TrackIR?

[Gabenfoodle]

So, em. I'm looking into getting into IR Tracking. So, em, can someone explain to me how I do it?

[Crowe]

Well if your not a techie, you might want to buy a IR Tracking product. A lot of people use TrackIR. Although, it still requires a lot of setting up. Just google TrackIR and Arma 3.

I do want to warn you, IR Tracking is mostly beneficial if you are a pilot. Some may disagree with that statement, which is fine, but most people will find it nothing more than a nice little addon when playing infantry.

In addition, there are a number of people who just plan don't like it. There are also a number of people who have physical issues with it. I am one of those who get motion sick when using an IR Tracking device.

All in all, even if you get one, it wont really change your Arma gaming experience unless your a pilot.

TL;DR: IR tracking is not a huge game changer, and you may not like it anyway.

[Twelvefield]

I disagree 110%. TrackIR is great for infantry! A TrackIR for situational awareness and rudder pedals to adjust your stance make you a lean, mean fighting machine rather than just another mouse wrangler.

However, I do agree that if you're getting a TrackIR just for Arma 3, you may be spending your money -somewhat- unwisely. But maybe you're rich. Some people are.

TrackIR shines best in flying games like FSX, IL2, Elite, Rise Of Flight, and so on. It's a fairly long list of supported games. It's also very good in driving games: iRacing, Assetto Corsa, Project Cars, Euro Truck, etc.

As for making the TrackIR device work, it's very simple. The camera is USB and sits on your monitor. The tracker you wear on a hat. The software is small but you should get the latest version, which is free online.

You start the TrackIR software, calibrate your tracker with one keypress, load Arma 3 and the game will automatically use the TrackIR. I don't know where friend st-crowe is having problems setting the TrackIR to work since it can be initialized by a child in under a minute and it takes seconds to get going after that.

Your head motions allow you to look freely around in the game world, which means no more mouse freelook. Lean left or right and your stance leans, allowing you to peek around corners without getting shot. Lean forward, and your view automatically zooms. You can throw away all those keyboard commands, because you'll never need them again!

As for motion sickness, I find the TrackIR helps vertigo go away rather than add to it. Getting locked into the mouse view sometimes makes my head spin. Some people do have issues with TrackIR motion sickness, though, but certainly not everyone. It can take a little getting used to, but it's not nearly as draining as an Oculus Rift. In any case, using a wider FOV will make Arma 3 feel less dizzy, although you need a mod for that.

EDIT: Looking back, I see that it's not just TrackIR you want. TrackIR is the best, but there are other, cheaper solutions. And yes, some of them are really a bear to set up, especially if you are going cheap.

Also, low frame rates will make you very dizzy in IR tracking, so you need to make sure you have a smooth rate. Some of the other trackers poll too hard and are more sensitive to frame rate fluctuations. But that almost never happens in Arma 3, right?

[Gabenfoodle]

Originally posted by Twelvefield:

I disagree 110%. TrackIR is great for infantry! A TrackIR for situational awareness and rudder pedals to adjust your stance make you a lean, mean fighting machine rather than just another mouse wrangler.

However, I do agree that if you're getting a TrackIR just for Arma 3, you may be spending your money -somewhat- unwisely. But maybe you're rich. Some people are.

TrackIR shines best in flying games like FSX, IL2, Elite, Rise Of Flight, and so on. It's a fairly long list of supported games. It's also very good in driving games: iRacing, Assetto Corsa, Project Cars, Euro Truck, etc.

As for making the TrackIR device work, it's very simple. The camera is USB and sits on your monitor. The tracker you wear on a hat. The software is small but you should get the latest version, which is free online.

You start the TrackIR software, calibrate your tracker with one keypress, load Arma 3 and the game will automatically use the TrackIR. I don't know where friend st-crowe is having problems setting the TrackIR to work since it can be initialized by a child in under a minute and it takes seconds to get going after that.

Your head motions allow you to look freely around in the game world, which means no more mouse freelook. Lean left or right and your stance leans, allowing you to peek around corners without getting shot. Lean forward, and your view automatically zooms. You can throw away all those keyboard commands, because you'll never need them again!

As for motion sickness, I find the TrackIR helps vertigo go away rather than add to it. Getting locked into the mouse view sometimes makes my head spin. Some people do have issues with TrackIR motion sickness, though, but certainly not everyone. It can take a little getting used to, but it's not nearly as draining as an Oculus Rift. In any case, using a wider FOV will make Arma 3 feel less dizzy, although you need a mod for that.

EDIT: Looking back, I see that it's not just TrackIR you want. TrackIR is the best, but there are other, cheaper solutions. And yes, some of them are really a bear to set up, especially if you are going cheap.

Also, low frame rates will make you very dizzy in IR tracking, so you need to make sure you have a smooth rate. Some of the other trackers poll too hard and are more sensitive to frame rate fluctuations. But that almost never happens in Arma 3, right?

So, all that being said, if I wanted to boost myself into the future, how much would it cost, hardware to get arma 3 running well aside?

[Crowe]

Around $130 give or take. That's why I warn people who want to jump into IR Tracking. It so expensive for a product you may or may not like.

It's your money and time, but I suggest you listen to Twelvefield that if you want IR Tracking just for Arma 3, you might be wasting your money. The $130 would be be better suited to a CPU upgrade or even a new mouse with more buttons.

However, if you want to go down the IR road, I again suggest getting TrackIR. It is by far the simplest.

(You said you want to jump into the future, but I want to warn you that the future is not IR Tracking. The future is SteamVR or some similar product. These types of products will probably replace traditional IR Tracking in the next two years. Although, I could be wrong.)

[Davschall]

Well I made my own, I use it mostly for flight although it works on the ground. I got my clip printed for 20 bucks because I didnt want some stupid looking piece of cardboard hanging off the side of my head.

In total with a PS3 eye, useless mouse (for the usb power) leds and resistors, also some fimo clay for making diffusers (trust me these are almost necesarry and translucent fimo clay is like 2-3 bucks). The cost was about 25 bucks. Yea not much for awesomeness. Its a little difficult to get your curves right, but not impossible.

I made this because I wanted head tracking in DCS world, and didnt want to spend 150 on a product made by patent trolls. Im going to be getting steam VR when its released. VR is not yet the way of the super near future; too clunky, and not a high enough resolution. When your face gets tired you will still have the headtracking to fall back on.

In terms of hardware, as much as I hate to say it Intel is the way to go in terms of cpu. I had an AMD 965 BE and then a 8350 and while im a huge AMD and underdog supporter. The gameplay experince wasnt there. Now its all about boosting your min frames in this game. Sure I CAN get 90+ fps in a lot of places, but thats useless to me with 60 hz. My min frames are signifiantly higher, where I used to get 15 I get 30-40, bring it from crap to playable. I run an R9 290 underwater and I love it, wont change it and about to buy another. For 250 bucks you cant beat that (considering i spent 500 on mine lol).

You ask what you have to spend, well what do you have to spend? If you have a microcenter near you a 4690k with mobo is like 250 some bucks (lol cant find my receipt). 8350 came down in price as well though so thats not a bad option either; if you play other games and can deal with the subpar frames in arma. I need more info but in terms of upgrades you are probably looking at 500-700 to build whatever pc you have up to the task.

[TrackIR_Official]

If you go with TrackIR and have trouble setting it up or want tips. You can always ask our group http://steamcommunity.com/groups/TrackIR_Official.

You can get the TrackIR 4, for $99.95 or the TrackIR 5 for $149.95. Then you can add the TrackClip PRO for around $20 more using the bundle discount, but it isn't 100% necessary. If you prefer to wear a headset instead of a hat then it would be a must have. It can also help deter IR interference because it uses active markers instead of passive markers.

In case that you don't like the product, we do offer a lenient 30 day return policy. For virtually any reason you can return the product within 30 days of purchase for a refund.

I do have to have two different profiles for infantry and flight. It's easy enough to switch between them, but I do need different tracking for each. I couldn't imagine playing without it now.

[Julius]

Personally I'm using the TrackIR Pro Clip ($35, bit much considering the cheap components involved and flimsiness, but saved the amateur electronics effort of building one from scratch) + Xbox Live 360 camera with a floppy disk layer for filtering IR, which is easy enough to do for a non-techie + Freetrack, for about $45-50 total. About half of that if you build the clip yourself.

If you want true fidelity and performance, by all means, get TrackIR, but if you want to just try it out without significant costs, or don't have high requirements (in my case I don't since I'm combining it with triple monitors and only use 2Dof rather than 6) I'd recommend my method.

I'll probably get TrackIR if I have more disposable income, but at the moment my CPU is holding back my enjoyment in most sim games already, so no point yet.

[Minamir]

Basic, homemade head tracking can be setu up really cheap. Right now, I'm using A4Tech cam (15USD) with IR diodes, so all I had to do is do some DIY work and mount reflective tape on a baseball cap. The software I'm using is OpenTrack, which is free, bu there are also other free programs, like Free Track or FaceTrackNoIR.

That basic setup might nof offer precision or FOV like the original TrackIR, but hey, it cost me like 10 times less, and has been working for three years so far, in flight sims, Arma series and driving games.

If you've never used head tracking, it may be confusing for first several hours, but gets better with time. You'll probably neet to fine-tune sensitivity and curves or per-game profiles.

But, as other people said, getting expensive TrackIR just for Arma might be too much. If you want it just for Arma, I suggest reading up about these free alternatives. But if you're a flight simmer and have that spare cash - go for it. I have yet to hear of anyone disappointed by TrackIR, even after transiton from homemade solutions used for years.

[=MS=Scout]

http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/

[Twelvefield]

I use the TrackIR 3. I don't know if you can even buy them anymore, but they would be cheap. I've had it for around ten years now, still holds up great since the drivers are backwards-supported so I got my money's worth. I also have TrackClip Pro, and it's a good bit of kit as our British friends would say, but it is somewhat flimsy and clumsy, and personally I don't need active IR dots: the passive targets work fine.

VR is around the corner, but it's a big corner. You need higher-end processors to run a VR headset - it's not cheap. TrackIR isn't a CPU hog, but it will cost you money you could have used to upgrade your rig.

It will be a while before VR goes mainstream. Maybe two years, closer to 5, maybe even 10. Maybe never, like 3DTV (although I love 3D television, and I'm a little cheesed off that you can't easily get programming for it except for blu-ray movies).

[tobias_l | Sinon]

I build myself a tracking device too. Yeah you have to do some modding. For example to get the ps3 eye working (it's the best ir camera for tracking out there). And you have to build the clip yourself. It took me a day ( failed the first version and had to do everything new ) but it was worth it. I spend 3-5€ in materials (only leds and wires). I had a ps3 eye myself so i saved 5 euros and that's it. Really good ir tracking device for under 10€. Okay 1 € for a selfbuild lightfilter out of some old red and blue 3d glasses ^^ But it's working really well and i think it can compete with the 100€+ track ir.

Here is a picture of it. Yeah it doesn't look so good but it does it's job. That is the important thing.

http://abload.de/img/uduyj.jpg

[-OrLoK- Слава Україн]

Hello there

Track IR 5 once configured is head and shoulders abouve home made kit.

Its bloody expensive though.

And can be tricksy to set up.

So, do your research before you invest.

In flight sims it is a game changer, in arma its fun.

Rgds

LoK

[Trosty]

I got trackir5, 3 days ago.
It was not difficult to set up.
After installing the software it ran straight away after enabling it in game.
It does make you a little giddy at times and does require a bit of getting used to ( especially while walking and looking and aiming!).
Using vehicles and flying is now much easier (i can look into corners while flying helicopters).
I paid $161 on Amazon.
I use it for FSX flight Sim ( its made the game 100%) better.
I use it for Project Cars (its lot better, but complicated to set up.)
I love it on Arma 3.

Don't faulter, go get it. You will never regret it.