higher resolution displays though. Still, some people already play - say Warthunder - using Oculus. But yeah, with low resolution spotting is going to be harder. Also, about keyboard and Oculus... Full interactive ingame cocpit could work with mouse, hm? I think some games already do this... Though, a more outlandish idea comes to mind - what if you had an accompanying device to the VR headset - a glove that would translate its movements to 3d hand ingame that could manipulate ingame controls. That could be a bit fiddly, but if it worked... Oh my, it would be sweet. In theory you could even use it instead of a stick, of course that probably wouldn't work very well since you'd effectively be doing an "airstick" and without something to hold on to as physical feedback it might not work very well. But for using some less essential controls, it might be something very immersive when it comes to sims. Of course, I don't have a good idea how to get it running in practice. It probably wouldn't really work well based on camera interpreting hands movements even with a glove with markers. It would have to be something more sophisticated. Maybe a glove that would have a number of detectors at joints to feed the software with positions of fingers, but then you'd still need to somehow discern the other joints movement, of the whole hand. That might be quite complicated to...
Tomasz Wota Yeah, that's why I said "in its current state". Obviously, sometime down the line, when resolutions improve then it'll be fine, but right now I don't think it's useable. And yes, I have used an Oculus Rift, got to check it out at PAX Australia.
I fly with mouse view and its the best alternative I've found so far. I bind left and right view on left and mouse button, and up and down with other 2 keys on my mouse. Only thing that bothers me is when I'm looking back i confuse left and right and i press wrong button, but its not that big of an issue for me
Exactly. The author is comparing/discussing track-IR and keyboard view. Always used mouse view. Works well enough for me. But, I used CH throttle, joystick, and pedals. If you don't have those, they are probably more important than track ir.
Does the camera sensor turn? I play from a couch facing my TV at about a 20 degree angle. Also about 8 ft away. Wondering if turning the sensor will compensate for being off center.
Konate Lassina The camera stands on a tri-pod and has a full 360 degrees turning arc. The sensors of your clip should generally be facing the middle of the camera - you might have to wear the cap slightly sideways. Also, at that range I do not know if it works well. Alternatively you'll have to think of a way to get the camera closer and facing you (the clip) straight on.
It would be nice to have support for the oculus in bos and clod, I guess that the vibe support for bos but not oculus, I love the cv3 and hope there will be support for it or some kind of mod for it
HAT-switch for viewing is do-able and not as counter-intuitive as you make it sound, certainly if one has played an FPS game on a console before. However, after getting rid of my complete FCS-II system and only occasionally flying with a Logitech stick, I found I occasionally bumped my view using twist for rudder. No biggie in in Flightsim, though.
Hmm, interesting. In War Thunder sim battles I find mouse look to be perfectly fine and superior to keys for tracking targets. However I've been thinking of getting CLoD, since it's a lot cheaper than BoS, and because Britain>Russia preference, but you say that these games are more restrictive to mouse controls?
One hughe benefit of TrackIR that I'd like to add is the simple knowledge of where you are looking. If you steer your view vía buttons, you don't have direct feedback of you view direction. Using TrackIR you know where you are pointing, which gives you a better sense of where an enemy is in a dogfight. This is especially valuable in bubble canopys where reference points to the sides and upwards are unavailable.
20:25 "Always fiddle with it until you're happy..." -Bismarck
If you are reading this and you are a flight simmer without track IR I also highly recommend it, the immersion and natural feeling of looking around with your head rather than key binds is truly stunning, I flew for a few weeks when I first started with flight sims, when I first got my track IR I immediately started to enjoy flying so much more. It is honestly a great investment if you even slightly enjoy flight sims or even games like arma or some racing games.
The Trackir is great ,once you try it's impossible to play without it .
***** No, its possible to play without it, but once you try it, its inpossible to go back!
Claes Wikberg That's what i just say , the nice thing with the TIR is that you can play with it on almost every sim (It's just awesome on PCars and Assetto Corsa ) .
***** No, you said you cant play without it, he said its possible, so that isnt what you said.
Bashfulfruit Is your comprehension that bad? I fully understood what he was saying. If you have it. Its so good that you can never play without it. You take it too literally.
Bait Gatsby Who are you? I was talking to Teko, saying "thats what I just said" means, literally, and this is when its constantly used, that someone has repeated what you have already said, since when has "thats what I just said" ever not been literal? the only times is when someones being sarcastic when they said the polar opposite and thats for comedic purposes.
One thing I really would recommend is investing in a HTV Vive.
Not only do you get the head tracking, but the sense of scale and immersion is downright amazing. When you skim past a destroyer in War Thunder it's...well...destroyer sized. Also makes your shooting a lot more accurate because it's about a billion times easier to judge lead when everything is in 3D. It honestly feels like you can reach out and touch the instruments in your cockpit
They're added preliminary support for IL2 - BOS as well...very rough at the moment because it doesn't run natively on SteamVR, but definitely has potential.
Only downside is you're essentially blind to the real world when you're playing so finding keyboard controls can be a bit of a pain...but it's as close as you can get to flying for real without actually buying a war surplus spitfire.
19:00 -- Great tip re: checking what the camera sees. I've used FreeTrack in the past without a clip of any kind, simply a camera and a pair of glasses... and my bald skull, for the third point. :P
I ordered Track IR yesterday. Cant wait!
You're in Finland?? Do you study here?
Been using TrackIR myself no since about 2009 and it has become vital for me in any simulation that has a cockpit view. The level of situational awareness you get and the ease of use drastically improve your chances.
I mainly used it with Rise of Flight, a game I still frequently play on default settings coupled with a Logitech Force 3D pro.
A part from a joystick I believe it's a mandatory piece of kit for anyone who seriously plays simulators.
i play with the hat switch and its not that much of a challenge. ive never used keys to check my surroundings but ill give that a try, also im new to sims and always loved the immersive play style it gives and thanks to this video i have a sudden change of mind into buying track ir.. much thanks bismarck.
10:30 "After playing those games for 20 hours or so..."
Me: *looks at 1,500 hours recorded in War Thunder on Steam* "yeah, I think I'm gonna get a trackIR"
I realize Im quite randomly asking but does anyone know of a good website to watch new series online ?
@Mario Princeton Flixportal :D
@Casey Tatum Thanks, I went there and it seems like a nice service =) I really appreciate it !!
@Mario Princeton happy to help :D
Great advise Bismarck - Just picking up useful tips from experienced users whilst awaiting the arrival of my Trackir
For War Thunder's Simulator, I used an Xbox One controller, having a second joystick at your fingertips makes camera controls really easy in my opinion.
If zooming in WT bothers you, just disable "TrackIR Zoom" from the ingame options menu.
Generally speaking always endeavor to disable axis within the game itself if you need to do so and not in the TrackIR client. The reason being in the case of a game like War Thunder and others is that even if you may not want to zoom, you can still take take advantage of View-Relative-Translations (in TrackIR this is called "TrueView"). What this means if you turn your head 90 degrees right and lean forward the software understands that you want your character to turn their head to the right and bring their face closer to the canopy glass.
Now if you didn't have the axis enabled in the TrackIR client you wouldn't be able to do this. The benefit is that it makes it much easier to turn your head and look around the headrest to check six, and in games like ToH/ArmA3 you can lean out of the helo and check below you. There are also advantages in a game like War Thunder SB where you can lean past the cockpit spars in a zero for example. Lean forward a little to get a better look at a cockpit dial etc.
As mostly a DCS player I'd just love to free up my hat switches and get more freedom of movement
OMG THANK YOU! I've been playing rise of flight using the hat switch to look around. It is so clunky I considered not even playing until I build my own tracking clip. Now that I switched to keys instead it is MUCH less confusing and I can actually play. Still not perfect but gosh is it an improvement.
I'm using TrackIR now for a long time ... really loving it. Espacially with SpaceSims like Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen. But improves immersion also for Car-Games like Assetto Corsa or even Euro Truck Simulator 2.
I got a pretty big screen, and my head/clip was leveld with the trackir camera, and alot of times i tried to view up, my cap blocked the reflectors, so i build a little stance for the camera, basicly just a stick i taped on to raise the cameras point of view. Still can have problems viewing left and right and one of the reflectors getting outside the cameras view or just blocked by my cap. Leaning my head can also be a problem, sometimes i can look perfectly behind me and lean my head, some times i just cant lean my head, getting stuck looking at my neck rest. Some unconsistant results, but i really like it! Helped out alot, feels really fun in other games too, racing games and so on! 10/10 would buy agian!
I just downloaded 'Rise of Flight' which is the first serious flight sim I've played since the 2001 release of 'Il-2 Sturmovik' (which is about how old my Sidewinder Pro 2 is) and tried flying with just the joystick alone. I have been seriously motivated to invest in a set of rudder pedals and I'm really thinking about the Track IR system as well. I found it incredibly difficult to operate the rudder and the thumbstick without also bumping around pitch/roll at the same time.
Of the two, which would you recommend investing in first? Head tracking or rudder controls?
+jonskowitz Good question. I got both at around the same time and can't remember which one came first. Looking around without trackIr is probably more difficult than rudder with twist but without pedals. As such I'dlean towards getting head tracking first. Might be worth checking out/waiting for promotions etc if you are unsure. Alternatively, invest in pedals but custom build your trackIR (many manuas online and it costs a fraction of the price).
Bismarck Thanks for the speedy reply. I went ahead and bit the bullet buying the whole thing in one kit from a piloting supply store (rudder pedals, GA style control yoke, throttle quadrant set, AND Track IR). Much cheaper than a' la carte, ran about $600US all said and done with. I figured that I'll be needing it this spring when I start working on my IRL pilot's license anyway.
I really was on the fence though, the advantages of the Track IR system was obvious, but the badly shaped grip on that old joystick made flying using twist to control the rudder painful (limiting my endurance to about an hour before the cramping becomes too much to handle)
Oh wow, quite an investment. Hope it all works out fine and good luck and lots of fun with it ;)
Bismarck Oh, believe me, the sticker-shock was harsh... but like I said, cheaper in the long run and it's all stuff I knew I'd wind up buying anyway.
Hope to see you in the skies :)
TrackIR is definitely a must for any semi-serious fighter sim pilot. I do have pedals as well, good ones (ch-products), but I ended up not using them and stick to twist. It's just quicker for me. But if I could glue pedals to the floor - maybe it would be fun.
I agree - once you start using it - it is hard to do without. Now if Gaijin would only fix the 3rd person view. It should work like the mouse free look, but since 1.47 they reverted it to 1.37 (and every one complained back then) - which has the camera view trailing the plane about 30 meters, which sucks
Hey Bismarck have you tried an Oculus yet? Its not quite ready for IL-2 because of the limitations in resolution, but once the CV release comes out and the resolution is 'good enough' it'll be a game-changer AFAIC.... I never could get used to the Track IR. Leaving my eyes behind while my head turns just always felt unnatural. I sold my Track IR once I got the Rift.
I know it's quite late, but its not a good idea to sell your trackir
another option if you dont have / cant afford one, is to play with the mouse look. It allowes for smooth tracking. its weird at first but you get used to it really fast. I have the throttle set up for the mouse buttons
I am using a Track-Clip Pro with a Track-IR 3.
Have heard of the issues with the Pro as well, however have been so far been fortunate not to have issues.
The good thing with the pro is the active lighting; that makes the sensitivity much less receptive to sunlight (and since I'm using headphones anyway, it works great with that). You might want to look into a similar setup with three IR-LEDs, since it lessens the impact of the issues you are having.
Tigrisshark I'm using TrackIR 5 and my TrackClip Pro has never had any issues with breakages despite dropping my headset multiple times. About the only issue I did have with it is the clip system that holds it on my headset, after a while the foam rubber sort of lost it's 'bounce back' and it kept falling off. Nothing a small cable-tie from left over from my PC couldn't rectify ;)
1) player made profiles. I have to disagree, I use other peoples profiles, such as Dsylexi's of Arma fame and find it fine. Also, Elite Dangerous needs a custom profile due to the head look sensitive pop up displays and I had instant success with someone else's ED profile.
2) head tracking is FABULOUS for infantry movement in Arma and DayZ! So immersive and natural. Definitely gives me more situational awareness. I even use it in tanks in War Thunder.
3) I use the Pro clip and I am very careful how I put down my headset. No breakages, but if there was,I imagine glue to be ok to fix, unless wiring is problematic to fix. The Pro clip will give you longer viewing distance too, as I sit in front of my 55" TV I use as my PC monitor.
A TIP For Pro users, using wireless headsets. Attach a USB battery to your wireless headset with a rubber band or Velcro and you can be fully wireless again, with the pro clip! Works fine!
4) I learnt the hard way with reflective interference too a window letting in to much light was creating problems.
The TrackIR hurt the pocket to buy, but its one of the best gaming peripherals I have ever bought.
I built one myself for around 40 bucks, including the camera, and it's working perfectly so far.
Can you give instructions how to make one?
Well, it basically involves building a lightweight frame that you can attach to your headset (I use magnets for this), wire up three infrared LED's and glue them to this frame. Make sure you get LED's with a large radiation angle, otherwise the camera might lose track of it if you turn your head too far to the side. The LED's can be powered by a battery pack or with a modified USB-cable, as I prefer it. Make sure you add a 47 or 100 Ohm resistor in front of each LED, depending on its maximum power output, and wire them up in parallel, otherwise they will burn up instantly or simply not work.
Then you need a camera which can track the movement of these LED's as you move your head. I use an old PS3eye-camera which has an infrared pass filter mounted in front of it's lense, these things are usually used for fotography. It makes the camera see nothing but the infrared-LED's and in my opinion, this highly improves the performance of my setup. However, make sure that you get a filter that matches the wavelength of your LED's! If you plan on getting the PS3eye, make sure you get the version with the *flat* front lense. The version with the round lense has a built in IR-filter which will block out the IR-light from your LED's.
As a final step, you need a software which interpretes the 2D picture that the camera gets into 3D. "Opentrack" is probably the best way to go since it is still actively supported by its programmer. After installing the software, you feed it the distances between the LED's and do some calibration. The calibration part can be quite frustrating and take some time until you get results of your liking, but in my eyes it's worth the saved 250 bucks. I kept tweaking the settings for about two weeks after I started playing with it and now the pilot head movement is absolutely smooth and precise.
I recommend googling for "[How to] Selfmade Headtracking with Freetrack", as it is a good guide to get you started. Also, there are plenty of tutorials on UA-cam. Don't bother with the guys cracking open their PS3eye, they bought the one with the round lense.
Also, I recommend getting all the stuff on Ebay, as all the parts are extremely cheap when ordered in China, with free shipping on top of it. However, I bought the LED's at a local electronics store because I wanted to have the ones with the largest radiation angle. That information is only found in datasheets, and those are usually not provided on Ebay.
Finally - Thank you. I have actually never even used the TrackIR zoom in WT. Got my push-button for that. I think WT has a "lazy" movement. Regardless of how I set up my profile in NP software. Can my cat highjack my sensors woth it's low light vision ? I want cat eyes
I have had mine for a few years now and for games like Arma, War Thunder. DCS are now impossible for me to enjoy without it. Dayz is great with it too when you play on first person servers.
EDIT:
The tracking problems you are showing with the software and shiny things is almost completely gone with the trackclip pro. I can'y play with my blinds open if I don't use the pro one.
The pro really is required. The regular version bugged out on me all the time. Sometimes it was my glasses reflecting thermal radiation, and around christmas it completely stopped working. When I opened up the calibration software, I could see all the lights on my christmas tree lit up behind me. I guess they put out a ton of heat.
I still reckon European Air War has the best flight characteristics of any WWII sim (I have some experience IRL) BUT, I could never get over not being able to look around the windscreen framework to keep an eye on my bogey/check 6. So much so that I've just re-installed IL2 just so I could use 6DOF. Game-changer for SA and tracking, and easy to get a closer look at gauges when I get the engine overheat warning... I did finally manage to get POV hat working quite well but could never manage complete scanning when zoomed in. Now with TIR it's look and zoom. I learned that I turn my head as I'm about to shoot ! (As I do when I'm about to throw a ball as it turns out - to do with improving depth perception by changing the distance to each eye) but not helpful when about to squeeze the trigger and glance at my right wing...A few things which really made a difference for me - 1 - trackclip pro. If not, then read previous comments regarding what the camera sees. Plus I reckon it just works better. Beforehand it always seemed just a bit jumpy. Had a dot, then had the metal thingy, but I never truly fell in love with my TIR until I got the trackclip pro. Yes mine broke and I've hot glued it. 2 - create a tiny dead-zone in x+y axes. You want to be able to look at your keyboard without changing your view, and you don't want every tiniest head movement to have your view change. 3 - Use Smooth in Motion Control - you'll know what I mean when you open the software. I have mine maxed out. 4 - You can use one of the preset profiles as a starting point for your custom profile - I used 'Smooth' preset, added some deadzone, then saved it as 'Smooth DeadZone'. Outstandingly clever name, I know.
Bismarck, have you ever tried to flight with a virtual headset ? like Oculus Rift ? It seems amazing to do.
Good video Bismarck, but I'd rename it to "Headtracker Review" just to generalize it.
you wont have the reflection problem with the track clip pro. I have one and I absolutely agree that it is too easy to break. its acutally my second one already and its also broken now. BUT: nothing that a bit of duct tape couldnt fix!
How to play gunner with this? I have a problem that when I started the game with tracking and then want to play gunner it doesnt work even if I switch te tracking software off
played 30 hours of BoX, bought a ps3 eye cam to get head tracking working, and because i live in australia its cheaper to buy the track clip pro than to buy an alternative so thats what im doing. also looking at second hand rudder pedals to complete the set
In War Thunder, 3rd person view with trackIR is really weird. You can't see your plane anymore, when you look behind you. Though you can more or less estimate your direction from movement, and your inclination from your speed/altitude readouts. Still weirds me out every time though.
I noticed there is a "smoothness" setting in IL-2 camera settings, which goes from 0-100. I can't tell if this changes the smoothness of the track ir, do you know if it does?
How do you think this will work compared to some of the VR headsets that are coming out soon? 160€ seems a bit steep for a Track IR, considering that the upcoming VR headset start around the same price.
DaveMoustache Just buy a Delanclip (or built your own), a ps3eye camera and download facetracknoIR and you got a great working Trackir for like 50$. The problem with the VR systems like the Oculus is that you can't see your keyboard , joysticks etc ... It's a little bit less immersive but once you used to it the TIR is "as good" as an OR .
DaveMoustache I don't think VR in its current state is useable for flight sims. The resolution of an Oculus Rift is so poor you'll have a hard time reading text on screen let alone spotting hostile fighters 10km away.
***** Good point. Spotting really is key, and a 720p display might not be good enough. Perhaps in a year or two VR headsets will be good enough for flight sims.
***** I don't look at my joystick / keyboard while playing, so that shouldn't be an issue. Then again, I don't play DCS. There are a lot more keys to keep track of in DCS than in War Thunder, so VR is probably bad for DCS.
***** That could be remedied by higher resolution displays though. Still, some people already play - say Warthunder - using Oculus. But yeah, with low resolution spotting is going to be harder.
Also, about keyboard and Oculus... Full interactive ingame cocpit could work with mouse, hm? I think some games already do this...
Though, a more outlandish idea comes to mind - what if you had an accompanying device to the VR headset - a glove that would translate its movements to 3d hand ingame that could manipulate ingame controls. That could be a bit fiddly, but if it worked... Oh my, it would be sweet.
In theory you could even use it instead of a stick, of course that probably wouldn't work very well since you'd effectively be doing an "airstick" and without something to hold on to as physical feedback it might not work very well. But for using some less essential controls, it might be something very immersive when it comes to sims.
Of course, I don't have a good idea how to get it running in practice. It probably wouldn't really work well based on camera interpreting hands movements even with a glove with markers. It would have to be something more sophisticated.
Maybe a glove that would have a number of detectors at joints to feed the software with positions of fingers, but then you'd still need to somehow discern the other joints movement, of the whole hand. That might be quite complicated to...
Tomasz Wota Yeah, that's why I said "in its current state". Obviously, sometime down the line, when resolutions improve then it'll be fine, but right now I don't think it's useable.
And yes, I have used an Oculus Rift, got to check it out at PAX Australia.
Great Job! Thank you
coat the front of the sensor in a strip of old floppy disk. will act as a low pass filter and should eliminate glare and reflection!
I fly with mouse view and its the best alternative I've found so far. I bind left and right view on left and mouse button, and up and down with other 2 keys on my mouse. Only thing that bothers me is when I'm looking back i confuse left and right and i press wrong button, but its not that big of an issue for me
Exactly. The author is comparing/discussing track-IR and keyboard view. Always used mouse view. Works well enough for me. But, I used CH throttle, joystick, and pedals. If you don't have those, they are probably more important than track ir.
SUOMI MAINITTU. TORI HERE I COME. On a serious note is there a way to move your head to left and right in cliffs of dover withouth a trackir?
Does the camera sensor turn? I play from a couch facing my TV at about a 20 degree angle. Also about 8 ft away. Wondering if turning the sensor will compensate for being off center.
Konate Lassina The camera stands on a tri-pod and has a full 360 degrees turning arc. The sensors of your clip should generally be facing the middle of the camera - you might have to wear the cap slightly sideways. Also, at that range I do not know if it works well. Alternatively you'll have to think of a way to get the camera closer and facing you (the clip) straight on.
What's your monitor set up? I can't decided between a 35" ultra wide or 3 monitors or even the oculus rift cv1
Love your videos M9, I play a lot of BoS also, have you tried it in VR? Do you have thoughts about that vs TrackIR?
How do you wear the cap you got the tracker on? you know.. backwards or just normally?
It would be nice to have support for the oculus in bos and clod, I guess that the vibe support for bos but not oculus, I love the cv3 and hope there will be support for it or some kind of mod for it
At least I have facetracknoir and a webcam
Ah, I play with the vive and we can get around oculus exclusives very easily. I imagine there are similar ways to play vive exclusives with an oculus.
If you didn't know already, there is now Oculus support and it works extremely well. The only problem is IDing planes due to the resolution.
Its my birthday in 2 days i've ordered the trackir how long do you think it will take to get used to the trackir ?
Does it come with the reflective strips, or are the separate?
How do you manage wearing the cap and the headphones
what unit of IR tracker do you recommend
Didn't know you were Finnish, Bismarck. Where in Finland do you live?
Charles de Gaullezilla The joke was that he was flying over Finland (I believe) Bismark is German.
He's German
He is German, but it seems he lives currently in Finland
How does it work?
thumbs up
Do you need rudder pedals for War Thunder(Simulator Battles)?
Not really, it's an arcade game
Kali there are realistic and Sim modes. In the simulator mode, rudder pedals will have there use. It's not strictly arcade
Strixx Yes, I would be much more comfortable with a separate axis for brakes and Yaw.
For sim yes, but the most gameplay the game has is in the arcade modes
👍👍👏
HAT-switch for viewing is do-able and not as counter-intuitive as you make it sound, certainly if one has played an FPS game on a console before. However, after getting rid of my complete FCS-II system and only occasionally flying with a Logitech stick, I found I occasionally bumped my view using twist for rudder. No biggie in in Flightsim, though.
Hi, do you use clip pro, or just that reflective default clip for hat?
i need one
how
btw, i bought mine directly from naturalpoint.com who makes it. "Never looked back since" (pun intended*)
suomi mainittu torilla tavataan
NinjaOwner minä tuon track-ir:n. pitäisköhän ostaa? verkkikses 150e
'quid', 'bucks'
Y did he use the slang terms, lol XD
Mine shell underpowered -_-
Hmm, interesting.
In War Thunder sim battles I find mouse look to be perfectly fine and superior to keys for tracking targets.
However I've been thinking of getting CLoD, since it's a lot cheaper than BoS, and because Britain>Russia preference, but you say that these games are more restrictive to mouse controls?
sory but what is a track-IR ?
Look it up the Internet....
lmgtfy.com/?q=TrackIR
Worldzzzs ok thx
Just use your feet to move mouse.
Thanks bismarck! Been waiting on this one in particular. Oh and 1st. Lol