I don’t own any of these g1000 units I’m just interested in watching other simmers setups like yours, I just wanted to comment and say what a great video it was, very informative and an enjoyable watch
I went with the Simionic solution for all the same reasons. I agree that it's not totally perfect, but overall, I am quite pleased with it. Good discussion.
I used the simionics with MSFS on two android tablets, first as an Alpha tester and then with the early release version. I could never get the autopilot to work properly, and I found out accidentally one day that it was caused by the simionics!! AP worked fine when I didn't use them!!
The Simionic app doesn't control the in-sim autopilot, it has its own autopilot module which directly controls the aircraft via Simconnect. So if you turn on the in-sim autopilot it will be directly clashing with the Simionic autopilot code. I would prefer there were a mode that makes the app just send commands to the in-sim autopilot, but there isn't and no indication that the developer intends to add one. With Simionic it helps to remember that it was created primarily to be part of a larger hardware solution to replicate a C172, and everything starts from there. I do speak to the developer occasionally so I have mentioned that at the very least the Simionic autopilot behaviour needs to be configurable for different aircraft types. A bizjet climbs way faster than a piston engine and so the pitch change curve needs to be much sharper, as an example, or else you end up 'hunting' the altitude and oscillating above and below constantly.
Don’t know if you heard but Chen has built an adapter for the G1000 bezel that allows you to use the Garmin units from the sim, independently from the iOS app. Using spacedesk or any other app you can pop out the screens from the sim and move them to your tablets and use the physical buttons. He’s probably going to announce it soon. In short is an adapter USB-COM that allows to use the in-sim buttons using a new bridge. He’s even going to put up for sale some not expensive LCD screens that fit in bezel units if you want to connect them via HDMI. I ordered my pack recently. Waiting to get them in a few days. I’m a bit concerned how my forcefeedback Brunner yoke is going to react with the independent autopilot as the bridge from Brunner recognizes the autopilot being engaged in the sim. I guess I’ll find out. If it’s not going to be smooth I will switch to the new option as he added the new adapter to my order.
Yes, I’m aware of that, but it only works with the newer bezels (M series, I have N). I did ask him about getting a Bluetooth driver, because you can bind the bezels to Windows, but it doesn’t know how to do anything with it because there is no specific driver. I’m actually rebuilding my Emuteq units with new screens, so if I want to use the in-sim G1000, I will be able to do it with those.
Here we are 8 months later and the issue still exits. Thanks for making a video about it. I wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong, or what. This is kind of a big deal to me. I set up a flight plan in the Simonic g1000, and it's doesn't reflect/enter the plan into MSFS2020 g1000, or vise versa like you say. I've emailed support with some other questions and haven't heard back. maybe Simionic is backing away from supporting this product? There is no support forum on their site, and their F&Q is very limited. I think I'll buy a couple touch 10" displays, connect them to the 2nd gpu on my computer and drag out the mfd and pfd from MSFS. That resolves that :)
Simionic working independently of the sim for flight planning etc is by design. It doesn't control the sim autopilot, it provides its own. It would be relatively trivial to provide a way to import flight plans from the sim to the app, though, and the fact that it hasn't been done yet is irritating enough that I was working on a program to do it myself. It's true that their support email is often slow to reply. There is a limited comments section on their site where people do interact and ask questions, but really the best support you can get is on the Facebook group (search for 'Simionic G1000 Flyers', you'll need to be admitted as it's a private group) which is semi-official in that the developer does hang out there occasionally and you'll find a community of users helping each other. The real problem with Simionic (and so many other companies in this space) is that it's basically one person doing everything. I don't know how many people Simionic employs but I do know that the main software developer is the only developer. He seems perpetually so busy that he can't really engage much with customers. Particularly now, he's building a new app which models the G1000 NXi which is promised to solve all the problems with the existing apps. No ETA on that new app, though. For myself, I am abandoning Simionic, at least for now, because as you say, popping out the G1000/3000 in the sim is now a viable option that doesn't tank your frame rate (much). I've refurbished my Emuteq units with new screens and I'm able to bind all the buttons to MSFS via Spad.neXt. It works pretty well, with the bonus that I can also do the GX3 and even the Proline avionics in the CJ4, and even steam gauges via AirManager. The Emuteq units aren't the best, they're not the most accurate, but they do work well and they were easy to upgrade to HDMI screens. I am keeping the Simionic units, though, and I will try out the NXi app when it comes. I still think it's a good approach, it's just flawed and not configurable enough, with irritating bugs that seem to be down to iOS restrictions more than the app itself. Maybe those will get solved.
Might be worth me mentioning here that I have actually stopped using Simionic. But that is mostly about my particular set up (where I fly a lot of different aircraft) and the fact that MSFS pop outs now work properly. Sort of. I still think it’s a good system, but right now I would mostly recommend it for those looking to do C172 sims. The new NXi app may change that.
@@TheMileHighGeek that is a good point. I’m mainly between Simionic and realsimgear. They are about the same price for just 1 screen.. setup wise, I’m looking for one that is easier to get into game so I don’t have to spend 20 minutes setting up. I boot up the game, set the head tracker, and don’t want to add too many other steps if that makes sense
Thanks for the video :-) When I see and hear all this, it certainly seems like a lost cost to buy the Simionic equipment, as long as there is no correct communication between the PC (flight sim) and the iPads in two directions.. Sometimes it is useful to load an FPL in the PC sim and you should see this on the iPad's .. right ..? Is there still no solution for this at Simionic?
Not in the current app, no. The developer there is building a new app which emulates the NXi but has not been clear about what features are being included. This has been asked for multiple times but he has not indicated whether or not he plans to add it. I've left Simionic behind, to be honest.
Do you have the bridge software downloaded from the Simionic website? In my experience it generally just works and is pretty self-explanatory. You have to make sure that the iPads and the PC are on the same Wi-Fi network. Or that the Wi-Fi network can be reached from the wired network via the router. I haven’t tried the one for X-Plane for obvious reasons. There are intermittent connection problems, but this is usually between the two iPads and not between the PFD and the PC. This appears to be an iOS issue which supposedly might be fixed in the NXi app coming, well, it’s anyone’s guess when.
Here's the links to the G1000 solutions mentioned in this video (I haven't linked directly to the G1000 pages as I don't want the links to become stale, but they're easy enough to find): Emuteq - www.emuteq.com RealSimGear - www.realsimgear.com Aviatek - www.aviatek.com Noble - www.nobleflightsim.com Flight1Tech - www.flight1tech.com Simionic - www.simionic.net Update 24/12/21: 737 SST has reminded me that there are two other contenders: Virtual Fly - www.virtual-fly.com/shop/avionics/vfg1000 Brunner - www.brunner-innovation.swiss/product/beh1000-pfd-gma-mfd/ All above (except Noble) have the same issues, though - you need either the Flight1Tech G1000 software or the Mindstar G1000 (if you have P3Dv3.x still as it's not yet 64-bit despite P3Dv4 coming out in 2017!). Noble's solution uses their own software which is not, as far as I know, customisable for new aircraft types.
I found that Alfred TwinSim (whose sim is awesome; shame he isn't making content at the moment) had done a full unboxing-the-Simionic video a few years back, so do check it out and give it a few thousand likes: ua-cam.com/video/-25IZ6g0bKg/v-deo.html
Hi, can you tell me how to get rid of the instrument panel in mfs 2020? I just want to have the internal view without "double" panels.. I cannot find any short commandos for taking it away. Thanks in advance /Niclas
Hi Niclas. I didn't really get rid of the instrument panel. As you can see on my external camera, the TV I use in the sim is quite high up, so that the middle of the screen is quite a way above the line of my eyes. So I just tilt the cockpit camera upwards to bring the horizon line down, and this pushes the instrument panel off the bottom of the screen. It only really works because of the positioning of my TV; on a regular monitor it would look wrong. There are a few 'hacks' out there for getting a forward view without instruments. Check the MSFS forums, there are a few posts on it there. But the short answer is that there is no official way to do it and no way that works well.
No. The current Simionic apps simulate the pre-NXi G1000 only. They can support multiple aircraft types but the customisation is limited to the EIS and v-speeds. Particular custom pages for particular aircraft are not supported. The developer is currently building a new app which will simulate the NXi. As usual with Simionic, no timeline is available but he did recently post a quick preview video in the Simionic users Facebook group showing the work so far. The new app will be a single unified app for MFD and PFD (so you'll use the same app on both iPads). Beyond that I have no idea how configurable or customisable it will be.
@@FlyerOneZero You're welcome. I've tried to compare the different (hardware) options in the past, including the different software. I found it quite difficult. Hopefully, this video helps other people as well. Thanks.
Hi I just got my Simionic g1000. Thanks for the video. Question - are you aware of any apps that I can use with my Simionic g1000 that will provide live weather and live air traffic?
Hi. If you're using MSFS or P3D with the bridge software, then the weather (well, winds) and traffic should be sent across from the sim. Not sure about X-Plane.
If you go down that route and you have the latest (M-series) bezels, you can buy a module that will connect them to your PC as game controller devices and then you can bind the buttons and rotaries with something like Spad.neXt. Since the hardware isn't terrible this isn't a bad option if you already have them but want to move from the Simionic app to the MSFS pop-outs. Unfortunately if you have the previous bezels (N-series) like me, that isn't an option. So I retired my Simionic hardware and went back to my older Emuteq units which aren't as good but are direct-connect to the PC. In my next-gen sim I will probably buy the Aviatek units.
Hey, thanks for the awesome video. I'm looking to purchase a G1000 panel and it's between the Simionic's and the Aviatek. I understand the issues about the performance related to pop-outs, but I'm not sure I'm understanding about the need to install the Flight1Tech G1000 software that you mention. The Aviatek seems to have it's own bridge connector and you can configure different setups - but then isn't it really just displaying the G1000 from MSFS/Xplane since it's an external monitor and then the buttons on the panel are mapped to the sim? So it's up to whether the flight sim itself supports that plane/setup? Sorry if it's a stupid question, I'm just trying to understand a bit better before diving into such a large purchase.
Hi Steve. Not a stupid question at all, this stuff is complex. Usually, you would have two choices: use your simulator's G1000 (MSFS or X-Plane) and pop out those instruments to additional screens, in which case you need a G1000 unit with a screen that connects to your PC, like the Aviatek or my Emuteq units; or use an external G1000 program, which generates its own views that are placed on the screens of your G1000 hardware. The Flight1Tech software I talk about is an external G1000 program (really, it's about the only one that isn't manufacturer-specific), which I chose because my simulator at the time, Prepar3d, didn't have a good native G1000 and the G1000s inside other aircraft like Carenado wasn't easily adaptable to use with hardware units. In MSFS, you have a reasonably good G1000/3000 simulation which can run on hardware units with some loss of FPS and the use of additional software, so you would likely not want to invest the large amount of money in something like Flight1Tech (and to be honest, that software is basically dead in terms of new development) or the Noble FS software (which only works with their G1000 hardware). Just pop out the MSFS gauges and use those. You can wire up your buttons either with software from the manufacturer, or Spad.neXt. Simionic is different, in that the G1000 simulation is external to the simulator *and* to your PC entirely, it runs on the iPads that you place inside the Simionic bezels. If you go down this route then basically you have to use the Simionic G1000 apps and you can't use anything else. I do run Spacedesk on my PC and iPads so I can use the iPads as extra displays in Windows and I *can* pop out the MSFS G1000 PFD / MFD to them, but then I can't use the bezel controls because they don't talk to Windows like a regular USB controller. I know Simionic is planning on making a module to let you do that in future, though, so that would then be an option. Basically: if you want to use the in-sim G1000, get Aviatek. If you want to use separate G1000 software that can adapt to most of the MSFS aircraft, with custom profiles, then go Simionic. The all-in costs are similar, I think. If I were making the choice today, I might well go with the Aviatek + MSFS solution instead. The pop-out penalty is low enough now to make it worthwhile, and with things like the MSFS Pop-Out Panel Manager, you can get the pop-outs without title bars and have them automatically placed at the start of each flight. In fact, I'm renovating my Emuteq units and I may consider going back to them, at least to compare with Simionic as an option. Hope that helps. If you want to discuss in more detail, head to backbedroompilot.com and fill out the contact form there and I'll get back to you on email.
@@FlyerOneZerohi. This video and the comments and your responses are extremely helpful. One quick question and probably a dumb one, if I buy an add-on plane that comes with G 1000 does that planes G 1000 software show up on the aviatek monitor or is it still the one?? I’m leaning twards aviatek. They’re a lot more money, but they look awesome. Just still learning all the screen pop out stuff though before I buy anything.
@@pgreenx Yes, assuming you’re talking about MSFS then you would ‘pop out’ the G1000 displays and move them onto the Aviatek screens. Then the Aviatek software connects the bezel controls to the sim. This differs from Simionic where it’s their G1000 apps displaying on iPads. Two different approaches.
@@FlyerOneZero I was asking about xplane (12). Question is if I add a payware plane, will the (pop out) g1000 be the xplane built in one or what comes with the payware plane? Thanks
I never understand the sense in buying a hardware gauge that emulates a software gauge, so that you are now forced to see both of them. It would make more sense if you had a WHOLE hardware panel with every single control and gauge, then used a monitor for the outside view only. But what sense is there in seeing controls and gauges twice? It breaks the immersion for me. Surely it would be cheaper just to have a very large touchscreen monitor then touch-control the virtual GPS and other gauges. I just find it odd to look at a physical gauge and an identical virtual gauge at the same time. If the whole point is to improve immersion, what could kill immersion more?
That's what I did with my Prepar3d setup in the previous-generation simulator. But it's not possible in MSFS to get rid of the virtual cockpit at the moment. I would rather have a piece of real hardware that I can touch than a touch-screen, although I do use touch-screens because when you're simulating multiple aircraft types it's just not possible to have every gauge and control. So my approach is to have the common controls as hardware, and go virtual where I must. It works OK, but it's not as good as a faithful complete recreation of the particular aircraft cockpit would be, of course. I just am not willing to restrict myself to one aircraft. Not that you can do most of this with MSFS anyway, at least not yet.
Lost costs...Simionic PFD and MFD on the iPad are completely worthless as long as there is no (better) synchronization between MSFS and Simionic on iPAD...
I don’t own any of these g1000 units I’m just interested in watching other simmers setups like yours, I just wanted to comment and say what a great video it was, very informative and an enjoyable watch
As a fellow Simionic user for my Cessna cockpit, I love it. Nice video mate.....
I went with the Simionic solution for all the same reasons. I agree that it's not totally perfect, but overall, I am quite pleased with it. Good discussion.
I used the simionics with MSFS on two android tablets, first as an Alpha tester and then with the early release version. I could never get the autopilot to work properly, and I found out accidentally one day that it was caused by the simionics!! AP worked fine when I didn't use them!!
The Simionic app doesn't control the in-sim autopilot, it has its own autopilot module which directly controls the aircraft via Simconnect. So if you turn on the in-sim autopilot it will be directly clashing with the Simionic autopilot code. I would prefer there were a mode that makes the app just send commands to the in-sim autopilot, but there isn't and no indication that the developer intends to add one. With Simionic it helps to remember that it was created primarily to be part of a larger hardware solution to replicate a C172, and everything starts from there. I do speak to the developer occasionally so I have mentioned that at the very least the Simionic autopilot behaviour needs to be configurable for different aircraft types. A bizjet climbs way faster than a piston engine and so the pitch change curve needs to be much sharper, as an example, or else you end up 'hunting' the altitude and oscillating above and below constantly.
Don’t know if you heard but Chen has built an adapter for the G1000 bezel that allows you to use the Garmin units from the sim, independently from the iOS app. Using spacedesk or any other app you can pop out the screens from the sim and move them to your tablets and use the physical buttons.
He’s probably going to announce it soon.
In short is an adapter USB-COM that allows to use the in-sim buttons using a new bridge. He’s even going to put up for sale some not expensive LCD screens that fit in bezel units if you want to connect them via HDMI.
I ordered my pack recently. Waiting to get them in a few days.
I’m a bit concerned how my forcefeedback Brunner yoke is going to react with the independent autopilot as the bridge from Brunner recognizes the autopilot being engaged in the sim. I guess I’ll find out.
If it’s not going to be smooth I will switch to the new option as he added the new adapter to my order.
Yes, I’m aware of that, but it only works with the newer bezels (M series, I have N). I did ask him about getting a Bluetooth driver, because you can bind the bezels to Windows, but it doesn’t know how to do anything with it because there is no specific driver.
I’m actually rebuilding my Emuteq units with new screens, so if I want to use the in-sim G1000, I will be able to do it with those.
Here we are 8 months later and the issue still exits. Thanks for making a video about it. I wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong, or what. This is kind of a big deal to me. I set up a flight plan in the Simonic g1000, and it's doesn't reflect/enter the plan into MSFS2020 g1000, or vise versa like you say. I've emailed support with some other questions and haven't heard back. maybe Simionic is backing away from supporting this product? There is no support forum on their site, and their F&Q is very limited. I think I'll buy a couple touch 10" displays, connect them to the 2nd gpu on my computer and drag out the mfd and pfd from MSFS. That resolves that :)
Simionic working independently of the sim for flight planning etc is by design. It doesn't control the sim autopilot, it provides its own. It would be relatively trivial to provide a way to import flight plans from the sim to the app, though, and the fact that it hasn't been done yet is irritating enough that I was working on a program to do it myself. It's true that their support email is often slow to reply. There is a limited comments section on their site where people do interact and ask questions, but really the best support you can get is on the Facebook group (search for 'Simionic G1000 Flyers', you'll need to be admitted as it's a private group) which is semi-official in that the developer does hang out there occasionally and you'll find a community of users helping each other.
The real problem with Simionic (and so many other companies in this space) is that it's basically one person doing everything. I don't know how many people Simionic employs but I do know that the main software developer is the only developer. He seems perpetually so busy that he can't really engage much with customers. Particularly now, he's building a new app which models the G1000 NXi which is promised to solve all the problems with the existing apps. No ETA on that new app, though.
For myself, I am abandoning Simionic, at least for now, because as you say, popping out the G1000/3000 in the sim is now a viable option that doesn't tank your frame rate (much). I've refurbished my Emuteq units with new screens and I'm able to bind all the buttons to MSFS via Spad.neXt. It works pretty well, with the bonus that I can also do the GX3 and even the Proline avionics in the CJ4, and even steam gauges via AirManager. The Emuteq units aren't the best, they're not the most accurate, but they do work well and they were easy to upgrade to HDMI screens.
I am keeping the Simionic units, though, and I will try out the NXi app when it comes. I still think it's a good approach, it's just flawed and not configurable enough, with irritating bugs that seem to be down to iOS restrictions more than the app itself. Maybe those will get solved.
Great video! Trying to figure out the one I want to go with. Thanks!
Might be worth me mentioning here that I have actually stopped using Simionic. But that is mostly about my particular set up (where I fly a lot of different aircraft) and the fact that MSFS pop outs now work properly. Sort of. I still think it’s a good system, but right now I would mostly recommend it for those looking to do C172 sims. The new NXi app may change that.
@@TheMileHighGeek that is a good point. I’m mainly between Simionic and realsimgear. They are about the same price for just 1 screen.. setup wise, I’m looking for one that is easier to get into game so I don’t have to spend 20 minutes setting up. I boot up the game, set the head tracker, and don’t want to add too many other steps if that makes sense
Oh, I just realised I’m posting as me and not as the BBP… presumably you realise that we are one and the same :-)
Thanks for the video :-) When I see and hear all this, it certainly seems like a lost cost to buy the Simionic equipment, as long as there is no correct communication between the PC (flight sim) and the iPads in two directions.. Sometimes it is useful to load an FPL in the PC sim and you should see this on the iPad's .. right ..? Is there still no solution for this at Simionic?
Not in the current app, no. The developer there is building a new app which emulates the NXi but has not been clear about what features are being included. This has been asked for multiple times but he has not indicated whether or not he plans to add it. I've left Simionic behind, to be honest.
why is there not one single video on how to connect this app to the sim in the first place?
Do you have the bridge software downloaded from the Simionic website? In my experience it generally just works and is pretty self-explanatory. You have to make sure that the iPads and the PC are on the same Wi-Fi network. Or that the Wi-Fi network can be reached from the wired network via the router. I haven’t tried the one for X-Plane for obvious reasons.
There are intermittent connection problems, but this is usually between the two iPads and not between the PFD and the PC. This appears to be an iOS issue which supposedly might be fixed in the NXi app coming, well, it’s anyone’s guess when.
Here's the links to the G1000 solutions mentioned in this video (I haven't linked directly to the G1000 pages as I don't want the links to become stale, but they're easy enough to find):
Emuteq - www.emuteq.com
RealSimGear - www.realsimgear.com
Aviatek - www.aviatek.com
Noble - www.nobleflightsim.com
Flight1Tech - www.flight1tech.com
Simionic - www.simionic.net
Update 24/12/21: 737 SST has reminded me that there are two other contenders:
Virtual Fly - www.virtual-fly.com/shop/avionics/vfg1000
Brunner - www.brunner-innovation.swiss/product/beh1000-pfd-gma-mfd/
All above (except Noble) have the same issues, though - you need either the Flight1Tech G1000 software or the Mindstar G1000 (if you have P3Dv3.x still as it's not yet 64-bit despite P3Dv4 coming out in 2017!). Noble's solution uses their own software which is not, as far as I know, customisable for new aircraft types.
Add Quick Made to your list
@@CanadianTexaninLiguria I can’t find that one with a quick Google. Got a URL?
I found that Alfred TwinSim (whose sim is awesome; shame he isn't making content at the moment) had done a full unboxing-the-Simionic video a few years back, so do check it out and give it a few thousand likes: ua-cam.com/video/-25IZ6g0bKg/v-deo.html
OK biggest question were do you buy these bezels>??????
www.simionic.net/wordpress/shop/
Hi, can you tell me how to get rid of the instrument panel in mfs 2020? I just want to have the internal view without "double" panels.. I cannot find any short commandos for taking it away.
Thanks in advance
/Niclas
Hi Niclas. I didn't really get rid of the instrument panel. As you can see on my external camera, the TV I use in the sim is quite high up, so that the middle of the screen is quite a way above the line of my eyes. So I just tilt the cockpit camera upwards to bring the horizon line down, and this pushes the instrument panel off the bottom of the screen. It only really works because of the positioning of my TV; on a regular monitor it would look wrong.
There are a few 'hacks' out there for getting a forward view without instruments. Check the MSFS forums, there are a few posts on it there. But the short answer is that there is no official way to do it and no way that works well.
Do simionic provide pfd and mgd nxi version software for the iPad using different aircraft.
No. The current Simionic apps simulate the pre-NXi G1000 only. They can support multiple aircraft types but the customisation is limited to the EIS and v-speeds. Particular custom pages for particular aircraft are not supported.
The developer is currently building a new app which will simulate the NXi. As usual with Simionic, no timeline is available but he did recently post a quick preview video in the Simionic users Facebook group showing the work so far. The new app will be a single unified app for MFD and PFD (so you'll use the same app on both iPads). Beyond that I have no idea how configurable or customisable it will be.
@@FlyerOneZero Great feed back. Thx so much
Thanks, could you add in the comments links to the various G1000 manufacturers mentioned?
Good call. Done.
@@FlyerOneZero You're welcome. I've tried to compare the different (hardware) options in the past, including the different software. I found it quite difficult. Hopefully, this video helps other people as well. Thanks.
Hi I just got my Simionic g1000. Thanks for the video. Question - are you aware of any apps that I can use with my Simionic g1000 that will provide live weather and live air traffic?
Hi. If you're using MSFS or P3D with the bridge software, then the weather (well, winds) and traffic should be sent across from the sim. Not sure about X-Plane.
Once you pop out the MFD/PFD to the display, how will you control the units? Still use the Simionic bezels?
If you go down that route and you have the latest (M-series) bezels, you can buy a module that will connect them to your PC as game controller devices and then you can bind the buttons and rotaries with something like Spad.neXt. Since the hardware isn't terrible this isn't a bad option if you already have them but want to move from the Simionic app to the MSFS pop-outs. Unfortunately if you have the previous bezels (N-series) like me, that isn't an option. So I retired my Simionic hardware and went back to my older Emuteq units which aren't as good but are direct-connect to the PC. In my next-gen sim I will probably buy the Aviatek units.
Hey, thanks for the awesome video. I'm looking to purchase a G1000 panel and it's between the Simionic's and the Aviatek. I understand the issues about the performance related to pop-outs, but I'm not sure I'm understanding about the need to install the Flight1Tech G1000 software that you mention. The Aviatek seems to have it's own bridge connector and you can configure different setups - but then isn't it really just displaying the G1000 from MSFS/Xplane since it's an external monitor and then the buttons on the panel are mapped to the sim? So it's up to whether the flight sim itself supports that plane/setup?
Sorry if it's a stupid question, I'm just trying to understand a bit better before diving into such a large purchase.
Hi Steve. Not a stupid question at all, this stuff is complex. Usually, you would have two choices: use your simulator's G1000 (MSFS or X-Plane) and pop out those instruments to additional screens, in which case you need a G1000 unit with a screen that connects to your PC, like the Aviatek or my Emuteq units; or use an external G1000 program, which generates its own views that are placed on the screens of your G1000 hardware.
The Flight1Tech software I talk about is an external G1000 program (really, it's about the only one that isn't manufacturer-specific), which I chose because my simulator at the time, Prepar3d, didn't have a good native G1000 and the G1000s inside other aircraft like Carenado wasn't easily adaptable to use with hardware units. In MSFS, you have a reasonably good G1000/3000 simulation which can run on hardware units with some loss of FPS and the use of additional software, so you would likely not want to invest the large amount of money in something like Flight1Tech (and to be honest, that software is basically dead in terms of new development) or the Noble FS software (which only works with their G1000 hardware). Just pop out the MSFS gauges and use those. You can wire up your buttons either with software from the manufacturer, or Spad.neXt.
Simionic is different, in that the G1000 simulation is external to the simulator *and* to your PC entirely, it runs on the iPads that you place inside the Simionic bezels. If you go down this route then basically you have to use the Simionic G1000 apps and you can't use anything else. I do run Spacedesk on my PC and iPads so I can use the iPads as extra displays in Windows and I *can* pop out the MSFS G1000 PFD / MFD to them, but then I can't use the bezel controls because they don't talk to Windows like a regular USB controller. I know Simionic is planning on making a module to let you do that in future, though, so that would then be an option.
Basically: if you want to use the in-sim G1000, get Aviatek. If you want to use separate G1000 software that can adapt to most of the MSFS aircraft, with custom profiles, then go Simionic. The all-in costs are similar, I think.
If I were making the choice today, I might well go with the Aviatek + MSFS solution instead. The pop-out penalty is low enough now to make it worthwhile, and with things like the MSFS Pop-Out Panel Manager, you can get the pop-outs without title bars and have them automatically placed at the start of each flight. In fact, I'm renovating my Emuteq units and I may consider going back to them, at least to compare with Simionic as an option.
Hope that helps. If you want to discuss in more detail, head to backbedroompilot.com and fill out the contact form there and I'll get back to you on email.
@@FlyerOneZero Awesome, that clears things up! Thanks!
@@FlyerOneZerohi. This video and the comments and your responses are extremely helpful. One quick question and probably a dumb one, if I buy an add-on plane that comes with G 1000 does that planes G 1000 software show up on the aviatek monitor or is it still the one??
I’m leaning twards aviatek. They’re a lot more money, but they look awesome. Just still learning all the screen pop out stuff though before I buy anything.
@@pgreenx Yes, assuming you’re talking about MSFS then you would ‘pop out’ the G1000 displays and move them onto the Aviatek screens. Then the Aviatek software connects the bezel controls to the sim. This differs from Simionic where it’s their G1000 apps displaying on iPads. Two different approaches.
@@FlyerOneZero I was asking about xplane (12). Question is if I add a payware plane, will the (pop out) g1000 be the xplane built in one or what comes with the payware plane?
Thanks
I never understand the sense in buying a hardware gauge that emulates a software gauge, so that you are now forced to see both of them. It would make more sense if you had a WHOLE hardware panel with every single control and gauge, then used a monitor for the outside view only. But what sense is there in seeing controls and gauges twice? It breaks the immersion for me. Surely it would be cheaper just to have a very large touchscreen monitor then touch-control the virtual GPS and other gauges. I just find it odd to look at a physical gauge and an identical virtual gauge at the same time. If the whole point is to improve immersion, what could kill immersion more?
That's what I did with my Prepar3d setup in the previous-generation simulator. But it's not possible in MSFS to get rid of the virtual cockpit at the moment. I would rather have a piece of real hardware that I can touch than a touch-screen, although I do use touch-screens because when you're simulating multiple aircraft types it's just not possible to have every gauge and control. So my approach is to have the common controls as hardware, and go virtual where I must. It works OK, but it's not as good as a faithful complete recreation of the particular aircraft cockpit would be, of course. I just am not willing to restrict myself to one aircraft. Not that you can do most of this with MSFS anyway, at least not yet.
Lost costs...Simionic PFD and MFD on the iPad are completely worthless as long as there is no (better) synchronization between MSFS and Simionic on iPAD...