Guide -- How to use keys to switch between: Quickviews & Freelook camera ... Also Drone Camera & Fixed views

Summary:
External camera has two modes: 1) quickviews 2) freelook camera (spot on) view.

  • Activate External Camera – > click “Cockpit/External view mode” (Ex. END in keyboard)
  • Use the mouse/or 2nd POV switch for freelook camera. Or for the other mode, use keys assigned for the quickviews
    • Important: If you entered quickviews mode, switch to freelook mode by clicking on “Reset External View” (Ex. F in keyboard)

Similary, the showcase view has two modes: 1) drone view (free camera) 2) fixed camera view

  • Activate show case camera --> click “toggle Drone” button (Ex. INSERT)
  • You can switch between them by clicking on “Cockpit/External view mode” (Ex. END in keyboard).
  • Once in Fixed camera mode, use button A for next fixed camera and Shift+A for previous one


Note: I prefer to set the Reset view button mapped to my joystick under my thumb as I use it a lot

You can ofcourse use the menu to select the view you like. However, it will be much more immersive if you use the key assignments. Here are the details

A -- External Camera:

Use one of the following methods:

Method 1 - using the mouse

  • To activate External Camera – > click “Cockpit/External view mode” (Ex. END in the keyboard)
  • You can click on the mouse wheel and then turn the view where you like
  • The key important thing here is to SWITCH FROM the quickviews mode first if you triggered it
    • For example, if you clicked on the hat of your joystick, most likely, you will go to the quickviews mode. In which you will be stuck in it, to get out --> click on “Reset External View” (Ex. F in keyboard). Then use the mouse as descripbed above (click the wheel and then move it).

Method 2 - if you have two POV/hat switches.

  • I have T.16000M FCS --> its hat switch is used for quickviews in external view
  • I use my TWCS Throttle hat stick --> to move freely exactly as the mouse.

Also the key thing here is to get out of the “Quick View” mode if you triggered it by clicking on the “Reset External View” (Ex. button F in keyboard)

If you have only one POV switch, and they were attached to quickviews, I suggest to remove the quickviews and use the hat switch for the freelook camera (as an alternative to the mouse look)

By the way, under General/Camara options, I changed "quick view function to be toggle. (it’s a personal choice)


Method 3 - use Xbox controller.
Asobo made a great job in configuring it. Unfortunalty, it’s not an option for core simmers.
So, similar to what was mentioned above,

  • Use the arrows for quickviews
  • Also the key thing here is to get out of the “Quick View” mode if you triggered it by clicking on the “Reset External View” (Ex. click on RS in the controller)
  • Use Right stick for the freelook exactly as the mouse


B -- showcase Camera:

Use one of the following mthods;

Method 1 - using Xbox controller

  • Activate show case camera --> click “toggle Drone” button (Ex. INSERT in the keyboard)
  • You can switch between drone and fixed camera modes by clicking on “Cockpit/External view mode” (Ex. two windows button in the controller).
  • Use right and left arrows of the controller to change fixed camera
  • Use Right stick to move the drone in drone camera mode
  • Stop follow mode by clicking RS (useful if you want to explore around without following the airplane, also you may use it to do a flyby effect)
  • If you wandered around away from the airplane, comeback by clicking on “Reset Drone Target Offset” Ex. X+A in the controller (very useful)

Method 2 - Using T.16000M FCS & TWCS Throttle

  • Activate show case camera --> click “toggle Drone” button (Ex. button #3 in the TWCS throttle)
  • You can switch between drone and fixed camera modes by clicking on “Cockpit/External view mode” (Ex. button #2 in the TWCS throttle).
  • Use assigned keys for next and previous fixed cameras (Ex. buttons #8 also # 10 in TWCS throttle)
  • Use the hat switches of both the joystick and the throttle to move the drone camera (see the screenshot below for details)
    • Stop follow mode by clicking (Ex. Tab in keboard) which is useful if you want to explore around without following the airplane, also you may use it to do flyby effect
    • If you wandered around away from the airplane, comeback to it by clicking on “Reset Drone Target Offset” button # 3 in TM16000 joystick (very useful)
    • By the way, I assigned two keys on my TWCS throttle for the drone speed so I don’t have to open the menu while playing

Here are my configurations

TWCS throttle

T.16000M Joystick

If you are interested in configuring cockpit view using custom cameras, please refer to my other post Guide – How to configure Cockpit Views / Cameras using Custom Camera controller assignments


Spot External camera

Spot External camera - zoom out

Spot External camera - angle

fixed camera

14 Likes

Nice write up!

Super Guide, very helpfull. Thanks.
There is no easy way to setup a FlyBy-View? The only one I raelly miss in this sim.

Unfortunately, we don’t have flyby camera yet. The only way I know it may have similar effect is to use the drone camera where

  • Activate the drone camera and stand beside the airplane
  • Move away parallel to the airplane path (i.e. on the side) - you may increase the drone speed to make it quicker
  • click on Tab key in the keyboard “Toggle drone follow Mode” it will make the drone stationary (not following the plane) so you could see the airplane flyby
  • As the plane flyby, move your pov to change your view as shown in the screenshots below.
  • Finally, “Reset Drone Target Offset” (Ex. X+A in the Xbox controller) to move the drone back behind the airplane

It’s not an ideal way, but this what we have for now according to my knowledge.

I find it difficult to cycle amongst the Fixed Camera settings. When I got down to External 9 and External 10 cameras, I had a hard time moving back up the menu. The scroll bar to the right didn’t seem to work properly for me. I wish in settings there were some icons associated with the different Fixed Camera views rather than just calling them External 1, External 2, etc. (who wants to memorize the whole lot?) or even more wishful thinking, when just in Settings, thumbnail images of the sort of view you’ll get that popped up as you moved through the Fixed Camera settings.

2 Likes

I agree. Personally, I rarely use the menu. I like to use the joystick or the keyboard to cycle through the fixed camera views using “ A ” for next fixed camera and “ Shift+A ” for previous fixed camera (but of course I have to be in the fixed camera mode as explained in my original post)

2 Likes

It would be nice to have a option to show camera positions above the toolbar.

The other thing I’ve noticed, comparing the Icon A5 and the Zlin Shock Ultra is that the fixed camera views differ between airplanes. I couldn’t get the one that I liked for the Icon A5 for the Zlin plane. I wish there were an option “use global default camera views” rather than having to learn what the plane-specific views are for each plane (with no way to relabel/rename the plane views to customize them so you know instantly what you’re getting when you click on one). I grant that camera views for the liners may really have to be different that for a small plane with fixed landing gear, etc., but there ought to be some middle ground of commonality.

2 Likes

I have noticed that many of us are simply trying to have a flyby view. There are many posts here with different titles, but they are all related to the same need. I think it has something to do with the immersion that the flyby view can give: seen from a camera that doesn’t tilt in sync with the wings makes the plane look like a fake paper model, regardless of the beauty of the landscape.
I’m afraid that if the developers have managed to do something so far away from this concept as the drone, it will be a long time before they wake up. In the meantime many people will get tired of looking for a remedy and go back to their previous simulator. If I recall correctly in fsx there were some camera configuration files that could be edited. If we could find them we could solve it ourselves. Anyone who finds a way to access EDITABLE FILES related to the cameras, please let us know.

@AymanOne Thank you for the explanation. I think it also continues to highlight an issue with the lack of intuitiveness in the camera system. I’ve started a feature request here (Camera Mode Intuitive Switching). If you agree, I’d appreciate the votes!

2 Likes

I have found that using an XBOX controller (or equivalent) for camera/drone works good. I use it just for that as that controller mimics a real drone controller.

What would be nice, is the speed of that drone to be controlled from the sticks on the controller (like how a real drone controller works) - where moving that stick forward, the faster the drone moves - instead of the slider speed it uses now. Haven’t looked to see if that can be mapped though.

The one thing I have done with the XBOX controller is to remove all flight control bindings from it as it interferes with my yoke & pedals.

There’s a video on YouTube where the drone/xbox controller is used for some fly-bys and panning/zooming. It is hard at first to get used to it.

1 Like