TrackIR - Why do I suck even more, now that I have one?

[straffo]

Fsautostart is a software you can use to kill processes or services not needed when playing AH.
I've played a bit with it but on my computer there was no real difference (I must add my PC is quite powerfull so it's perhaps the reason I didn't see any change)

[StuB]

Ok.  I thought it was something built into AH.

I make sure the "startup" in the start menu is empty and I disable all unnecessary services in system management.  
I also go in and edit the registry ( HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ) to remove certain programs from automatically starting up.
I also regularly run Regclean, delete my temp directories and defrag my hard drive.

Originally posted by straffo
Fsautostart is a software you can use to kill processes or services not needed when playing AH.
I've played a bit with it but on my computer there was no real difference (I must add my PC is quite powerfull so it's perhaps the reason I didn't see any change)

[bbosen]

I love my TraciIR3. It's GREAT for flying like a tourist....

Fun to look around. Smooth, with a great "feel'.


But for combat, I always get a far better K/D with the old, traditional Air Warrior view system (left hand dancing on numeric keypad). When I need absolute control in the heat of battle against skilled opposition that wants to kill me, nothing else comes close.

So (for me at least)...


...TrackIR is more fun until the fight starts. Then, when Fight's On, I kill'em the old fashioned way, with my left hand controlling views.



-Peabody-

[Lusche]

Originally posted by bbosen

...TrackIR is more fun until the fight starts. Then, when Fight's On, I kill'em the old fashioned way, with my left hand controlling views.



-Peabody-

When the fight starts, TIR begins to rule! Precise with instand feed back. Better spatial awareness. You can't beat it.

[HomeBoy]

I agree completely with Lusche but am amazed how opinions differ on TIR.  It's definitely one of those "to each his own" sort of devices.  I do wonder though for those who have abandoned it, if they just did not spend the time getting it fine tuned.  I find Mace's profile the best setup.  It took me a while to get used to it because it is VERY aggressive but am very comfortable with it now.

One thing I don't miss is going to bed with my thumb throbbing like Jack Horner from working the view hat all night!  

[clerick]

I've been paying with nothing but my TrackIR for a few months now and here are a few things I have learned...

1) Turn the light filtering DOWN and the pixel preference UP.  IF your room is free from excess IR signatures this should help the unit track the Track-clip better.

2) IR in front of you can be just as bad as IR in back.  It can and will reflect off of things like glasses and i've even had it refect off of the track-clip's plastic arms.  The shiny plastic does a great job of reflecting even a weak source if it is in the right place.  I fixed that by scuffing them up with some fine grit sandpaper.

3) With the Track-clip try and make sure the three LED's are verticaly aligned, dont need to be perfect but close is better then all ****-eyed.

4) Before you play look at the TIR software and see what the camera is seeing.  Move your head all around and make sure that the LED's are visible through the entire range of motion, the closer you sit to your camera the smaller the margin of error you have for alignment.  i have found that 18" is a bit close.  I get my best resuts at about 30".  Plus, by checking, you may notice an IR signature popping up where you didnt expect it.  The wife's lighter 6 feet behind me was enough to throw the unit off.

5) Clean the camera occasionally, my kids had fingerprinted my camera it was causing all sorts of weird images, a 50/50 alcohol/water solution cleaned it right up!

6) i know i've mentioned it before but use FSautostart or somthing similar.  My system isnt a slouch by any means, but occasionally i would get really bad tracking or jerky motion, havnt had any since i've used it and i dont see the FR hit anymore either.

I dont mean to imply that the trackir is tempermental, but like any of the equipment we use it may require a little learning, adjustment and care to work 100%.  I am convinced that a TrackIR running 100% would convert even the most diehard hat-switch user.

[hazydaze]

1) Turn the light filtering DOWN and the pixel preference UP. IF your room is free from excess IR signatures this should help the unit track the Track-clip better.

This is what fixed my problem.

And for anybody that just uses the clip like me. You can go to local hardware store and purchase some reflective tape to replace the old, dirty, faded tape on the clip. Makes a HUGE improvement!

[Chapel]

I use the TrackIR 4 Pro, and it works awesome. Something i've found, is that using the HAT in conjunction with TrackIR provides great results. It was a kind of annoying looking behind me, so I just flip the hat to the appropriate rear view, and slide my head to the left or right to look behind me.

All the info in this thread is great, and monkey'ing around with the settings took me about a week to get perfect. I found that by editing each Degree of Freedom individually worked best. Disable all but one, set it exactly right, disable it, and move to the next one. I do have the head roll disabled though. It just tilted the screen and was annoying.

One problem I have encountered, is that when I try to close TrackIR software, it hangs, and I have to CTRL-ALT-DEL to bring up the processes list and shut it down manually. Anyone else have this issue?

[clerick]

Originally posted by StuB
Ok.  I thought it was something built into AH.

I make sure the "startup" in the start menu is empty and I disable all unnecessary services in system management.  
I also go in and edit the registry ( HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ) to remove certain programs from automatically starting up.
I also regularly run Regclean, delete my temp directories and defrag my hard drive.

FSA doesnt do exatly that, it wil stop then restart any processes that you normally want running for regular use and then it performs a memory defrag.  I admit that if i were to do a complete wipe of XP and reinstall i might not need it, but with 2 years of overhead and stuff running i find it invaluabe for AH.

[StuB]

Straffo, I loaded up your profile and while it sems to allow more view coverage it is extremely jittery.

I then re-loaded the profile I was previously using and now that is jittery as well.....prior to all of this it was very smooth, but would freeze at certain view angles.

I rebooted my system a couple of times and made sure it wasn't running anything that wasn't needed and it was still jittery, but not as much as before.

[straffo]

That's weird

Perhaps a problem of version ? I'll check the version I use when back at home.

[Kami]

sounds to me like it's a resource problem and not a track ir settings problem.

[Lusche]

Originally posted by StuB
Straffo, I loaded up your profile and while it sems to allow more view coverage it is extremely jittery.
 

A lot of red clutter in your TIR tracking window?

[StuB]

No, none at all.  I see three bright green dots and that's it.

As for a possibility that it's a resource problem......perhaps, but it was working very smoothly before the change (except at certain angles every once in a while).

Originally posted by Lusche
A lot of red clutter in your TIR tracking window?

[Lusche]

Hmmm.. at this point I think it's time to take it to the TrackIr Support. Does really sound like some internal resource problem to me.