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Interview: Mark Ellis, Developer Of X-Camera Conducted by Dominic Smith Mark, how did your journey with X-Camera start? I have always wanted to get my private pilot's license but I had a job that demanded a lot of travel so I was finding it hard committing to the regular schedule that pilot training required. I decided instead to get a copy of FSX and start learning through simulation so I would be better prepared for the formal training when I started. Needless to say, I got hooked. I could not believe how much more realistic FSX had become over the years, since my younger self last used it. After that, I started adding on controls, instruments, better computers, etc. I went nuts. Previously, I had tried X-Plane 9 but still felt that FSX was the better option. When X-Plane 10 came out, I decided to give it another try and wow, was I impressed! Its realism exceeded that of FSX and it felt very close to the discovery flight I had a few months earlier. I was also blown away by how smooth it was compared to FSX so I started flying X-Plane a lot more. As I added some top notch scenery, Carenado planes, and some plugins, I became convinced this was the future. I have not flown FSX for two years now. Having enjoyed X-Plane so much, I wanted to help it grow. I was impressed with the community and it is so easy for fellow enthusiasts to develop scenery and planes for the sim but there were still some things missing. Being a big EzDok user, I missed having that level of control over the view system. Don't get me wrong, X-Plane is pretty good but EzDok was better. I also did not like the way X-Plane handled TrackIR, too much smoothing. Having been in software development for 35 years (mostly C, C++, and Java), I decided to put my skills to use now I am nearing retirement. In writing an EzDok replacement using the X-Plane SDK, building X-Camera has allowed me to combine two of my passions - software development and flight simulation - and from day one I was hooked. I ended up becoming good friends with Thomas Rasmussen. Thomas was one of my early adopters and he gave me a bunch of ideas for X-Camera. Take a look at some of his videos, all the panning you see is done with X-Camera. Over time, the X-Camera following got larger and larger and I added more features based on user input and some of my own ideas. I thought I may have got a little carried away but we now have over 6,000 downloads, over 500 registered users using the more advanced features, and X-Camera is on page two of the most popular and highest rated X-Plane utility plugins. It is very exciting when so many people appreciate your work. X-Camera Highlight video by Thomas Rasmussen Your work has certainly proved to be a great success, Mark. Will your program remain as freeware? Well, I would classify X-Camera as donation-ware, more accurately. Many of the features do not require registration but the more advanced features require you to register your copy. During the registration process you are given the option to make a donation, and whilst we do not expect every registered user to dig into their pockets, we would ask them to consider the value of the plugin and perhaps then to contribute, however small. This goes towards the costs of augmenting and distributing X-Camera for public use, i.e. running the web site and purchasing the necessary aircraft for the three environments (OSX, Windows, Linux) needed to make sure X-Camera runs properly. What I like about this method is people can try out X-Camera with no obligation and then during registration, they can judge for themselves what it is worth. I'm certainly not going to get rich off of X-Camera but the nominal payments will help offset the costs. Not everybody has the latest version of X-Plane. Is X-Camera compatible will all X-Plane aircraft (default, as well as add-ons)? X-Camera uses the X-Plane camera system so it will work with all planes. Some planes have their own built-in view system that can conflict with X-Camera but it is pretty easy to map joystick buttons to easily switch between a plane's custom view system and X-Camera's, allowing users to get the best of both worlds. Does using X-Camera have an effect on frame rates? X-Camera is extremely FPS friendly. It is mostly just doing the math functions to calculate the camera's position but today's modern computers do those calculations extremely fast. I have not noticed any discernible drop in frame rates. That's great, Mark! For all your current and future followers, do you have any exciting future features you could share with us? I just released the updated X-Camera 2.1, in which some of the new features come into effect. In the future I would like to also develop a tablet app that would allow you to have complete control over the cameras without having to map tons of buttons. Demo video for 2.1 Having been a user of EzDok, how do you think X-Camera's features compare? The reason I wrote X-Camera is because when I was using FSX I was an avid EzDok fan. The only thing that came close was PilotView but it was missing some of the EzDok features I liked. In all honesty I think the 2.1 version of X-Camera far exceeds anything you could do with EzDok, particularly when you combine it with HeadShake and Scenic Flyer. What feature of X-Camera are you most proud of? Anyone who has created or designed something will tell you that they are proud of their creation as a whole. If it proves successful in the wider simming community, or more particularly in my case, the X-Plane community, it 'sweetens' the success even further. As its creator, there are many features of X-Camera that I really like but if I had to choose something, I would say I am most proud of the transition features in X-Camera. They allow for the creation of some very cool custom orbits and fly-bys. I also particularly like the airport cameras. Mark, following X-Camera's success in X-Plane, do you have plans to make a new version for P3D/FSX? With regard to P3D and FSX, EzDok is already a pretty good program so I'm not sure it is worth competing with it in that market. Following on from the success of X-Camera, I have been waiting for the VoXATC guys to make a version available for X-Plane but I don't think they are going to do it so my real dream and long-time goal would be to create a VoxATC equivalent for X-Plane. What would you like people to know most about your work? I hope the heart and soul I pour into my work is obvious from the quality of my creation. I don't create things as a 'way to pass the time'; it means a whole lot more to me than that. For me, it is a way of giving back to the X-Plane community, something which is so important if X-Plane is ever going to surpass its rivals. Indeed, in some areas it already has. I want X-Plane to be successful, and I love a community who helps develop it even further. I guess X-Camera is my little contribution to a whole lot of greatness! Mark Ellis X-Camera www.stickandrudderstudios.com/x-camera/ Download X-Camera