I’d like to look around aircraft in the way others do. Is there a trick to it? In external view I get to use keyboard (WASD plus num pad) but it’s not very smoothy, quite aggressive, difficult to be smooth to get into cabins, look at details and so forth. I understand some use an Xbox controller but I don’t want to go down that route if I can help it. Is that really the best option?
OTOH the Xbox controller is a really great tool alongside any yoke/throttle quadrant set-up. One simply removes any unwanted bindings from the Controller profile and uses it only as one wishes to navigate menus or manipulate views. So much is possible with the right kind of controller profiling in MSFS!
I have the same question. I bind my mouse right-click to Toggle Freelook (Hold) and use the center button to zoom. That gives me decent control, but not as smooth as what I see in some videos. I don’t know SkyDolly, but maybe they record replays and edit out the herky-jerky views until they get a smooth final cut.
1 Like
I just have a bunch of views bound to the many buttons that I don’t use on my sidestick base (Thrustmaster). I do this in VR since I don’t have a keyboard nearby and even if I did, I would have to fumble for the keys. I also have bindings to translate up/down/left/right, so if I switch to a cabin view, I can get up out of the virtual seat and head down the aisle and slide into another seat… or move forward toward the virtual lav 
this. likewise i fly with yoke/joystick/pedals. the usb gamepad/xbox controller is dedicated for external drone/camera when needed.
1 Like
I think I saw one of the Airline Pilot guys with Tobii eye tracker as part of his set-up, but this was in a shot and not a topic of any of his videos I saw. Could be they use stuff like that?
probably. i also have one and its great.
I use an x box controller and set it to control my drone view … works nicely both on the ground and in the air.
Lots of useful videos on YT as to how to set up the controller.
1 Like
You probably won’t find a better way of looking around than the sticks on an xbox controller. Being on an xbox with an xbox controller, Hotas, keyboard and mouse, it only occurred to me recently that most people on PC are looking around by holding the right mouse button which is impossible to be smooth with
I’ve tried a few methods, xbox controller beats all of them easily. It’s great for cameras.
I use my joystick hat switch to look around the camera both interior and exterior of the aircraft. Sometimes with mouse too that’s smoother than WASD + Numpad.
OBS Studio (free) records everything I see on my sim monitor. As I look around with Tobii, it records the view. It was pretty easy to set up.
Thanks all. Guess I need to go in search of a cheap controller.
Yes. A cheap controller is the way . Important is to program the speed of the drone camera into the same controller. Translational and rotational speed. Then you can achieve very smooth “looking around” or get anyplace as fast as possible.
2 Likes
I use a cheap Logitech PS-style controller for drone/external view. Works great!
2 Likes
mine is cheaper than that . He he
Find a place that sells used gaming equipment. I picked up a used controller for about $20 about a week after I got the sim installed and found out what could be done with the drone. It had a stick button, so I took it apart and cleaned up the interior. Haven’t had a single problem with it since.
Not to promote any one marketplace over another, but the Logitech F310 I use is going for $16-18 new on Amazon.
There is also post production. Most of these videos have been recorded and then cut afterwards to improve the experience. Easy job then to reduce the speed of clips where the camera view moves. It will make it nice and smooth. Most video editing programs will let you do it.
A good way to present something like that.