Cameras.cfg Questions

Hello,

I am currently in the process of editing my cameras.cfg file for some aircraft.

Everytime I try to add a new camera to the Category “Cockpit” it seems to bug the fixed cameras in the aircraft and will not allow me to add additiinal fixed Cockpit category views.

Are we limited to these four Cockpit categories or is it possible to add any more? I read the SDK documantation and it does not mention any limits on any of the categories.

[CAMERADEFINITION.0]
Title ="Pilot"
Guid ="{8FF6C134-098D-409F-BAEC-CABA3F683F98}"
Description =""
Origin ="Virtual Cockpit"
MomentumEffect =0
SnapPbhAdjust ="Swivel"
SnapPbhReturn =0
PanPbhAdjust ="Swivel"
PanPbhReturn =0
Track ="None"
ShowAxis ="YES"
AllowZoom =1
InitialZoom =0.55
SmoothZoomTime =2
ZoomPanScalar =1
ShowWeather =1
XyzAdjust =1
ShowLensFlare =0
Category ="Cockpit"
SubCategory ="Pilot"
SubCategoryItem ="DefaultPilot"
PitchPanRate =20
HeadingPanRate =60
InitialXyz= -0.043468, 0.696899, -2.500158
InitialPbh= -10.530554, -0.005908, 0.019971
NodesToHide =""
ClipMode ="Normal"
BoundingBoxRadius =0.1
UITitle="TT:GAME.PANEL_CAMERA_PILOT_VFR"
TargetCategory="None"
CycleHidden=0
CycleHideRadius=0
ShowPanel=0
InstancedBased=0
NoSortTitle=0
Transition=1
PanAcceleratorTime=5
XYZRate=0.25
XYZAcceleratorTime=0

[CAMERADEFINITION.1]
Title ="ClosePilot"
Guid ="{0C64B527-E0EA-4726-9700-DC4CEB0EF1B3}"
Description =""
Origin ="Virtual Cockpit"
MomentumEffect =1
SnapPbhAdjust ="Swivel"
SnapPbhReturn =0
PanPbhAdjust ="Swivel"
PanPbhReturn =0
Track ="None"
ShowAxis ="YES"
AllowZoom =1
InitialZoom =0.35
SmoothZoomTime =2
ZoomPanScalar =1
ShowWeather =1
XyzAdjust =1
ShowLensFlare =0
Category ="Cockpit"
SubCategory ="Pilot"
SubCategoryItem ="ClosePilot"
PitchPanRate =20
HeadingPanRate =60
InitialXyz = -0.045, 0.68, -2.2
InitialPbh = -9, 0, 0
NodesToHide =""
ClipMode ="Normal"
BoundingBoxRadius =0.1
UITitle="TT:GAME.PANEL_CAMERA_PILOT_IFR"
TargetCategory="None"
CycleHidden=0
CycleHideRadius=0
ShowPanel=0
InstancedBased=0
NoSortTitle=0
Transition=1
PanAcceleratorTime=5
XYZRate=0.25
XYZAcceleratorTime=0

[CAMERADEFINITION.2]
Title ="LandingPilot"
Guid ="{30316A5C-EBE3-4E3F-B320-582571E3A054}"
Description =""
Origin ="Virtual Cockpit"
MomentumEffect =1
SnapPbhAdjust ="Swivel"
SnapPbhReturn =0
PanPbhAdjust ="Swivel"
PanPbhReturn =0
Track ="None"
ShowAxis ="YES"
AllowZoom =1
InitialZoom=0.291206
SmoothZoomTime =5
ZoomPanScalar =1
ShowWeather =1
XyzAdjust =1
ShowLensFlare =0
Category ="Cockpit"
SubCategory ="Pilot"
SubCategoryItem ="LandingPilot"
PitchPanRate =20
HeadingPanRate =60
InitialXyz= -0.044998, 0.745001, -2.499989
InitialPbh= -16.731352, -0.011529, 0.415999
NodesToHide =""
ClipMode ="Normal"
BoundingBoxRadius =0.1
UITitle="TT:GAME.PANEL_CAMERA_PILOT_LANDING"
TargetCategory="None"
CycleHidden=0
CycleHideRadius=0
ShowPanel=0
InstancedBased=0
NoSortTitle=0
Transition=1
PanAcceleratorTime=5
XYZRate=0.25
XYZAcceleratorTime=0

[CAMERADEFINITION.3]
Title ="Copilot"
Guid ="{43E6820F-A5B3-4E40-B610-1BA5769C333F}"
Description =""
Origin ="Virtual Cockpit"
MomentumEffect =1
SnapPbhAdjust ="Swivel"
SnapPbhReturn =0
PanPbhAdjust ="Swivel"
PanPbhReturn =0
Track ="None"
ShowAxis ="YES"
AllowZoom =1
InitialZoom =0.35
SmoothZoomTime =2
ZoomPanScalar =1
ShowWeather =1
XyzAdjust =1
ShowLensFlare =0
Category ="Cockpit"
SubCategory ="Pilot"
SubCategoryItem ="Copilot"
PitchPanRate =20
HeadingPanRate =60
InitialXyz = 1.05, 0.7, -2.5
InitialPbh = 1, 0, 0
NodesToHide =""
ClipMode ="Normal"
BoundingBoxRadius =0.1
UITitle="TT:GAME.PANEL_CAMERA_PILOT_COPILOT"
TargetCategory="None"
CycleHidden=0
CycleHideRadius=0
ShowPanel=0
InstancedBased=0
NoSortTitle=0
Transition=1
PanAcceleratorTime=5
XYZRate=0.25
XYZAcceleratorTime=0

Another question I had - is there an easier way to find your view coordinates? Right now the way I edit these is painstakingly edit the coordinates manually then reload the aircraft 100 times until I find the view I am looking for.

Any help is appeciated!

Thanks

1 Like

You can do some calculations first to get better estimates of the view coordinates.

This is how I do it:

At the top of the cameras.cfg there is the eyepoint definition (e.g. from C-172 classic)

[VIEWS]
eyepoint = -3.95, -0.85, 1.9 

This defines the global eyepoint in relation to the reference datum. It is given in FEET for FORWARD, RIGHT and UPWARDS distance from datum. DO NOT change this, as it is the base coordinate for all views. Negative values are BACKWARDS, to the LEFT and DOWN.

Divide all three numbers by 3.281 to get the measurements in METER, because you must define the view coordinates in meters.

The view coordinates are defined in the following cfg parameters for each VIEW.

InitialXyz = 0.030, 0.06, 0.15
InitialPbh = 0.0, 0, 0

It is given in METERS for RIGHT, UPWARDS and FORWARD (Xyz). Be aware that the order for the directions is different from the EYEPOINT. Also the angles for PITCH, BANK and HEADING (Pbh) are given, in DEGREES in relation to the three aircraft axis. Be aware that negative pitch is nose up.

If you sum the two values for each direction you get the position of the view.

Now you can estimate how much you need to change the view.

You can edit the cameras.cfg file while the aircraft is loaded and reload the aircraft while in ‘developer mode’ (use the ‘Aircraft Selector’ tool from the dev menu). The sim will also reload the config files.

With this procedure I usually get the view adjust quite fast.

3 Likes

While not exactly what you are asking about, have you seen this on flightsim.to?

He’s done pretty much every freeware / payware plane out there (and updates every few days). If there is a view you don’t like you can customize it but at least all the leg work is done.

The 4 mentioned views are limited, but can be edited. Finding your coordinates is done through the CTRL+ALT+number-keys. Those custom camera views are stored in your sim and can be viewed. I explained several times this issue in different posts. Check out this one: Saving an individual seat position in the cockpit for every aircraft - #21 by Ephedrin87

Thank you for replying to my original post, this helps clear things up and confirmed my suspicion that we are unable to add more than 4 pilot category cameras.

This leads me to a couple more questions about the view system.

  1. Is there any parameters I can set to keep the “DefaultPilot” view fixed? Everytime I save it and use it to move around or change the looking direction I have to reset it. Is there a parameter which I can edit so it returns to it’s original pbh/xyz every time?

  2. I am trying to edit the Default Chase/external view by editing the XYZ and the initial zoom but no matter what I change it to, there is no difference.

  3. Is there a way to achieve smooth transitions on the instrument views like we have on the custom cameras/pilot views and quickviews? I tried playing with parameters but was not able to achieve any smooth style transitions.

Thanks for any help!

Yes I have downloaded some profiles for payware that I fly but have not seen that one in particular. I will try some of his files for planes I have not configured yet. Thank you!

Hi, I edited your post to make the code session more readable. If you find the result undesirable, please let me know and I’ll restore the original version.

For 1: edit the Pilot, ClosePilot or LandingPilot (whichever DefaultPilot you selected in your Camera-settings menu) entry values for PBH & XYZ and save it.

For 2: not posibel, just like the Slew-view.

For 3: no, the initial instrument view is instantly, the others are smooth.

Hope this helps.

This broke all my custom views and I now can’t stop it from glitching, even after removing all of his views.

You’ve done something incorrectly then…

Did you backup your original first, and tried replacing the camera.cfg file with your original? Or just delete it all together and let it rebuild when you launch the aircraft?

The latter.

EDIT: Actually I didnt replace the camera file…I just replaced all the aircraft view files. Is that what you mean? Also I just reinstalled the whole game and the bug is still there so maybe it had nothing to do with it. fml