Some freetrack questions

Blackdog_kt · #1 01-30-2011, 12:30 PM

I recently had a power outage at home and it seems that some kind of power surge screwed up my trackIR 4 camera.

Needless to say i was somewhat irritated to put it mildly (i've had it since Oct 2008 so it's not exactly old). In any case, the LEDs on my trackclip pro still work and i have a webcam (ms lifecam vx-5000), so i thought i might try out freetrack in the meantime and if it's good enough, i might actually keep using it and save some money too.

I understand that i might need to modify the webcam too but it's also used for its original purpose (video calls to relatives abroad with skype), so i wouldn't want to totally remove the IR filter.
What i might do is just place a piece of photographic film on top of it with some adhesive tape or blue-tack whenever i want to fly, so that i can remove it afterwards.

To sum up, i already have a 3-LED assembly and a webcam.
So, my main question is, what are the configuration changes i need to apply to the freetrack software so that it works with the trackclip pro? Also, any special recommendations for the webcam settings (exposure, frame rates, etc)?

You know how it is, once you use head tracking it's very hard to go back, in fact i haven't flown any sim at all since my trackIR camera stopped working. Thanks in advance.

Letum · #2 01-30-2011, 01:36 PM

You don't need to change Freetrack at all to work with the track clip, aside from feeding it the size of the clip.

You will need to remove the IR filter on your camera and install a visible light filter. These are usually made from over exposed camera film or floppy disks.

Head over to the freetrack forum. You will find much more advice there.

[URU]Amraam · #3 01-30-2011, 01:55 PM

As Letum said, you have to set the dimensions of your trackclip in the freetrack software

In my case, I removed the IR filter and it didn´t affect the image that much, so it can still be used for video calls. I would recommend that you first try to adjust the camera without removing the filter and in case you don´t get good results then remove it.

In this links you can find some tips regarding the camera configuration:

http://www.free-track.net/english/hardware/webcam.php

http://www.free-track.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=455

One trick I use to increase the size of the dots is to defocus the camera.
Hope this helps.

Blackdog_kt · #4 01-30-2011, 04:08 PM

Thanks for the feedback but the dimensions is more or less what i've been looking for, since i seem to have lost my measuring tape and can't take them myself

Also, i've searched online before asking here and i've found all sorts of conflicting information about what dimensions to use.

There's also something else that's confusing me a bit. I selected the 3 point clip and i see the graph where you input the clip's dimensions. Below that there's 3 more sliders labeled horizontal, vertical and depth, which i guess are supposed to tell the interface how far away i'm sitting from the cam.

The entire field is labeled "model position: distance from head pivot (center of head, just below ear) to model translation point R", which i can't really figure out. Does it refer to my actual head or the 3d-head i see in the software (i assume the first, but why not ask and be sure)? Also, what's the point R?

Modifying the camera is not something i'm willing to do. So, if i don't remove the IR filter can i just make do with a piece of film or floppy disk material that i will use whenever i want to run a flight sim?
Also, if i make adjustments to the camera's settings will these apply only to when freetrack is using the camera? Or will they apply on a global basis, which means i'll have to revert to my original settings whenever i want to use the camera in its original role?

The reason i'm asking is that if i need to buy a second webcam just to be able to switch between freetrack and skype video calls, it would defeat the whole purpose of it. At that point i might just buy a used trackIR 4 unit from ebay and go back to something i'm already used to, instead of spending the time to configure an unfamiliar solution.

Thanks for you help again, let's hope i manage to make something out of it.

Letum · #5 01-30-2011, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Thanks for the feedback but the dimensions is more or less what i've been looking for, since i seem to have lost my measuring tape and can't take them myself

Also, i've searched online before asking here and i've found all sorts of conflicting information about what dimensions to use.

Measure it.
If it helps, trace it on paper and then measure the outline.

Quote:

There's also something else that's confusing me a bit. I selected the 3 point clip and i see the graph where you input the clip's dimensions. Below that there's 3 more sliders labeled horizontal, vertical and depth, which i guess are supposed to tell the interface how far away i'm sitting from the cam.The entire field is labeled "model position: distance from head pivot (center of head, just below ear) to model translation point R", which i can't really figure out. Does it refer to my actual head or the 3d-head i see in the software (i assume the first, but why not ask and be sure)? Also, what's the point R?

No, it's not about your position relative to the camera, it's about the distance the TIR clip is from the pivot of your head.

Quote:

Modifying the camera is not something i'm willing to do. So, if i don't remove the IR filter can i just make do with a piece of film or floppy disk material that i will use whenever i want to run a flight sim?
Also, if i make adjustments to the camera's settings will these apply only to when freetrack is using the camera? Or will they apply on a global basis, which means i'll have to revert to my original settings whenever i want to use the camera in its original role?

I dunno...why don't you try it and find out?

SEE · #6 01-31-2011, 11:15 AM

To start, I have TrackIR Ultra4 and Freetrack but prefer the latter by a long mile in terms of setting up and FT having axis hotkeys which are really useful in combat. The seting up of the Clip is from the mid point between the 'ears' (in your 'skull' so so to speak). In reality this is very much an estimate and I find has little impact on actual performance in game if the entered dimensions are wrong. What I do find is that these dimensions can be actually altered to suit how close or far you like to be from the monitor the screen and the location of the camera. FT is an excellent piece of software but unfortunately (AFAIK) will not be supported in CoD other than in mouse emulation (or similar alternatives). Hence why I have kept my TrackIR and not sold it!

swiss · #7 01-31-2011, 11:50 AM

Quote:

What I do find is that these dimensions can be actually altered to suit how close or far you like to be from the monitor the screen and the location of the camera.

The way I understood it is: Position of point R(Reference LED) to center of head.
Where can you adjust the distance point R to cam?

Letum · #8 01-31-2011, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swiss

Where can you adjust the distance point R to cam?

The whole point or tracking systems is that they work out the position of your head relative to the camera.
That's what they do.

You don't need to tell it where your head is relative to the camera.

Blackdog_kt · #9 01-31-2011, 12:04 PM

I got it to track the LEDs without any filter modifications in a dark room by playing with the threshold slider. However, for some reason it doesn't register in the game.

In any case,i saw something even more worrisome when i tried to test it in QMB...it seems that my trusty MS sidewinder precision 2 is dead too.

I don't know what to think, i mean i've never heard of a power failure cooking hardware components that are fed by USB before. So, i took out both the stick and my trackIR camera and plugged them into my old PC (an AthlonXP running winXP), but to no avail.

It seems a highly twisted coincidence to me that out of all the peripherals on my PC the only ones to get affected are the the ones i use in flight simming. Truth be told, i don't trust my old Athlon's USB connectors that much, so the last bit of diagnostics will be to take the stick and trackIR camera to a friend's PC and try them out, just to rule out the possibility of faulty USB connectors/not enough power being fed.

Just out of curiosity, if it turns out that my peripherals are fine and it's the USB ports that are to blame, can i do something to fix that or do i have to get a new motherboard/power supply/whatever?

jimbop · #10 01-31-2011, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

Modifying the camera is not something i'm willing to do. So, if i don't remove the IR filter can i just make do with a piece of film or floppy disk material that i will use whenever i want to run a flight sim?

No, at least not in my experience with a Logitech Fusion. There are two relevant filters: first, removal of the IR filter to allow the camera to detect the IR light points brightly enough and, second, a visible light filter to stop the camera seeing anything else.

The aim of freetrack tinkering is that the webcam ONLY sees the IR light points. Therefore you need to a) remove the IR filter in the camera and b) add a visible light filter (floppy disc works really well). If you remove the IR filter you can still use the camera for video calls but the colour is gone since background IR floods the receptor.

Not great, in short, but on the other hand freetrack is just brilliant when you have it tuned. Remember to fiddle with camera settings in freetrack, exposure time in particular.