I’ve tried TrackIR, OpenTrack with AITracker and quite a few other combinations to get a reliable, non-noisy way to look sideways on a 2D monitor and I just recently tried the Neuralnet tracker option with an inexpensive $25 Logitech Windows 11 720p webcam in daytime and with medium-level nightime lighting. I found it to be really useable and I can fly turns around a point on the ground well. It also lets me lean forward to naturally “zoom” in on the instrument panel. I had to use the mapping option to double/triple default yaw movement while lowering (half, third) x,y,and z movements. You have to use a key to center the movement before the z axis (fore/aft) will work. I appreciate that I don’t have to use flat spots in the curve mappings to get “locked-in” viewpoints.
Topic moved into #self-service:peripherals
How does it compare to the other plugins ? I assume it is selectable in opentrack itself?
Not sure what you are asking - but if you are asking about the neuralnet tracker option, it is included within the latest Opentrack so there is no other app required than opentrack - and of course, the webcam. If you already have a webcam, you can download Opentrack, select “neuralnet tracker” as the Input option and then “freetrack 2.0 enhanced” as the Output option. You need to make a bind assignment for the “Center” on the Shortcuts/Options tab. Then make the above mentioned mapping plot changes - especially the “yaw” axis and the “z” axis. Then Start it, and “center” it while looking directly at the center of your monitor. When you start MSFS2020 and start a flight, it will already be tracking your head. BTW, make sure you hit the “OK” buttons so that when you close the Opentrack app, it will save these changes. If you run the Input tracker settings, you can do a calibration that determines how far your head is from the monitor.
Many thanks for sharing this tool.
I tried it and is really quite neat to fly with.
My observations after three flights:
- It´s not really smooth, which can be a little disturbing.
- It´s not easy to find an ideal setup where you can look everywhere you need without being to sensitive (but that may also be true for the real TrackIR).
- It seems to settle on certain directions, but that can also be my brain learning how to hold the head to get that position
. - I got quite sick the first flights. On the third flight I tried to move my head less, look sometimes at places outside of the monitor while turning my head and disabling tracking from time to time. That seemed to help (and I also get used to it I think).
So my conclusions: As it is free it´s a great add-on for flight simming. Especially if you think about spending money on TrackIR and want to test if this control method is something for you in general (although I guess TrackIR is a lot better and smoother in tracking the head movement).
P.S.: I forgot to mention that on one flight it stopped working. I quickly found out it was to dark and switched on my desk lamp as a temporary solution. Afterwards I did a quick test with an IR remote control. My WebCam seems to be sensitive to IR (as most webcams I guess), so a better solution would be an IR floodlight.
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