Head Tracking with Cliffs of Dover

[Blackdog_kt]

I had some problems with power outages and surges recently that resulted in my power supply getting fried. Thankfully, the rest of my PC survived and the PSU was replaced for free thanks to a 3-year warranty, but the whole thing ended with my TrackIR 4 camera going dead.

I was of course considerably annoyed (to put it mildly ) because i didn't want to buy a new set, but on the other hand head tracking is one of those things that once you get used to you can't go back.

So i installed freetrack and after some tweaking i can use it with a cheap microsoft lifecam vx-5000 and my battered trackclip Pro (that thing is so notoriously flimsy that i've had to use duct-tape a mere 2 months after i bought my TrackIR+trackclip Pro set).

I use my webcam to place skype videocalls to relatives abroad, so i change the camera's configuration back and forth whenever i want to use freetrack.

Also for the same reason i haven't modified it (didn't remove the IR filter), but the IR leds from the trackcklip still register if the room is dark.

Granted, my initial observations are a bit tinted by the fact that i haven't tweaked freetrack to my taste just yet, but truth be told if i could spare the money right now i'd buy a new TrackIR set.

Don't get me wrong, Freetrack is a very good solution and i hope it's supported in CoD. However, coming from 2-3 years of TrackIR use it seems to me that TrackIR is definitely better (or just something i'm used to).

My comparison will focus mainly on the things that i think trackIR does better, not because i want to diss freetrack but because if it was equally good i'd be just saying "omg, it's as good as trackIR and free, definitely prefer it!" and be done with it

For me, the points i personally disliked were:
1) There's a noticeable delay between moving my head and freetrack doing its job. I guess this is not an issue for someone who's new to head tracking or only used freetrack in the past, but for someone who's used TrackIR and got spoiled by its near instantaneous response the delay is noticeable.

2) The freetrack software is definitely more complicated than TrackIR version 5 software, but it's more or less on par with the older trackIR version 4 versions. I guess that's the price one pays for the ability to customize, more parameters and so on.

3) The keys i use to control freetrack sometimes have trouble registering. I use F9 to pause it and F12 to recenter. Sometimes i have to keep pressing 2-4 times before it does what it's supposed to do. The biggest drawback in this is that if you pause it, it seems to also deactivate the camera so when you resume it you have to wait for the webcam to also do its own "start-up". It's not a century of delay of course, but it's a noticeable and often crucial few seconds.
With trackIR, i could point my head into a weird angle, pause the device at that spot and turn my head straight on the screen to keep looking that way without straining my neck, then i would press F9 again and it would instantly start following my movement again.
With freetrack, i find that it will probably take 2-3 attempts to do it and then i'll also have to wait a few seconds for the webcam to come back to life.

4) Trying to set a proper curve for one axis in Freetrack is driving me nuts. The trackIR method (especially in the version 5 software) is definitely superior by leaps and bounds.

5) Accuracy is not the same, even when using 640x480 webcam video resolution. I also have a steady 30FPS with 0 jitter and the freetrack software clearly shows 3 dots being tracked. I won't hold this last one against it however, because i think it could be improved with some tweaking on my part.
I get a lot of "blind" angles, so for example if i want to look to my 5 o'clock the movement is smooth until a certain point, i get a blind spot where it loses contact and then it picks it up again. I think this could be solved by making my own custom IR leds and sanding them down a bit so they are easier to pick up, plus taping some photo film in front of my webcam to act as a visible light filter.

6) I get motion in an extra axis during certain movements. If i'm looking straight up the in-game view also rotates to clockwise some, if i'm looking down into the cockpit it rotates counter-clockwise. TrackIR had a bit of this too in the version4 software but definitely not so pronounced and it was totally eradicated for me with the version 5 drivers.
I think this is also a point that can be solved with some tweaking, as i think it has to do with setting the distances of the reference point in the freetrack interface.


Finally, my thoughts on a few improvements that could make freetrack even better.

1) Don't turn off the webcam when pause key is pressed, leave it running, keep tracking it but just stop the data stream towards the game. This would solve the wasted seconds between pause and resume.

2) A revamped interface for setting up the sensitivity curves. Keep the old one for those that might prefer it, plus copy the trackIR method as an alternative way to do it.

3) Have a way to automatically calibrate the reference point so we don't have to take a measuring tape to our heads
A 3-step calibration could be used, where the player needs to look straight ahead, all the way up and all the way down. The software could then extrapolate the reference point datum by measuring the rotational offset that's caused when looking up/down, because it knows it shouldn't be there.

My final assesment is that freetrack is not as good as trackIR in an absolute comparison, but it's better on a cost-effectiveness basis. If you want to get head tracking on the cheap definitely try it out, just be prepared to spend time configuring it and having to deal with a few frustrating aspects.

[Royraiden]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

I had some problems with power outages and surges recently that resulted in my power supply getting fried. Thankfully, the rest of my PC survived and the PSU was replaced for free thanks to a 3-year warranty, but the whole thing ended with my TrackIR 4 camera going dead.

I was of course considerably annoyed (to put it mildly ) because i didn't want to buy a new set, but on the other hand head tracking is one of those things that once you get used to you can't go back.

So i installed freetrack and after some tweaking i can use it with a cheap microsoft lifecam vx-5000 and my battered trackclip Pro (that thing is so notoriously flimsy that i've had to use duct-tape a mere 2 months after i bought my TrackIR+trackclip Pro set).

I use my webcam to place skype videocalls to relatives abroad, so i change the camera's configuration back and forth whenever i want to use freetrack.

Also for the same reason i haven't modified it (didn't remove the IR filter), but the IR leds from the trackcklip still register if the room is dark.

Granted, my initial observations are a bit tinted by the fact that i haven't tweaked freetrack to my taste just yet, but truth be told if i could spare the money right now i'd buy a new TrackIR set.

Don't get me wrong, Freetrack is a very good solution and i hope it's supported in CoD. However, coming from 2-3 years of TrackIR use it seems to me that TrackIR is definitely better (or just something i'm used to).

My comparison will focus mainly on the things that i think trackIR does better, not because i want to diss freetrack but because if it was equally good i'd be just saying "omg, it's as good as trackIR and free, definitely prefer it!" and be done with it

For me, the points i personally disliked were:
1) There's a noticeable delay between moving my head and freetrack doing its job. I guess this is not an issue for someone who's new to head tracking or only used freetrack in the past, but for someone who's used TrackIR and got spoiled by its near instantaneous response the delay is noticeable.

2) The freetrack software is definitely more complicated than TrackIR version 5 software, but it's more or less on par with the older trackIR version 4 versions. I guess that's the price one pays for the ability to customize, more parameters and so on.

3) The keys i use to control freetrack sometimes have trouble registering. I use F9 to pause it and F12 to recenter. Sometimes i have to keep pressing 2-4 times before it does what it's supposed to do. The biggest drawback in this is that if you pause it, it seems to also deactivate the camera so when you resume it you have to wait for the webcam to also do its own "start-up". It's not a century of delay of course, but it's a noticeable and often crucial few seconds.
With trackIR, i could point my head into a weird angle, pause the device at that spot and turn my head straight on the screen to keep looking that way without straining my neck, then i would press F9 again and it would instantly start following my movement again.
With freetrack, i find that it will probably take 2-3 attempts to do it and then i'll also have to wait a few seconds for the webcam to come back to life.

4) Trying to set a proper curve for one axis in Freetrack is driving me nuts. The trackIR method (especially in the version 5 software) is definitely superior by leaps and bounds.

5) Accuracy is not the same, even when using 640x480 webcam video resolution. I also have a steady 30FPS with 0 jitter and the freetrack software clearly shows 3 dots being tracked. I won't hold this last one against it however, because i think it could be improved with some tweaking on my part.
I get a lot of "blind" angles, so for example if i want to look to my 5 o'clock the movement is smooth until a certain point, i get a blind spot where it loses contact and then it picks it up again. I think this could be solved by making my own custom IR leds and sanding them down a bit so they are easier to pick up, plus taping some photo film in front of my webcam to act as a visible light filter.

6) I get motion in an extra axis during certain movements. If i'm looking straight up the in-game view also rotates to clockwise some, if i'm looking down into the cockpit it rotates counter-clockwise. TrackIR had a bit of this too in the version4 software but definitely not so pronounced and it was totally eradicated for me with the version 5 drivers.
I think this is also a point that can be solved with some tweaking, as i think it has to do with setting the distances of the reference point in the freetrack interface.


Finally, my thoughts on a few improvements that could make freetrack even better.

1) Don't turn off the webcam when pause key is pressed, leave it running, keep tracking it but just stop the data stream towards the game. This would solve the wasted seconds between pause and resume.

2) A revamped interface for setting up the sensitivity curves. Keep the old one for those that might prefer it, plus copy the trackIR method as an alternative way to do it.

3) Have a way to automatically calibrate the reference point so we don't have to take a measuring tape to our heads
A 3-step calibration could be used, where the player needs to look straight ahead, all the way up and all the way down. The software could then extrapolate the reference point datum by measuring the rotational offset that's caused when looking up/down, because it knows it shouldn't be there.

My final assesment is that freetrack is not as good as trackIR in an absolute comparison, but it's better on a cost-effectiveness basis. If you want to get head tracking on the cheap definitely try it out, just be prepared to spend time configuring it and having to deal with a few frustrating aspects.

When my 3 point clip worked I had no problems to speak of except the fact that I had to close the door and windows to make the room darker.

You can see how it performed in Wings of Prey in one of my videos.Please dont focus on my flying/shooting skills.
Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeKqaccTmRM

It looks kinda slow but I had all the smooth sliders to the max.

[MadBlaster]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

3) The keys i use to control freetrack sometimes have trouble registering. I use F9 to pause it and F12 to recenter. Sometimes i have to keep pressing 2-4 times before it does what it's supposed to do. The biggest drawback in this is that if you pause it, it seems to also deactivate the camera so when you resume it you have to wait for the webcam to also do its own "start-up". It's not a century of delay of course, but it's a noticeable and often crucial few seconds.
With trackIR, i could point my head into a weird angle, pause the device at that spot and turn my head straight on the screen to keep looking that way without straining my neck, then i would press F9 again and it would instantly start following my movement again.
With freetrack, i find that it will probably take 2-3 attempts to do it and then i'll also have to wait a few seconds for the webcam to come back to life.

If you look in Freetrack at the controls/tracking/center, you see a box for "toggle". You want this box unchecked. What is happening is you are pressing F12 too much/fast and the box gets 'auto" checked and unchecked by the software. The best way around this is to write and run yourself a Glovepie script similar to below. That way, you will always be consistent with the center key. Note the .2 second time delay. Also, most if not all of the problems you are experiencing with Freetrak can be resolved. There should be no hesitation...etc. It is possible to get it very stable and smooth to where the only thing you need to do is initiate the program and start the tracking. But it does take some time and initiative to get it figured it out. Count me on the list of users hoping that CoD will include ability to use Freetrak.

;*************************FREETRAK**************** ******************************
;in freetrak software, make sure f12 is mapped to "center" and f10 is mapped to "pause"
;center freetrak and mouse cursor
if joystick1.Button6 =true then
key.f12=true
mouse.CursorPosX=700
mouse.CursorPosY=525
elseif released(joystick1.Button6) then
wait .2 seconds
key.f12= false
endif

Edit:You can ignore the mouse cursor stuff. I have the mouse cursor visible in game. So this script centers the mouse cursor up for me when I press button 6 on the joystick. Also, I usually only have to press button 6 once after I have adjusted my seating position. Then it's good for the duration unless I alter my seating position. Then I have to press it again.

[David198502]

hey guys!!!i have read this thread now!
i for myself own track ir and im really enjoying it.but i convinced a friend of mine now,who normally dont play flight simulators, to buy COD, and he even bought il2 1946 two days ago, to get used to handle a simulated aircraft.yesterday i set up a coop mission to learn him the ropes. everything is fine and he really likes il2.but he has major problems to work with the hat switch to look around.so my question is where i can find a complete guide(possibly a dummies guide which explains every step) to use freetrack and mod the webcam??

[MadBlaster]

Originally Posted by speculum jockey

Instead of making a setup that tracks three infrared lights, just mount a few to shine towards you (high output LED's if possible) and just make your own reflective clip instead. That way you don't have to have a bunch of wires hanging from your head, and the LED setup could run off of a power source other than batteries. (think replacing one of those USB LED lamps with an IR one).

I think it worth mentioning possible safety issue here. It is not good for your eyes to look at infrared light source. If you do reflective setup, make sure the LED's are not infrared.

[Royraiden]

Originally Posted by MadBlaster

I think it worth mentioning possible safety issue here. It is not good for your eyes to look at infrared light source. If you do reflective setup, make sure the LED's are not infrared.

I guess it wouldnt work without ir led's.I think the Trackir camera uses ir led's that the reflective clip,well reflects.

[SEE]

Just a thought, WOP (which is only 12 months old) supports both TIR and FT so I guess it must use the older 'non encrypted interface'. May be CoD will be similar, we will have to wait and see. Without a definitive answer from the Dev's we are all pretty much guessing.

[MadBlaster]

To clarify what I was thinking. In a reflective setup you would use reflective tape instead of LED's in your headset. The light source would be at the camera. That's the direction I thought SpecJock was going in his comment. So, you would not want to use infrared led under that design, because it would be pointed towards you instead of away from you, and you would get eye damage.

[SEE]

Originally Posted by Royraiden

Freetrack
Pros:
-FREE software
-Easy to set up and use once you got the setup built correctly
-Easy to replace(if the camera fails)

Cons:
-Support(not all games supporting track ir support freetrack, correct me)
-Bothersome to make clip(at least to me)
-Requires a dark room to work properly most of the time

TrackIR
Pros:
-No need to build
-More complex software(im assuming)
-Comes with reflective clip(does not need a dark room to work properly)
-Better support on games

Cons:
-Expensive!

is Freetrack going to be supported at release?Im fairly new to the forum so maybe this was discussed earlier.

Back on topic......

a) None of have a clue as to FT support so my first advice would be 'wait and see', or

b) despite the expense , invest in a ready made TrackIR solution if Vector reflection is your preferred option. I have no experience of Reflection setups with NP or FT or how well it deals with stray ambient IR reflections in camera field of view. I would personally vist the NP TrackIR forum to see if there are any issues with reliabilty and functionality.

[Royraiden]

Originally Posted by SEE

Back on topic......

a) None of have a clue as to FT support so my first advice would be 'wait and see', or

b) despite the expense , invest in a ready made TrackIR solution if Vector reflection is your preferred option. I have no experience of Reflection setups with NP or FT or how well it deals with stray ambient IR reflections from walls, etc. I would personally vist the NP TrackIR forum to see if there are any issues with reliabilty and functionality.

Thank you sir.