The (un)Official Freetrack Users Q&A Thread

[Herbal Influence 10]

Funny - for all those who like a steep learning curve:

It took me no penny to get it working - basically.

1. I still have a very old (2003) Aiptek PenCam lying 'round - somewhere.

2. Downloaded freetrack software and hit setup.exe.

3. started Arma2 - newest beta.

4. searching for a lightsource .... found a pen with inbuild white led on top sticked it behind my ear, LED showing to monitor and webcam

Worked immediately ... !!

That's it ... ;-))))

[MehMan 0]

Alright, slowly building my stuff. I found an LED bicycle light which I shall rob for the batteries, the switch and whole assemlby which can be bolted onto my headphones easily and doesn't irrtate me at all. The LED assembly can be taken off and on with ease. It's quite handy and not so cumbersome.

[-Total- 0]

The problem you were experiencing with Freetrack, has nothing at all to do with the software, or the technology itself. It is your webcam, and your LED setup that caused the problems with playing in daylight conditions. My VX1000 webcam has it's IR filter removed, and I have a natural light filter attached to the lens (magnetic storage on a 3.5' floppy disk as the filter, cut into the shape and size of a quarter), which allows head tracking in virtually any lighting condition. Glad to hear that you found a solution that works for you though :) I will admit, Freetrack does take some time to set up properly, but for DIYers, it's a fun project, and is very rewarding.

Actually, it was the sunlight. I had a verocious sunbeam hitting my camera square on. Given my limited set up space, there was nowhere to move my camera to. I had a light filter, but not as effective as the ole floppy media. Good call on that one :)

Love the ole DIY though. I'm an engineering technician with construction and stage handling experience as well, so I pretty much DIY most everything I do :D

My latest is a custom switch panel I use for different flight sims, but make it versatile across the different sims.

Also restoring both a 1926 Kennedy Model 20 radio and a 1986 Honda magna VF700C :D

[sn0b0ard 10]

Actually, it was the sunlight. I had a verocious sunbeam hitting my camera square on. Given my limited set up space, there was nowhere to move my camera to. I had a light filter, but not as effective as the ole floppy media. Good call on that one :)

Love the ole DIY though. I'm an engineering technician with construction and stage handling experience as well, so I pretty much DIY most everything I do :D

My latest is a custom switch panel I use for different flight sims, but make it versatile across the different sims.

Also restoring both a 1926 Kennedy Model 20 radio and a 1986 Honda magna VF700C :D

Wow, that's pretty cool that you have a custom panel for flight simulators. I was thinking about building one myself, but I don't really have any idea where to start.

[cjph 0]

A question on the IR reflection methods people are using (ie no batteries), since my room is quite bright and catches a lot of sun. Do the reflective tapes and stuff reflect IR effectively ? And, do you have to coat a normal LED shape in reflective material, or could you use a small disk - I am thinking of a hole punch to produce three small round reflective disks, which could be simply glued to a backplate ?

[Dcope 10]

from what ive seen and what im intending to do, it best to go for the ball aproach so you keep the same diameter visiable to freetrak at all times.

http://www.free-track.net/images/point_model_gallery/karlson_01.jpg

this is what im on about

Edited December 3, 2009 by Dcope
add image

[LJF 0]

Hmm, Avast came up with a virus in my Freetrack install, I re downloaded but that had a virus as well, not sure if Avast was just freaking out though so I installed it anyway.

Now I'm getting an error on startup, something about an incorrect interface or something, I can't remember exactly, I'll try again in the morning (late), when I did manage to get into FT the whole part on the cam was missing, I couldn't select demo or my camera, it was blank :( I'll be back in a couple of hours with the exact error on startup.

[Wupjak 0]

Hmm, Avast came up with a virus in my Freetrack install, I re downloaded but that had a virus as well, not sure if Avast was just freaking out though so I installed it anyway.

Now I'm getting an error on startup, something about an incorrect interface or something, I can't remember exactly, I'll try again in the morning (late), when I did manage to get into FT the whole part on the cam was missing, I couldn't select demo or my camera, it was blank :( I'll be back in a couple of hours with the exact error on startup.

I'd uninstall and reinstall freetrack before anything else. I've got it on this machine (a MacBook in Boot Camp with XP Pro SP3) and my gaming rig and the software has fragged itself on both machines a couple of times. I've gotten to the point of not even trying to troubleshoot, I just reinstall Freetrack if it acts funny at all.

[MehMan 0]

Because I'm really really anxious I've ordered my ps 3 eye off of ebay and it got shipped right away! Powerseller status well deserved. Hopefully I'll have it in my hands by wednesday along with a dremel and a built LED system. I'm still not sure which way to go with power, USB or battery pack. If I go for a usb powered system then I could shave huge ammounts of weight and plastic off of the current jig.

[OzeRick 10]

HI All

After reading this thread, I went and looked for some old stuff that I had.

4 hours later a working head tracking system.

Thanks for the Info it makes the game a HOLE LOT MORE FUN :O

[MehMan 0]

Hmm, has anybody ever tried using the SFH 478P? It has an even wider angle than the 485P...

http://catalog.osram-os.com/catalogue/catalogue.do;jsessionid=7BA4B8DB006BBD2658D93628C24A57F6?favOid=0000000200026faa001d0023&catGroupOid=0000000200026faa001d0023&act=showParameterList

[mr.g-c 6]

Hmm, has anybody ever tried using the SFH 478P? It has an even wider angle than the 485P...

http://catalog.osram-os.com/catalogue/catalogue.do;jsessionid=7BA4B8DB006BBD2658D93628C24A57F6?favOid=0000000200026faa001d0023&catGroupOid=0000000200026faa001d0023&act=showParameterList

Read my post there:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1502799&postcount=66

Disadvantage is that they will be "not as bright" as the 40° ones, as same power is distributed over wider angle, but should be still bright enough i guess, especially when IR-Filter removed....

[MehMan 0]

Hmm, well depending on availbility. I might just buy both sets, it's not like they're THAT expensive. I even found an USB cable so I can now power it, yay!

[Dead3yez 0]

Does anyone have a video of the freetrack software (not TIR equivalent) working in ArmA II?

[MehMan 0]

Ok after playing around with my newly bought fake Dremel(20€!and it works, fug yeah, I'm going to use this all the time) I've come to the conclusion that using pens to create a flush three point system is going to be hard if not impossible. The problem is that I want to run the wires inside the pen and that's not a huge problem, plastic welding with a soldering iron. The problem occurs when you try to create a hole in the joint. I think I may have been overly optimistic about the strength of plastic as when I drilled the hole that it became a bit too wonky until it collapsed. I think the TIR solution is best here:

http://www.skycontrol.net/UserFiles/Image/FSHardSoftware_img/200701/200701naturalpoint-TrackClipPRO-angle-set.jpg

Shape, placement, etc. I might try and bend a few bits of plastic that way, heh.

Edited December 6, 2009 by MehMan

[MehMan 0]

Wooohooo. Well I received my PS3 eye aaaannnndd hooked it up. instead of tearing it apart and removing the IR filter I just cut up an old floppy and used it as a visible light filter. I'll be getting my LEDs tommorow, plus PTC fuse, I've got my resistors in the house, so it's on!

Now to setup freetrack hmm...

Right, I used a remote to set up freetrack and it only wants to track the bottom 1/4th. It's a driver thing supposedly, I'll reinstall and see.

Edited December 8, 2009 by MehMan

[bushlurker 45]

Great stuff MehMan! - looks like you're having fun already!

I quite enjoy the inventiveness aspect of this entire milarkey...

I used "bic" pen tubes once - they worked OK for feeding wires thru and "superglued" reasonably well... I also tried those drinking straws that have a "bendy angle bit" - ideal, but too fragile...

While looking for "balls" for my reflective clip I went on a wander thru the kids toy section of a UK "poundshop" (USA 99c store, etc) and found a little toy billiards set which had little balls of the perfect size - they were hollow too! even lighter than beads! - turned out they were also too fragile, but hey!... who would have thought... cheap kids toys... theres moulded plastic in there in every shape imaginable if you just wander thru the store - not seeing the cheap toys - just seeing them as potential components!

For a trackclip pro copy what you need is some unbelieveably cheaps**t plastic tubing (sorry NP - couldn't resist it :)) - or maybe something slightly more durable - less brittle and maybe more PVC'y (is that a word?) - maybe something you could heat up with a hairdrier or one of those hot-air guns and bend to shape (maybe with a knitting needle or something inside while you heat 'n bend (both to keep the central hole open, and to keep it in the requisite shape till it cools) ???

Hehe

The ONLY limit is your imagination...

(and since I have an occasionally uncontrollable imagination, here's another wild idea...)

The same "poundshop" I was talking about sell little garden "nightlights" - I'm sure everybody's seen them - like a little solar-powered LED lantern on a stake you can stick in the ground to light your garden path or something... not very bright, but - what do we get for our £1 ?? - a 2" square solar panel, a rechargable cell and an LED... not bad...

How about buying 6 - mount all six solar panels on a baseball cap, with all 6 little cells tucked inside out of the way somewhere - all feeding 3 of the LEDs (or 3xLED's of your choice) in a regular hatclip arrangement...

:D

B

Edited December 8, 2009 by Bushlurker

[cjph 0]

Good ideas there - I often trawl cheap shops for kit as the toy sections always have every shape and size of plastic if you look.

Back on track (groan), has anyone tried tin foil for reflecting as part of an IR setup, ie if you cover 5mm balls with the shiny foil or used chrome plated or similar balls ? I like the idea of plastic tubing and have a few tubes lying around which could be formed into the shapes needed, and with lightweight balls glued on it could make a light attachment to headphones, as in my case, without the battery or trailing wires.

Sound like there are a few of us who like a challenge !

[telejunky 0]

Hehe thanks to to the betapatch enhancement of using freetrack.dll I can finally use my trusted headtrack setup from Armed Assault! And thanks to lego I can easily mount it to my headphones :D Yeah!

[Wupjak 0]

@Bushlurker et al, regarding shaping tubing with heat: putting the tubing into boiling water is a way to heat the tubing evenly...provided it can stand up to the heat. More of a risk of damage with a heat gun than dipping the tubing into water long enough to make it pliable.

Edited December 9, 2009 by Wupjak

[MehMan 0]

@Bushlurker et al, regarding shaping tubing with heat: putting the tubing into boiling water is a way to heat the tubing evenly...provided it can stand up to the heat. More of a risk of damage with a heat gun than dipping the tubing into water long enough to make it pliable.

That's actually a really great idea!

[Herbal Influence 10]

Hehe thanks to to the betapatch enhancement of using freetrack.dll I can finally use my trusted headtrack setup from Armed Assault! And thanks to lego I can easily mount it to my headphones :D Yeah!

LOL ... nice idea ... like that one with the hook-and-loop-fastener (Velcro, in German: Klettverschluss).

[MehMan 0]

I need some help. Freetrack doesn't want to track my setup! It only wants to track the bottom 1/4th of the screen, like so:

I did everything that was said in these topics:

http://www.free-track.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=1352

http://www.free-track.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=1474

I tried most of the PS3 drivers, I tried an older version of free track, I'm going to try the latest DX9, but nothing has helped so far....

halp!

[Wupjak 0]

Your install is probably corrupted. Mine has done the same thing, but nothing I did to futz with it seemed to help until I removed it and then reinstalled.

Uninstall/reinstall Freetrack.

[MehMan 0]

I tried that and the problem still persists. Annoying.