|
Post by MarkH on May 6, 2015 6:48:51 GMT
|
|
|
Post by cptmatt on May 7, 2015 5:04:21 GMT
What's your opinion on having the side monitor(s) at such an extreme angle.
It's hard to tell but I think the image on the screen is a photo and while it looks pretty decent I wonder how well this would actually work for the simulator.
|
|
|
Post by MarkH on May 7, 2015 6:23:24 GMT
Yes, that's a picture of his desktop. I have always been sceptical about a three-monitor setup positioned this way but looking at his other photos I am interested enough to want to try it out. He is doing this with WideView and hence independent front and side views, rather than a single 3D window. I was looking at WideView back when I started playing with FSX properly but I never actually tried it out. I am increasingly drawn to trying it out as I think it's going to be the only way to get decent performance with a large/multi-screen setup.
|
|
|
Post by cptmatt on May 7, 2015 10:24:10 GMT
Interesting I'd not seen that before. Please post the results of your experiment.
|
|
|
Post by ScottB on May 23, 2015 13:12:01 GMT
Great find Mark! Thanks for posting. I would also like to try wideview with no virtual cockpit, in conjunction with a real cockpit... one day!
|
|
|
Post by MarkH on May 23, 2015 14:18:17 GMT
I keep meaning to try three screens like this. I have three widescreen monitors and I think it should be easy to try even without FSX, just by putting an image across the screens and seeing how it looks. And then one step further, trying the same thing with an image made from three FSX screenshots (left/forward/right). Maybe this weekend...
|
|
richts
Almost Aviator
Posts: 21
|
Post by richts on May 23, 2015 14:55:08 GMT
I've been using wideview on three screens with tracker ir5 in virtual for couple years. For me it presents an immersive view especially in the pattern, it gives me the rw experience
|
|
|
Post by MarkH on May 23, 2015 16:14:48 GMT
I've been using wideview on three screens with tracker ir5 in virtual for couple years. For me it presents an immersive view especially in the pattern, it gives me the rw experience Can you say a bit more and/or post some pics? I am trying to picture how you are using TrackIR with WideView!
|
|
richts
Almost Aviator
Posts: 21
|
Post by richts on May 24, 2015 1:35:18 GMT
I'll see if i can do a short video tomorrow
|
|
|
Post by MarkH on May 24, 2015 7:37:15 GMT
I'll see if i can do a short video tomorrow Great!
|
|
|
Post by ScottB on May 24, 2015 12:58:57 GMT
I keep meaning to try three screens like this. I have three widescreen monitors and I think it should be easy to try even without FSX, just by putting an image across the screens and seeing how it looks. And then one step further, trying the same thing with an image made from three FSX screenshots (left/forward/right). Maybe this weekend... Mark, or anybody:
Would it be conceivable to use Wideview with that Icarus Avenger screen as the main monitor (two projectors) on the FSX/P3D PC along with two monitors as aircraft side windows networked from another PC that has two video cards in place? If so, would it also work with virtual cockpit in FSX? Would the resolution between the main monitor(s) and the side monitors have to be the same? (I assume different resolutions would leave "black bars" on the side monitors, for example, that would have to be physically covered.)
I'm still torn between building one realistic physical cockpit and flying only scenery vs. building a generic cockpit like I have now and having the choice to fly multiple virtual cockpits.... if that makes sense.
Also, I can't find the Icarus Avenger online anymore. Did they move the website?
And if the Avenger isn't available, the same question applies to a more realistic alternative for me, 2D surround vision. That is, could I simply add two side monitors to my existing 2D surround vision by using Wideview and one networked PC? Or does Wideview handle the otherwise 2D surround as three monitors on one PC and two monitors on the networked PC? I would consider using Wideview with my existing setup and add two more monitors on the side, perhaps even separated from the main monitor(s) by a few inches and then building an mock aircraft framework that would mimic vertical posts (typically located at a real aircraft window) to cover those gaps, as if I was looking through real aircraft side windows. Some separation between the main and side monitors would make scenery alignment less important, I would think. I have no idea how that would affect virtual cockpit. I recall older versions of MS Flight Sims allowed for a "side window" view.
If Wideview works with virtual cockpit, does it somehow solve the problem of vertical viewing angles, usually remedied with TrackIR? Or would flying without a virtual cockpit almost be a prerequisite to Wideview therefore requiring one to create an actual instrument panel complete with LED radios, A.P., GPS, etc. for instrument reference?
I've briefly looked into Wideview but avoided it figuring it was too complicated for me to process! I'm hoping to get a general idea here. Guess I'm too lazy to research the website!! Apologize in advance for any lack of clarity.
Thanks, Scott
|
|
|
Post by ScottB on May 24, 2015 13:29:38 GMT
OK... I've answered some of my own questions by viewing this! The link to this site was on the Wideview page so I assume it uses wideview with virtual cockpit. I'm not sure how TrackIR would figure into the scenario unless it could be used with only the FSX machine limited to vertical viewing only. If I could still use TrackIR vertically, then I wouldn't immediately have to build a real instrument panel and radio stack as I could reference the virtual cockpit instruments and radios, although, that might seem a little weird since the instrument panel would pan with TrackIR motion but the side monitor wing views would remain static. Maybe TrackIR can be networked (but that would be a nightmare). I notice they use a real radio stack and EFIS, GPS, etc. and apparently no TrackIR. Scott
|
|
|
Post by MarkH on May 24, 2015 14:26:18 GMT
Ooh, that link looks interesting! The Iacrus is still out there and they now list both a '180 kit' and a '270 kit' - no prizes for guessing what that means! Although I'd guess it also means you will need three projectors! As for Wideview, it uses a very simple idea, which is both good and bad. Good because it is very low-tech and hence it works great, bad for the same reasons. At its simplest all WV does is to show a single static FSX 3D view and then move the position and orientation of the aircraft to match the position and orientation of the master PC. (The master is the one you are flying.) The trick is you can have as many slave PCs - and hence as many views) as you want. If you painstakingly set up the views to be aligned this will give you an arbitrarily large array of views limited only by how many computers you have and can network together. (I think you can actually run more than one view on each PC.) In principle the 3D views can be VC views but the cockpit instruments will not be synchronized. This won't matter for views that don't show the instruments so I would likely use the VC so I could have the aircraft structure in view. I would also likely stick with the VC for the panel in the first instance. TrackIR will not make complete sense with WV but you could figure out ways to use it. You might be able to run a separate TrackIR on each PC (your hat would look really weird) and have full 6DOF but WV more or less removes the need for panning the view. You could still use if for the X/Y/Z motion and turn the yaw/pitch/roll off - in fact this is what the Simpit guys seem to do if you watch some of their Icarus Avenger and TitanHD videos. (Check out Tomas's YouTube channel - the Red Bull video shows TrackIR with no panning.)
|
|
|
Post by ScottB on May 24, 2015 15:51:20 GMT
"(your hat would look really weird)"
Haha! Now that's thinking outside the box... weird indeed!
So, let's say we scrap the TrackIR for now. I downloaded and briefly skimmed the Wideview manual. It appears to me based on what you've mentioned that the master PC should have a forward view of some sort and, without TrackIR or a functional physical instrument panel, that forward view would need to be zoomed out enough to see, at minimum, most of the virtual cockpit instruments. A view like that would require a large format display of sorts depending on ones eyesight. Wideview would establish that master PC view. Then two other PC's would be required as slaves to accommodate the left and right window, each slave PC having an exact matching version of FSX. Wideview simply allows for positioning of each PC's views and synchronizes them to work in unison, correct? Then there is the problem of matching weather (like ASN which works on only one PC per key)... but that's another topic. So basically multiple PC's all run FSX at the same time, each PC with a different view?
It also seems to me that using three monitors on the master PC in 2D surround mode would not match up properly with the slave PC views (fourth and fifth monitors) because of the "stretching" that occurs in 2D surround. Would that be accurate to assume?
I'm thinking that the best overall experience would be to use a large format display for the front view on the master PC and set that view optimally based on seating position and forget about zooming out to see the virtual cockpit at all. That should increase performance on the master PC (as opposed to using 2D Surround) depending on the res of the LFD of course. Then, hopefully Wideview would be able to make use of only ONE PC with multiple video outputs (My "work" PC, this PC, has two NVidia 580's in SLI) as slave to display left and right windows over the network. Does that sound reasonable? Since the slave PC has it's own copy of FSX installed, it shouldn't matter what the side monitors resolution is, right? You'd simply have to set the view/zoom on the side monitors to closely match the scenery/virtual cockpit of the the master PC.
What I'd be trying to accomplish is this: Start using Wideview. Use only two networked PC's. Use one large format display or TV (larger than my current 22" monitors anyway) on the master. Use two of my existing 22 inch monitors as side windows. Use a third 22 inch monitor as a working instrument panel via simPlugins or similar (including their radio stack). Use my existing Almost Aviation switch and radio panels in conjunction with simPlugins (either networked or on the master).
Edit: Just realized that Wideview requires all monitors to be same resolution, size, and the same brand if possible... nevermind. :-)
Thanks for the links.
Scott
|
|
|
Post by ScottB on May 24, 2015 16:12:30 GMT
"(Check out Tomas's YouTube channel - the Red Bull video shows TrackIR with no panning.)"
I forgot we talked about that video on another post... my bad. I can't see anything that TrackIR is doing. The virtual cockpit is moving slightly but, it looks as though that's from g-effects setup within EZDok or FSX itself. However, watching that video makes me forget about Wideview! The two C's: Cost and clarity....
|
|