Displaying X,Y, Z and P,B.H For Making Internal Camera Definitions?

Is there any way to display the x,y, z and p,b,h values for views while FSX is running so I can make Camera Definitions? I know I can save the flight and read the coordinates from the saved flight but that is time consuming for multiple views. I can determine the outside views myself but the internal views are what I am interested in. Thanks, Bob.

Hi,

 

this should be possible with an external SimConnect app using the eyepoint simulation variables:

 

EYEPOINT POSITION

The eyepoint position relative to the reference datum position for the aircraft.

 

STRUCT EYEPOINT DYNAMIC ANGLE

The angle of the eyepoint view. Zero, zero, zero is straight ahead.

 

You could either display the values in the app window directly or as a text band or menu window inside the sim.

Hi. Thanks Oliver. How would I go about doing that? Maybe some SimConnect expert could make a program to do that in FSX. Bob.

Hi. Thanks Oliver. How would I go about doing that? Maybe some SimConnect expert could make a program to do that in FSX. Bob.

 

Edit:

So I wrote the app but unfortunately discovered that this is not the way. These SimConnect variables are unusable, the "dynamic" ones only return the DHM values that are induced by the simulator, and the EYEPOINT POSITION never changes, it just displays the value that is set in the cfg.

 

I need more time for this - basically, what is needed is a simpler version of EZDOK, where you adjust the eyepoint through the app and record the values.

Edit:

So I wrote the app but unfortunately discovered that this is not the way. These SimConnect variables are unusable, the "dynamic" ones only return the DHM values that are induced by the simulator, and the EYEPOINT POSITION never changes, it just displays the value that is set in the cfg.

 

I need more time for this - basically, what is needed is a simpler version of EZDOK, where you adjust the eyepoint through the app and record the values.

 

Thanks Oliver. I really hope that you find a way. It would be most valuable to all simmers that make Camera Definitions for their own aircraft. Regards, Bob.

Thanks Oliver. I really hope that you find a way. It would be most valuable to all simmers that make Camera Definitions for their own aircraft. Regards, Bob.

 

Hello Bob,

 

indeed I did.

 

 

You will have to assign all the view system key events to either buttons or keys for it to work:

 

- Eyepoint (move back)

- Eyepoint (move forward)

- Eyepoint (move up)

- Eyepoint (move down)

- Eyepoint (move left)

- Eyepoint (move right)

- Eyepoint reset

- Look up (pan)

- Look down (pan)

- Look left (pan)

- Look right (pan)

- Slew (tilt left)

- Slew (tilt right)

 

And you have to disable EZDOK or any other camera addon.

 

But I need your help now - what do you need those values to look like so you can use them in a camera definition? Or do you want to try it right away, so we can determine what makes the most sense for you?

Hello Bob,

 

indeed I did.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]189249[/ATTACH]

 

You will have to assign all the viewing events to either buttons or keys for it to work:

 

- Eyepoint (move back)

- Eyepoint (move forward)

- Eyepoint (move up)

- Eyepoint (move down)

- Eyepoint (move left)

- Eyepoint (move right)

- Eyepoint reset

- Look up (pan)

- Look down (pan)

- Look left (pan)

- Look right (pan)

- Slew (tilt left)

- Slew (tilt right)

 

And you have to disable EZDOK or any other camera addon.

 

But I need your help now - what do you need those values to look like so you can use them in a camera definition? Or do you want to try it right away, so we can determine what makes the most sense for you?

 

Hi Oliver. It looks great. It's exactly what I wanted. How can I get it to try it out. Regards, Bob.

Hi,

Building on what's in this thread so far, but here's what I do currently; just so we're on the same page. I create a new camera in the aircraft.cfg for each new view I want with a new GUID and name and having zero values (no offset from the properly set eyepoint). I start a flight, adjust the view controls for each new camera so the view is what I desire, save the flight and copy the settings from the saved .flt to the aircraft.cfg. Pretty simple and it doesn't seem much more difficult than entering the saved values which were written down for later entry into the aircraft.cfg.

Now to my suggestion: While in a flight, with the new camera selected and the views set to what's wanted, simply "plunk your magic twanger" and have the values automatically saved to the aircraft.cfg. Now that would be handy.

Jim F.

Hello Jim,

 

sure, why not.

 

- You would have to provide the path to the aircraft.cfg as the simulator doesn't tell over SimConnect.

- On pressing the magic button, a dialog would open, representing the CameraDefintion entry lines as input fields.

- You fill out what is necessary then press "save"

- The tool then parses the aircraft.cfg for CameraDefinition entries, determines the last one and adds a new one after that.

 

Please let me know what you think - implementation is a piece of cake, just takes a little time.

 

Best regards

Hi Oliver. It looks great. It's exactly what I wanted. How can I get it to try it out. Regards, Bob.

 

Hi Bob,

 

I replied to your note - please let me know if you got it, for whatever reason my profile does not save sent messages.

 

Cheers

Hi lorby,

What I'm considering is the possibility of pressing a single key/combination and having the current values saved to the aircraft.cfg. Right now, by pressing the key to save the flight (";" by default) the values are saved to the .flt. An enhancement to this would be to have the new values saved to the aircraft.cfg as well, with the needed transposition. Incidentally, I wouldn't have any idea as to how to do this.

Jim F.

Hi lorby,

What I'm considering is the possibility of pressing a single key/combination and having the current values saved to the aircraft.cfg. Right now, by pressing the key to save the flight (";" by default) the values are saved to the .flt. An enhancement to this would be to have the new values saved to the aircraft.cfg as well, with the needed transposition. Incidentally, I wouldn't have any idea as to how to do this.

Jim F.

 

Hello Jim,

 

Problem with an in-sim solution is, that a lot of input is required by the user if you want to go beyond generic values for the CameraDefintion - so some form of interaction is necessary. This might be a lot of effort to implement (as a gauge).

 

Not as slick, but still functional - I implemented a similar feature into the CameraPositionX. Sent you a PM with a download link in case you want to try it.

 

 

 

Best regards

Hi. I got your new version but all I get are 0's when I ran it. Regards, Bob.

Hi lorby-si,

I haven't checked out the file you sent me the link for so I can't be of help with that.

Regarding your last post to me I'm responding to that. Currently, I determine what new cameras I'd like to add to the VC. Then to the Aircraft.cfg I enter a new section for each using this template:

 

[CameraDefinition.XXX]

Title = New Camera Title

Guid = {XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX}

Origin = Virtual Cockpit

MomentumEffect = Yes

SnapPbhAdjust = Swivel

SnapPbhReturn = False

PanPbhAdjust = Swivel

PanPbhReturn = False

Track = None

ShowAxis = YES

AllowZoom = TRUE

InitialZoom = 1.0

SmoothZoomTime = 2.0

ZoomPanScalar = 1.0

ShowWeather = Yes

XyzAdjust = TRUE

ShowLensFlare=FALSE

Category = Cockpit

PitchPanRate=20

HeadingPanRate=60

InitialXyz=0, 0, 0

InitialPbh=0, 0, 0

 

I then fill in the highlighted values for the new camera and then after setting the views for each camera (using the title for reference) while in a flight and saving I refer to the .flt and based on the GUIDs transfer the values to the Aircraft.cfg. and save it.

My idea was to have the values automatically saved to the Aircraft.cfg as well as the .flt when the Flight was saved. As I said, I wouldn't have any idea as to how to do this but I think it would be handy and I try to never underestimate the abilities of members of this forum.

Jim F.

Looks great. Planning to upload it to the FlightSim File Library ?

 

Wim

Hi. I got your new version but all I get are 0's when I ran it. Regards, Bob.

 

Hi Bob,

 

did you bind keys to the view events as described in the readme? The app reads these key events and moves the camera around while tracking the position.

 

Unfortunately this is the only way to do it, as there is no method to read the current camera position via SimConnect - if you move it around for example with SPACE+mouse the app cannot track it.

 

Best regards

Hi lorby-si,

I haven't checked out the file you sent me the link for so I can't be of help with that.

Regarding your last post to me I'm responding to that. Currently, I determine what new cameras I'd like to add to the VC. Then to the Aircraft.cfg I enter a new section for each using this template:

 

[CameraDefinition.XXX]

Title = New Camera Title

Guid = {XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX}

Origin = Virtual Cockpit

MomentumEffect = Yes

SnapPbhAdjust = Swivel

SnapPbhReturn = False

PanPbhAdjust = Swivel

PanPbhReturn = False

Track = None

ShowAxis = YES

AllowZoom = TRUE

InitialZoom = 1.0

SmoothZoomTime = 2.0

ZoomPanScalar = 1.0

ShowWeather = Yes

XyzAdjust = TRUE

ShowLensFlare=FALSE

Category = Cockpit

PitchPanRate=20

HeadingPanRate=60

InitialXyz=0, 0, 0

InitialPbh=0, 0, 0

 

I then fill in the highlighted values for the new camera and then after setting the views for each camera (using the title for reference) while in a flight and saving I refer to the .flt and based on the GUIDs transfer the values to the Aircraft.cfg. and save it.

My idea was to have the values automatically saved to the Aircraft.cfg as well as the .flt when the Flight was saved. As I said, I wouldn't have any idea as to how to do this but I think it would be handy and I try to never underestimate the abilities of members of this forum.

Jim F.

 

Hi Jim,

 

the fundamental difficulty with this is, that there is no way to read the current camera position with SimConnect. The only way that I was able to do it was, to use the standard key events of the viewing system. What I did was to catch these key events and move the camera myself by defined amounts, so I know the position where it is at. This works only with the key events, moving the camera any other way (like with SPACE+mouse) cannot be tracked.

 

You would have to have the app running in the background anyway so it can track your camera movements. It would be possible of course to catch some other key press too and set a camera definition according to your spec, so you wouldn't have to leave the sim, but that IMHO is more of a convenience/nice-to-have feature - or is it?

 

Best regards

Looks great. Planning to upload it to the FlightSim File Library ?

 

Wim

 

Hello Wim,

 

sure, as soon as a few people have tested it and it is reasonably bug-free...

 

If you want, I will send you the download link too.

 

Best regards

Hello @ll,

 

here is a short update about the current version. Not yet ready for the library, but we are getting there.

 

Features:

- The app is tracking the eyepoint movement events (keystrokes) and records the position of the eyepoint in the sim.

- This works for Virtual Cockpit and external Aircraft cameras

- All 6 degrees of freedom plus zoom can be tweaked in real time

- You can save a new CameraDefinition any time

- You can edit existing CameraDefinitions

- You can create fixed point cameras at lat/lon coordinates

- You can edit (almost) every parameter of the camera definition according to the SDK spec. (almost: Parameters are limited to those that are relevant for Cockpit and Aircraft cams.

- Installers for FSX Accel, FSX SE, P3D 2.5 and P3D 3.2

 

 

 

Thanks Oliver. Looks great. I'll try it as soon as I get my FSX fixed. Regards, Bob.