Trackir3 review

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Trackir3 review

Postby dieg777 on Sat May 28, 2005 11:23 pm

New review here , please reply with comments

Thanks

http://www.airwarfare.com/AWX/features/ ... review.htm


28/8/05 Have noticed price drop for this e.g. at

http://www.edimensional.com/ so even more reason to get this.
Last edited by dieg777 on Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby dieg777 on Tue May 31, 2005 7:08 am

Ytareh had some good questions – I have copied them here with some replies:


Do you have to wear a hat or glasses to fix dot to?

madsarmy-No you don't. but I can recommend the track hat.

Dieg777- The device works best if the dots are attatched to a hat or if you play online on the mic boom.
If you attatch to glasses or head then the "idiot" factor really comes into play if you forget they are there and wander about with them still stuck to you


If you can stick one on your forehead what kind of adhesive do they use?

madsarmy-Don't know! but I had no reaction to adhesive before I started to use a hat

Doesnt it loose its grip?
madsarmy-Yes but Toad has a good solution if you use a hat & you wont need to keep buying dots.
http://forums.ubi.com/eve/ubb.x?q=Y&a=t ... 310285&p=1

Do they supply lots of dots with kit?

madsarmy-Not many but you wont need anymore if you do the above

Dieg777- It is supplied with 6 large dots and 20 smaller- these have some reusability but eventually the glue will wear off.

That scary looking camera thingy looks heavy wont it pull down my TFT monitor?
madsarmy-No! it is very light & small.


Can you look vertically above/behind or do you just use it for straight ahead vision?
madsarmy-You look around like you would for real. All angles.

You can look to all angles including almost directly behind and straight up or down- the device exagerates the camera angle compaired to head movement so a 1 degree head movement could equil a 90 degree camera movement. But you can tailor this in the software setup to suit yourself.You can also set the smooth rate so that it does not spin but pans smoothly.



Is this really only for the Full Real players/can it benefit external views ?

madsarmy-You can use it for externals. you will also find flying easier in cockpit with TIR. You might end up converted

Dieg777- I think this is best suited to cockpit fliers- they will get most immersion from using this- but works just as well in externals- It is "just" a way of controlling the camera by replacing the hat switch. I dont fly full online.
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Postby dieg777 on Tue May 31, 2005 7:13 am

Some follow up comments from UBI il2fb board

Grisha7

Just got trackir myself a couple of weeks back. As your review suggests, it is indeed the dogs dangly bits. Couldn't imagine being without it now

WTE_Ibis

If you want to improve tracking get a wooden half sphere about half inch diam,(available at hardware shop) and cover with dots, place on hat or glasses.
That way you won't lose tracking at the edges and you can sit further away from monitor.


madsarmy

I have just upgraded from TIR to TIR3pro with Vector expansion. The difference is amazing. Soooo Smoooth! & the vector in FS2004 is just stunning.
you can sit up & lean forward to look over objects to see instruments.
I'm looking forward to getting vector in BOB


Flakenstien

My mates bought me a TIR as a Bday gift and I can't thank them enough!! Simply awesome! I plan on getting the Vector soon.
As far as the hat goes it works fine (no need to buy the TIR hat, any will do)
But I'm one of them people that hate having things on my head, the headset along with a hat is overkill to me but I have found a solution that is extremly comfortable and allows the camera to see the whole dot improving accuracy.

I went out and bought a cheap headband! (the terry cloth type used to keep sweat out of your eyes during those intensive workout sessions,we all partake in, lol) The one I got is black( lighter colors by theory reflect light), stuck a square dot dead center and position it right in the middle "between the eyes", I had tweaked the software over and over again trying for perfection and this did the trick! The same as sticking the dot on your forehead but reusable.
Hope some try this and find it usefull.

Vipez-


Just to be honest, i've owned TIR 3 Pro for almost an year, and I still am not used to it.. Truth is, it is not neccessarily better, if you have trained to use POV/Freeview or what ever system you use to look around.

My point is, if you are doing fine with your current system, there is no point in changing to TrackIR .. however, if you are not happy to look around in the cockpit, then TIR is a good purchase..

Just don't expect it to do miracles for you
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Update to discount

Postby dieg777 on Sun Jun 12, 2005 12:47 pm

I have been in touch with Jason Williams - TrackIR Product Manager
of NaturalPoint and he assures me that the discount will apply to all customers who order direct through Naturalpoint. If you are European then you will have to check if this will offset postage and taxes if ordering from USA.
I had ordered mine through e-dimensional which is an approved European distributer.
http://www.edimensional.com/

So European customers will have to compaire prices to get best deal.

My thanks to Jason who was helpful in explaining this.
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Postby dieg777 on Fri Jun 17, 2005 11:47 am

More comments from the boards- thanks for all who commented

http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boards ... 7;t=003237

and from UBI Pacific fighter boards

Casper139971

I've tried all of the free softwares I could find, and after rigging a cap with an LED, I find freelook works the best for me. That being said, I don't use it. It starts out just fine, but after a few looks around, The software (as all the others do as well) lose the center. I find myself more concerned with where I'm looking than flying and recentering requires 2 keypresses plus centering the onscreen view. Example, hit key to disable freelook, reset onscreen view to center then reenable freelook. My buddy has a track IR with the 6dof upgrade. It does work much better as far as tracking and overall setup. ex. sensitivity, etc. It also needs recentering as well, but it is less frequent and is done with 1 key press. I'll just stick with the hat switch. I'd get a track IR if they were less expensive. Myself, I'd rather have PC hardware to make my game look better and run smoother. My opinion. BTW, to be honest, I've only spent about 15 minutes with the track IR myself.

Waldo.Pepper

I liked cam2pan the best. I even did some testing for the developer. He was gracious enough to provide me a key so that I could play around with it at will.

That being said I wanted to try trackIR and found a cheap one on ebay $50

Worth every penny. It is much smoother, and works flawlessly. I cannot imagine playing without it.

TgD Thunderbolt56

I went from using hatswitch to TIRv1 and wasn't overly impressed. I upgraded to TIR 3 Pro and WOW!

I won't get on my soapbox, but TIR is, for me, one of the best investments to my sim rig that I've ever made (and I've been flying flight sims for over 10 years on just about every type of rig possible). Compare the cost of TIR to the cost of a new VC and it's not only initially cheaper but can be amortized over the course of many machines. It's not nearly as susceptible to obsolescence as most any other piece of hardware.

sensaispcc55



Posted Wed June 15 2005 07:20 Wed June 15 2005 07:20
Hello,

I should not say this because it does not change anything but "TrackIR" rules. I have mine for one month and I do not think I could go back to before it. It is worth the 150$, if you can buy one and use it. It gives you the feeling of being into a real plane. You can see every point of the sky and not only some qudrant and not others.

GoToAway



Posted Wed June 15 2005 07:27 Wed June 15 2005 07:27
TrackIR is really the single best investment I've made for flight sims since a HOTAS setup. I simply cannot imagine playing without it.

In fact, when I play other games, I find myself trying to use my head to control my view. I was doing this all of the time when I was playing Morrowind a few months ago. I'd love to see TIR support implemented into anything played from a first person perspective... Because I sure as hell feel like I have tunnel vision whenever I can't use it.

Fliegeroffizier

Posted Wed June 15 2005 10:02 Wed June 15 2005 10:02
I used to use Newview and thought that was excellent...But, TIR is the absolute Best! One simply moves ones head very slightly to be able to "look around" just like real life..I wouldn't fly without it. Best investment for a flight sim. Well...TIR and ForceFeedback in my opinion complete the immersion.
TIR2(and I'm told also TIR3, of course)has excellent centering feature. As long as one does not move ones chair or posture, etc, it will pick up on the tracking dot; you can even get up and walk away, come back, and given that you return to your normal set sitting position and chair has not been moved somehow, you'll be back in business. IF something 'unlocks' the cenetering, it is VERY simple to simply hit the re-center key..takes no more effort or thought than hitting any other single key function.

Also, using TIR frees up your POV hat for other functions...I use the four programmable points on my POVhat(actually I have two povhats) for rudder and elevator trim, so I can constantly adjust those with my thumb, again without having to give it much thought....and constant Trim adjustment with 4.0 is Essential.


JRJacobs
one MAJOR problem with TIR - after a couple of weeks - if you ever find yourself trying to fly without it, you'd rather pull teeth - it is THAT GOOD and THAT addictive, i could give up my throttle quad, i could give up my fighter stick, i could give up mu rudder pedals - i could NOT give up TIR

Corsair9
Once you start flying with TrackIR 3, you won't do it any other way, period.

It *does* take awhile to get the feel of it, but once you "get it" it's amazing how you adjust to the movements. It's second nature to track a target in the air or on the ground, or to scan the sky around you - all without flipping buttons on your stick.

It's THE latest innovation in flight simulation.
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Postby 52Zebra on Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:36 pm

52Zebra here, I read your review on the Track IR3
It looks cool. 8)
Will it work in conjunction with 3D glasses?
:)
52Zebra
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Postby dieg777 on Wed Nov 30, 2005 3:02 pm

52Zebra

I really dont know , I would think so as the trackir mimics mouse movement so as long as you dont have to look straight at the screen to get 3-d glasses to work then you should be ok- it might be best if you e-mail naturalpoint they might help- they are usually very helpful.


support@naturalpoint.com

TIR4 is out -you can see the review of this on airwarfare as well
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