I love my TrackIR 5

Gang,

 

This TrackIR add-on allows me to look in most directions. Everybody says it needs a lot of adjustments but I put it in a different place than recommended and it worked fine from the start. Just press F12 to center when your head is in a comfortable position. It's worth the money, I think. I see so much more now.

 

The clip-on reflectors do look delicate as I've read, so I tied them to the top of the visor of my ball cap with cord and I think it won't break that way. The quick-start guide warns of wires breaking on the other transducer (has LED lights instead of reflectors) and that is one reason I don't use it, because cords do break with stress - that is why you should never pull a plug from a receptacle by the cord. It starts fires.

 

Sean

I bought one brand new on eBay for the low, low price of about $135. Yeah... pretty incredible for something that amounts to a camera who's filter has been removed to capture more IR and a clip on for a hat. I played with it three times and I just couldn't get used to it. I like my hat switch on the yoke better, even though a TrackIR is more realistic. So I listed it on eBay and waited 7 days at the low price of $120. No takers. So I listed it here for $99 and no takers. Then I reduced the price to $80 and finally someone bought the damn thing. I took a major loss.

 

I've read about this Tobii eye tracker and asked here and at AVsim about it, but it doesn't sound very promising.

The TrackIR 5 is truly a game changer and well worth spending the time adjusting the settings, primarily the "Motion Control Speed" ( faster speed means less head movement required), to your liking and then using it for a few days till you don't notice that your head is moving while your eyes remain stationary - focused on the monitor. If your looking for a more realistic sim immersion experience, then in addition to a joystick (or control yoke) plus rudder pedals get a Head TrackIR. If anyone has any specific questions I will be happy to help if I can. Max

I was wondering how long it would take to get used to the TrackIR. It was instant - the only trouble I have is that I move my head when I am trying to click the mouse on a switch. Actually, the USB switch panel and radio panel I bought off of Amazon never did work, even after I downloaded the drivers, so that is the only difficulty for me.

Two things: good camera definitions to start with, and a TrackIr pause button on yr joystick (to temporarily freeze the view for clicking those tiny switches).

As for the camera definitions: don't use the default VC cockpit view, but add a camera that points some 5 to 10 degrees down from the initial eyepoint. You'll notice it's much more relaxed for scanning the instrument panel. Add extra cameras (if not already present) for "difficult areas" like the overhead.

Also define buttons on yr joystick for "View - Next in category" and "View - Prev in category" to cycle through yr cameras without using the keyboard.

 

The only thing I don't use TrackIr for, are outside views. Then I pause and use the hat switch.

 

Wim

Wim hit it - a pause button on the joystick makes a big difference in usability of the TrackIR. I have had TrackIR 4 for quite a few years, and it's great, but besides freezing the view for clicking in the cockpit, I pause it when I want to look around in the room (or out the window), when I need to use the keyboard for something (HOTAS stick minimizes that), or other things that might put extra load on the system when I'm not focusing on the sim. I do occasionally use TrackIR for outside views, if I'm looking for a slow pan or something, but mostly I pause it as Wim does.

 

Conversely, a friend got one about the same time I did, and has never been able to get used to it, so it's not something for everyone, but I think most people, if they'll give it a little time for them to adjust, can benefit from it, since you can move your view up, down, fore, aft, sideways, tilt, pretty much anything your head will do (so long as the reflectors remain in the camera's range), the view will do. I also find it great for an external view such as one that is perhaps on a pontoon or near the landing gear, in that I can usually turn my head 90º or more (then pause it if I wish) vs the hat switch being able to turn (slowly) maybe 5º or 10º.

 

I was wondering how long it would take to get used to the TrackIR. It was instant

 

Not instant for everyone. I did LIKE it immediately, but it took some time fiddling with adjustments and gaining experience before it became "instinctive" to use it. The bulk of my mental adjustment came in the first couple of hours, but another week or two passed before I didn't have to think about it very much, and another few months before I finally refined it to the way I've now been using it for years. I'm now very uncomfortable without it.

 

As for the camera definitions: don't use the default VC cockpit view, but add a camera that points some 5 to 10 degrees down from the initial eyepoint. You'll notice it's much more relaxed for scanning the instrument panel.

 

Or you can use the default view but raise your view (look up a little) until the top of the panel is at the bottom of the screen, then hit F12. That pretty much does the same thing, and no editing needed. There are many ways of doing what you need.

I have wondered for some time about a question I haven' heard answered.

 

Does Track IR affect/hurt frame rates and/or OOM issues? Basically, does this function further load down the CPU?? Using heavy scenery such as ORBX or PhotoReal can you still have good detail over areas dense with scenery and motion?

 

Rupert

I have wondered for some time about a question I haven' heard answered.

 

Does Track IR affect/hurt frame rates and/or OOM issues? Basically, does this function further load down the CPU?? Using heavy scenery such as ORBX or PhotoReal can you still have good detail over areas dense with scenery and motion?

 

Rupert

 

I've not found any noticeable effect on frame rates. My system is eight years old, except that the nVidia 970 card is about three years old, with 12GB RAM and terabytes of hard disk (recently I changed C: and D: to SSDs), and in P3D V2 I run ORBX Global, as well as all of the North American regions, plus several individual airports. What I find is that, ORBX or not, dense areas such as Los Angeles and Seattle give me fits, both with and without TrackIR -- about the same either way. In less dense areas I can max pretty much everything and still run 30 fps (that's what I set it for), in spite of being low to the ground at cruise speed in a Baron, or such, even with looking around with TrackIR. I look to the right down a canyon, then swing my head left to a different beautiful view, then back right again (perhaps all within 3-4 seconds) and things remain smooth.

 

All that being said, too much water at high detail levels or too many clouds (especially with rain or snow) at high levels of weather setting can affect things a lot, but not because of TrackIR. Certain aircraft also have their effects, but I can't tell the difference between TrackIR running or not.

 

As to OOM, I've never been aware of having such a problem.