TrackIR software 5.0 beta 4 available

GoBBLeS
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jun 17, 2009 2:05 pm

Re: TrackIR software 5.0 beta 4 available

Post by GoBBLeS »

Hi

I am new user to trackir and love it. I think i've found out everything the software can do..

I'm running Windows 7(7100)x64, and i'm not expecting you to do support on a beta OS, but it could be the same for Vista/x64.

Anyways, i have this problem with profiles.

When i'm shutting down the computer, TrackIr 5, doesn't save the new adjustments to the profile i'm using atm.
I have to manually shut down TrackIr5 to make sure the profile is saved, before shutting down the OS.

I've tried starting TrackIr5 with admin rights, different compatibility modes and so on. I've shut off UAC from the start.

Again, i'm not expecting any support, more of a 'heads up', especially if you should encounter other people with similar problems.
Seth Steiling
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Location: Corvallis, Oregon

Re: TrackIR software 5.0 beta 4 available

Post by Seth Steiling »

Thanks for the heads up. :)

The software's current behavior is to save after a state change (like moving to a different profile) or software shutdown. So, this behavior makes sense, if you are shutting down your PC with the TrackIR software still running. In that case, this would be the normal behavior for all OS.

We'll look into a more efficient way to save changes to profiles, though it might not be ready for 5.0 final.
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TrackIR | OptiTrack
SauDepp
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:11 pm

Re: TrackIR software 5.0 beta 4 available

Post by SauDepp »

.....natural view was much better within version beta 3 (DCS:BS).
Over that a max turn (180� - maybe variable?) would be great...

Nevertheless great hard- nad software ;)

Greets
S@uDepp
snomhf
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Joined: Wed May 31, 2006 5:00 am
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: TrackIR software 5.0 beta 4 available

Post by snomhf »

First, thank you very much for addressing pretty much all the complaints I posted early in the beta phase. I know lots of others echoed those requests so I know I'm not THAT special but still, that's pretty fantastic!

I decided to purchase TIR5 and just took shipment on it today. After flying for a couple of hours, I have to say that it is considerably better than TIR4. In fact, my TIR4 profiles are pretty much worthless now. Not because you have not provided an import feature (thank you for that) but because I scaled the curves so as to make it more responsive and it turns out that TIR5 does not need that serious amount of scaling! It works so much more naturally that I am able to use the "smooth" default curve with just a small amount of tweaking. That is awesome!

There are two issues that I'm having with beta 4. There appears to be no SAVE function! I create a new profile and the only way I seem to be able to save it is to terminate the program at which point it prompts me to save the profile I've modified. What's the story there? Am I missing something? That seems so obvious! The other issue is sort of the same thing. I want to associate a particular game with a profile that I create. When I scroll down to that game and change the profile from "Default" to the one I create, it gets lost when I terminate, even when it prompts for saving my profile. The only thing I can figure out to do is set my profile to "exclusive" which thankfully does get saved but of course, I can only have the one profile now. This seems so basic that I feel I must be missing something really obvious but I'm willing to look like a fool here because I sure can't see it.

Anyway, thanks again for the great support. TIR5 is a huge improvement; both in hardware and in software.
Seth Steiling
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Location: Corvallis, Oregon

Re: TrackIR software 5.0 beta 4 available

Post by Seth Steiling »

You can also save changes to your profile by switching to another profile in the drop-down menu. The current behavior is to prompt for saving upon state change. But, as you've described, it's not the best way to tackle this. A simple save button is on the roadmap, hopefully in time for next release.

The second issue seems strange, as I don't think I've seen it. AFAIK, your title association is supposed to save as soon as you select it. We'll check that out over here and see what's going on.
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snomhf
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Joined: Wed May 31, 2006 5:00 am
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: TrackIR software 5.0 beta 4 available

Post by snomhf »

Thank you Seth. I'll play with it some more too. Part of the problem is I am so accustomed to TIR4 that when something works differently, I have a hard time adjusting to a new way of thinking. I did work pretty hard trying to get this to work but perhaps I'm doing something stupid. My next attempt at this was going to be to search the files and try to find where this gets set and just edit that file.

Nice to know a "save button" is on the way. I really think that's a good idea. I don't like things that save automatically. I like being in control. :)

Thanks again for the great support!
-mark

BTW, are there more sample profiles around somewhere that I can download? I chose the "install sample profiles" and all I got was a "one2one", "smooth" and "default" (which appears to just be a copy of "one2one." It seems that there were other ones in the last beta I downloaded. It would be nice to have an "aggressive" one, "combat flight", etc. so I can compare the differences in the curve shapes.
Seth Steiling
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Location: Corvallis, Oregon

Re: TrackIR software 5.0 beta 4 available

Post by Seth Steiling »

Those are the only profiles we're shipping in the installer, though I think we're going to include some stock "templates" for the curve template drop-down, which will offer some more options.

BTW, the 1:1 and Default should be significantly different. Can you confirm that they look the same in the graph editor when you alternate between them? 1:1 should be linear with all Y values at 1. The Default should have a deadzone with a fair amount of scaling (I think around 4-6 on the Y values outside of the deadzone).

EDIT:
Also, if you have any profiles saved from past beta installations (pre beta 3, I think), they'll probably need to be discarded or reworked, as we've changed the scaling on the graph for the translational axes (x, y, z).
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snomhf
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Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: TrackIR software 5.0 beta 4 available

Post by snomhf »

Hi Seth,
No, I can't confirm that but I will. What I do know is with the Default, Yaw only gave me views of the wingtips of the Spitfire and no further. I had to go with "Smooth" to be able to view all the way around to the tail. It looked like 1:1 to me but I didn't compare. I thought "Smooth" would be a smoothed out version of "Default" and was surprised that it was not.

To be honest, I couldn't make heads or tails of the graph. The horizontal axis is obviously actual head movement in degrees but the 0-39 numbers on the vertical I couldn't figure out and then there is that extra curve that appears when you move the Speed slider that confused me too. I was too excited about wanting to get off to flying that I didn't allow myself too much study on that. :) The manual didn't mention it either so I'm going to have to put in some effort and figure all that out.
Seth Steiling
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Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:29 am
Location: Corvallis, Oregon

Re: TrackIR software 5.0 beta 4 available

Post by Seth Steiling »

The Default and Smooth profiles actually should give very similar experiences in terms of their Yaw amplification, as you assumed. Smooth is supposed to be like Default, but without a dead zone and I think with a bit more amplification on X and Y. Default also has the Z axis clamped on one end. Can you send me screenshots of the Default, One:One, and Smooth profiles? (seth @ naturalpoint.com)

On the graph, the X value of a point relates to where your head is in actual 3D space. So, an X value of 15 on a point would be 15 degrees on Yaw, Pitch, and Roll or 15 cm on X, Y, and Z.

The Y value is basically a multiplier. So, if you have a point on the Yaw graph that is (15,3), it means that when you turn your head 15 degrees to the side, it will be multiplied by 3x in-game.

When you move the Speed slider, it multiplies all points by that value. The second curve that appears is showing what your new curve will look like when it's multiplied. But, the original curve that it's being multiplied from remains for reference (the green curve) during further tweaking of the graph.
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snomhf
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed May 31, 2006 5:00 am
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: TrackIR software 5.0 beta 4 available

Post by snomhf »

Hi Seth,
Well you were right about the sample profiles. I'm happy to send you screen shots but I don't think there's much need as they are exactly as you describe.

I mistakenly thought the Default was a 1:1 because I wasn't turning my head far enough. Duh! It is not comfortable for me to yaw my head more than about 20 degrees (I wear glasses and that's right at the edge of my lenses) so I always build my profiles to max out the Yaw axis there.

Thanks for the explanation on the Y (multiplier) axis. That makes perfect sense now. Also, I didn't realize you click the middle mouse button to reset the zoom (another Duh!) so the graph was really strange looking adding to the confusion. Just some growing pains is all. It's becoming clear now. Sorry to bug you with stuff I could have figured out on my own.

As for the saving stuff, I'm satisfied now that this does not work correctly. I have tried multiple times to change (for example) "Combat Flight Simulator 3" from "Default Profile" to the "FlightCombat" profile that I created. As long as I never shut down the software it will work but as soon as I do, it reverts back to the default. I see that ProfileMap.dat is where that info is kept but I haven't figured out yet how those numbers map to the Title names. When I figure that out, at least I'll be able to edit that file and force the Profile names as I want to. That will be a reasonable workaround until this gets fixed.

Thanks again for the help.
-mark

Edit:
Just noticed if I set up "Favorites" view, that also gets lost upon program termination.
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