TrackIR: Is it a "Must Have?"

[oneeyeddog]

Take good care of TrackClip Pro. I recommend it, but it's very very fragile at joints.

 

 

Can you elaborate? I about to buy a replacement...

Trupobaw,  There was a gentleman by the name of Jeff Olsen who was with either The Human Solution or Natural Point whom I had contacted last July because several folks I flew with regularly had issues with the TIR Proclip breaking. Jeff advised me to have these folks contact customer service and each had their issues resolved. In some cases they only wanted a pic of the broken Proclip and they sent a replacement.

I did However, have one disappointing experience with customer service.  1 proclip that I picked up and shipped for a friend soon broke, and they wanted it sent back before they would replace it. As my friend lives in Tasmania the cost of shipping was more than the cost of the Clip itself so unfortunately he did not get a warranty replacement for that clip. 

[Georgio]

For those that use the track clip consider shortening the usb lead which just involves resoldering two wires, then using a very small portable USB powerbank of 5v attached to the headphones.

You can get the the powerbanks off FleaBay for a few quid and they just recharge from a computer's USB socket.

[Neil]

I use TrackIR all the time

Yes it is quite expensive, but this product has an outstanding reputation.

If you buy one, you can't go wrong.

It adds a lot to a sim.

[Walrus1]

you can use  freetrack which is a free alternative.

 

mine is quite easy and cheap. Just a webcam. Just a hatcap with 3 reflectives parts glued on it,

i cuted from a reflective cloth. And it works well, ....only  if i 'm nearly in the dark. no ir or things like that. I'm very happy of this cheap system.

 

Dogfight without such a system or a conventional trackir is quite impossible. You have to look quickly backward in your 6:00, above to prevent snap attack like zoom and boom, follow in a scissor your target ..... It's really easier with such a system.

 

Is this the consensus best free alternative to TrackIR?

[dburne]

I use TrackIR all the time

Yes it is quite expensive, but this product has an outstanding reputation.

If you buy one, you can't go wrong.

It adds a lot to a sim.

IMHO Track IR gives tremendous bang for the buck. Especially if one has several flight sims such as myself.

If my TIR 5 quit working tomorrow I would have another one on order pronto.

[Trident_109]

To me, there is no other peripheral available like a Track IR to create the effect of realism and immersion in a flight sim. I can fly HOTAS and rudder, stick and rudder or just stick and still keep my head in the cockpit. Without Track IR I'm in a game artificially pressing buttons or coolie hat to follow the action. I have to concentrate to do something I should normally be able to do - look around. TIR allows this, thus the immersion factor. Situational awareness is natural and immediate. I've seen videos of pilots not using a TIR and being successful, but the bang for buck is in the immersion that TIR affords. There is no substitute for a TIR type devise.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Robert

[Pringliano]

Well, I still use the keyboard, and indeed a good choice of keyboard shortcuts + my HOTAS Cougar, allows for some acceptable tracking wihout having to pay $180 for a TIR5, but I would certianly like to try one, and indeed I sometimes find it rather difficult to dogfight in Multiplayer sessions :-/

 

BTW, When I first used IL2 I was somehow disappointed by the fact that the cokpits weren't "clickable", and I had to use keyboard or joystick buttons for almost all interaction. Now I understand that it makes a lot more sense this way because, in the Hot of the fight, I coldn't conceive having to use the mouse to interact with the cockpit controls....

[FS_Fenice_1965]

Take good care of TrackClip Pro. I recommend it, but it's very very fragile at joints.

 

 

Can you elaborate? I about to buy a replacement...

 

I am in a similar situation, but I've heard that latest generation of the clip is metal rather than plastic.

DO not know if this is true, since I've heard it just a couple of times.

[oneeyeddog]

Fenice, I have not heard about the next gen proclip but it sounds like a big improvement. The failure rate of the current model is far to high.

[FS_Fenice_1965]

I heard a guy on our forum who told that, but do not have any other reference.

Maybe someone here has bought the clip lately and can be more precise about this.

[Death1111]

For the record, I do not use it and I get by ok without it using the hat switch...but this is because I am so used to it from years of playing. The downside is it does take me longer to check my 6 and sometimes makes scissor fights and reverse high yo-yo attacks when my opponent is on my 6 more difficult in terms of orientating myself.

 

So that being said, I will be using Track IR very soon..........very interested in the Occulus Rift

[Nage]

IMHO, TiR is a must have but its the best piece of equipment (immersion wise) I ever purchased for sims....Once you get used to it, its almost you wont notice your using it. And its definitely easier to follow your opponents in the intense dogfight. And its very usefull in ARMA series as well as in driving sims which supports TiR.

Edited May 16, 2014 by tikvic

[lirian]

Hey.

I had a TrackIR 5 about 2 years ago, bought it for arma2, played a couple of hours and sold it (not being used anymore).

Then I jumped into flying sims a bit, and felt the need for something more practical than mouse or hat to look around, but I didnt want to sped another 170€ for a trackir 5+clip pro.

So I found alternatives after searching

Heres the one that I prefered and that I use with all my sim games:

 

Software :

-  Facetracknoir  - easy to setup, you can customize parameters while in game to adjust angles.

Cost : Free

 

Hardware :

- PS3 Eye cam with a small piece of photography negative (developped, ones that are fully black) so the camera would see the IR (theres a IR filter you can also remove if the cam has one). Get the custom made drivers for windows here

Cost : about 10-15€, get a used one on ebay.

 

-Delanclip as 3ir clip. It looks and feels way more sturdy than the track clip pro, which i read can break because its all plastic. Its a solid, thin and lightweight piece of machined aluminum, you can see it (and buy it) here or you can just make your own 3 led clip if you're not as lazy as me, costs like 8-10€ for the parts. About 28€ for the delanclip, way less if you build it yourself.

Cost : about 25-30€

 

Total cost : (for ready to use setup) 40-50€ depending on shipping.

 

What about the performance ? Its is comparable to a trackIR5 ?

Well, first time i tried it, i didn't notice any difference at all with my "old" trackir 5... If you have, well share your experience

Only thing that can be annoying, is that sometimes my ps3 eye cam won't "work" when i boot. I have to replug it to make it work, that may an issue with my cam or the drivers, I don't really know.

 

So around 170-180€ for the same setup at naturalpoint versus 50€ maximum for that "custom" built one.

 

PS : you can find tutorials on installing/setting up facetracknoir quite everywhere.

PS2 : PS3 eye cam is highly recommended because it can run at high FPS, unlike most (if not all) of the hackable webcams.

Edited May 16, 2014 by lirian

[lirian]

Woops, here is the link for the PS3 cam driver for windows (on the right) http://codelaboratories.com/products/eye/driver/ It installs a small software that you can use to setup FPS (60).

If you have problems for setting the fps right, check around there http://codelaboratories.com/forums/viewthread/154/P0/

 Get the custom made drivers for windows here

Edited May 16, 2014 by lirian