Cam2pan + Newview: Good settings

[kestrel7e7 0]

I'm an electrical engineer, so I wasn't expecting much using a webcam as a head tracking solution, but I was pleasantly surprised.

With the right settings, Cam2pan + Newview can give you excellent 2dof head tracking which satisfies all the criteria of a good head tracking solution:

*Smooth: Newview smoothing fills in the gaps of the 30fps camera.

*Stable: 4 percent floating deadzone, removes unwanted noise and lowers sensitivity to small head movements to provide a stable view at all times.

Otherwise constant view movement makes it hard to see clearly.

*Responsive:  30fps gives you only a 33ms response lag, unless you want whiplash by turning your head in under 33ms, this isn't a problem.

This is a 2dof TrackIR beater in my books. People are making 3rd party 6dof TrackIR alternatives as I speak.

My settings:

30fps webcam (eg Logitech Quickcam Express)

Cam2pan: http://www.mousevision.com/game/index.htm

Flashlight mode using wide angle (>30degrees half angle) head mounted IR led

IR filter over camera lens (developed, fully exposed, camera film) or no background light.

Video Format: 160x120 resolution with I420 pixel depth

"FB/Lock On" Panning mode

20% X & Y sensitivity

0% smoothing (smoothing increases lag)

0% sensitivity

Newview 37E: http://translate.google.com/transla....&u=http

Get data from: External interface (Cam2Pan etc.)

Smoothing level: 5 (minimal smoothing, just to overcome camera's 30fps limit)

Threshold: 6000

X-axis Speed Factor: 2.5

Y-axis Speed Factor: 2.5

K1 10

K2 2

K3 1

Deadzone: Floating: 4% for X and Y (for stable view)

Hard response curve with a dip: first values: 24, 44, 83, 97, rest 100. This gives a central low sensitivity area and the rest is a nice realistic linear response instead of an annoying floaty exponential response.

Edit: ArmA head movement covers a smaller range than most TrackIR flight sims like IL2 so the results will be smoother. Slow head movements can have noticable steps due to the low resolution of the Video Format setting in cam2pan. This doesn't bother me because I prefer fast and stable head movements, similar to using a POV hat on a joystick. If your CPU is good enough, you can increase the resolution of the Video Format in cam2pan to 352x288 (TrackIR4 camera has a resolution of 355x290) with a significant increase in CPU usage, but head tracking will be as smooth as silk. If you have dual core, the higher CPU load won't be a problem. Try and use as much of the camera's field of view as possible when moving your head by positioning the LED away from the central axis of your head.

[kronzky 5]

Oh boy... This is so refreshing...

Finally a post here that's based on some well researched, and well documented findings.

Not the usual "this sucks"... "no, YOU suck"... or all those "factual" claims that are based on nothing at all...

I think this'll give me the motivation to try my DIY head tracker once more!

Thanks for this ray of light in this dark cave of ignorance and stupidity...

Got any links to those people working on 6dof software?

[mads bahrt 0]

Where do you download the NewView 37D? The newest I was able to find was 35.

[kestrel7e7 0]

Where do you download the NewView 37D? The newest I was able to find was 35.

First post edited with Russian Newview forum URL containing latest Newview download link.

[Universel 0]

Please upload your Arma_1.ini from the Newview direcotry.

The only thing we are missing is good config files for Newview, so if you think yours works well, upload it.

[EricM 0]

Be aware that the main drawback is that there is a significant strain on your CPU compared to TIR (which seems to have in-camera treatment).

For that reason I can only use it in editor mode while flying around (Athlon 2000+) with no AI calculation. In IL2, it's pretty good though

If you have multi-core, should'nt be so much of a problem though...

Bye

Note : For those like me who are not very good a DIY electronics, buy a small keyring with a Led torch (1 euro) and stick it on the tip of you cap, that'll do the trick. Of course, the IR led and IR filter is even better...

[Hostilian 11]

I was thinking of heading down to Maplin to buy a cheap LED Light for this purpose - then fixing it to the brim of an old cap..

I was wondering if anyone knew whether there were any you could run using a couple of AA type batteries - or do I need more power?

I tried the 'white square' option for tracking and it wasnt too bad - however, using a LED light should be more than acceptable. Thanks for the info.

#C

[EricM 0]

LED power consumption is very low. A button battery is usually enough.

[Miedin 0]

Thanks for posting your settings. While it's not quite as good as TIR, it works VERY WELL and is good enough to save yourself $180+ if your tight on cash like me.

[tj72 0]

2 Double A's will give you 3 volts. So  a LED with a 3 volt pull is needed and will not need any resistors. You can take a 9 volt and hook up 3 3v LEDS in a series and you will get a nice bright 3 light cluster. All the LED's have different V and Ma parameters you need to check otherwise the light may BURN out! Not a nice thing to happen in something on your head!

If the Battery has more voltage than the LED is pulling you MUST use resistors!

If you need to use resistors you must calculate the Ohms and get the next highest resistor (or higher should work)

Resistance Calculator

I used the internet comp right in Radio Shack to get the info I needed.

If you want to solder PLEASE read a guide (soldering guide in Google) before you start. That little guy has a NASTY habit of burning fingers or any plastic that might fall onto it while your working.

[Bram 0]

Thanks for this post mate. I thought my newview settings were good before but now with these settings it's practically pixel perfect.

Cheers.

[routakiila 0]

Be sure to get an IR Led (Old tv remote for example) so you don't have to watch bright moving spot on the screen....

And nice way to get rid of batteries is to use power from usb port.

Led you can put on your headset microphone,if use one.

So you get an IR USB headset.

[kestrel7e7 0]

Be sure to get an IR Led (Old tv remote for example) so you don't have to watch bright moving spot on the screen....

And nice way to get rid of batteries is to use power from usb port.

Led you can put on your headset microphone,if use one.

So you get an IR USB headset.

IR LEDs used in remote controls are normally medium angle, wide angle is best, ie 80 degrees full or 40 degrees half angle.

Be extremely careful using USB ports as a 5V power source because some motherboards can be easily destroyed if there is a USB overcurrent situation. I know that the Intel ICH5 Southbridge chips can be fried by static alone from the front USB port header in some ASUS motherboards, the rear USB ports are better earthed and less likely to do this. Overcurrent could easily happen if you are experimenting and accidently create a short circuit, killing the motherboard in a fraction of a second; using a PTC fuse rated at 0.6A cutoff can give you a safety buffer.

[rundll.exe 12]

I got it working! Thx for that. But for the non-flashlight function your settings are a bit too sensitive.

But I know now that I wont invest in Track-IR

[tj72 0]

Personally I go with the battery since its not connected and you can get up from the comp without forgetting and pulling on your port connect and such. Just a preference but I think the advantage is clear.

[maxqubit 1]

Guys, i'm super-interested in this. Can somebody give me a pointer how to make it working in ArmA.

I've got cam2pan and newview, i've got my mouse moving when i move my head. This works with cam2pan alone, but when i activate nvtomouse/config of newview i can have a response of my head movement reflected in some numers i see in those screens (a bit strange sentence but alas).

Now, my question is, how do i make ArmA respond to this cam2pan/newview thing.

Perhaps i'm lazy not to figure it out myself, but you could call it 'super-enthousiastic':)

[Bram 0]

Make sure you have assigned keys for the Helmet function in the buttons section of Newview Max, this is basically just an on/off function.

In the Helmet setup section of Newview make sure you have the settings the same as the pic below, you can mess about with response curves and deadzone to suite your own needs.

In Cam2Pan it's a good idea to set up a hotkey to reset centre view, you'll rarely need it but sometimes when you fire everything up and you switch to helmet mode you're pilot/soldier will sometimes be looking to the extreme left or right, resetting the centre in Arma just pans round and snaps back, it's Cam2pan that needs to be reset to centre to fix this and having a hotkey saves having to alt-tab out.

[maxqubit 1]

I must be doing something wrong here. If i use cam2pan with mouse view i get the mouse pointer moving over my windows screen alright.

But whe i launch arma nothing happens. Using the mouse is alright, but using my head ... nothing. On alt-tab i see the mouse pointer moving again when moving my head?? It seems like ArmA doesn't 'pick up' the cam2pan signal or something.

I use the 360 live vision cam, as usb. And i get 'compression not supported' but as said, the mouse pointer DOES move in windows?

Help appreciated

[kestrel7e7 0]

You don't have to configure ArmA for head tracking.

Cam2pan must be in "FB / Lock On" Panning Mode, use nvtomouse to check that cam2pan is transmitting correctly. If it works in nvtomouse then it will work in ArmA.

You might find this guide helpful:

http://www.simhq.com/forum....fpart=2

[maxqubit 1]

You don't have to configure ArmA for head tracking.

Cam2pan must be in "FB / Lock On" Panning Mode, use nvtomouse to check that cam2pan is transmitting correctly. If it works in nvtomouse then it will work in ArmA.

You might find this guide helpful:

http://www.simhq.com/forum....fpart=2

I got nvtomouse working/responding with cam2pan in "fb/lockon". But ArmA doesn't respond ... but the link to the guide is promising. Thx! I'm giving it another go tonite.

(Btw, i would go for the 'easy' TrackIR solution myself but another 150+ Euro's is outside my financial budget, having already spent 45+180 Euro's on ArmA+7600GTAGP for ArmA alone ... so it is the poor man's (and partialy frustrating) route for me;)

[Hostilian 11]

Its not that its out of my budget, its just that I really dont think the TrackIR system is worth 180 euros..

I have no problems going out to buy a new processor, new memory and/or a good Gfx card - but spending 180 E on something I will only use 'occasionally' is (in my view) CrAzY.

In ArmA, I would probably only use it when flying.. And thats not that much of my total time.

Bring on the alternatives!

#C

[kestrel7e7 0]

I got nvtomouse working/responding with cam2pan in "fb/lockon". But ArmA doesn't respond ...

Click on the 'Open Profile' button in Newview and make sure the ArmA ini file is selected.

Each game ini file is created with default settings when you play a new TrackIR enabled game, so you need to change the settings for each new ini file, either manually in Newview or by renaming another ini file.

Make sure everything is set correctly in the helmet tab, especially 'Enabled at startup' and 'Get data from: External Interface'.

[maxqubit 1]

No luck. I followed the excellent link posted by kestrel ... everything is working including nvtomouse, but in Arma there is just no reaction.

I feel a bit dumb cause with all the help it still doesn't work. Possibly i f*cked up my ArmA (i checked the configs, but there are no TIR references, so ArmA is TIR aware by definition?) , and/or it interferes with my 360 controller and/or it is down to my 360 usb cam (which doesn't do i420 and cam2pan warns about this)

But as said, nvtomouse works!? ...

... Anyway, i will let it rest for the moment. Possibly i'll pick up another usb webcam and give that a go.

Everybody, thx for the advice.

[tj72 0]

Just a guess but is there any chance its the priority in taskmanager beating out your tracking once you maximize ARMA?

[Cobalt_UK 0]

I've tried this afew times now, but everytime i start up Cam2Pan my computer crashes to a blue screen of death and reboots.

I've given up now lol