Tech Question for FSUIPC

[Dougal]

Hi Folks

I'm sure i've done this before, but remember how now..... I have dissabled yoke in FS and setup FSUIPC to control all individual aircraft (special thanks to John Cook for the guide).

What I now wan't is for the panning to be much faster. Where can i make these changes please?

Thanks

[Pete Dowson]

What I now wan't is for the panning to be much faster. Where can i make these changes please?

What are you using for "panning" -- what controls, where assigned?

I don't use panning at all myself, so I'm not really aware that there was a variable speed available.

Pete

[peterhayes]

Pete & Dougal

I wasn't sure which sim version we were discussing so have included FS9/FSX.

In FS9, You can do this via the config file:

In the “FS9.cfg” look for

PAN_RATE=400

Change the “400″ to a higher number “900″ for example. I don't think that this works in FSX? Also, if you add pan_in_cockpit_mode=1 after the pan rate line, you can pan around in the 2D cockpit

view.

In FSX its a little more complicated, I think that you have to change the cameras.cfg (the one found in C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\FSX) -see these posts for VC Pan Rate: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=ode=full,; http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=342&page=2

and 2D pan rate:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=printer_friendly&forum=121&topic_id=355867.

You may have to enter and/or change these 2 lines in the relevant section(s) of the cameras.cfg:

PitchPanRate = ##

HeadingPanRate = ##

PeteD re:these last two lines, in FSUIPC4 you have "AXIS_PAN_HEADING", & "AXIS_PAN_PITCH", - are they similar? If yes, what values would you put in to make the panning slower or faster!

It would be a great enhancement to be able to set the pan rate (2D and VC, spot etc) [slower or faster) from FSUIPC particularly in FSX.

Regards

PeterH

[Pete Dowson]

PeteD re:these last two lines, in FSUIPC4 you have "AXIS_PAN_HEADING", & "AXIS_PAN_PITCH", - are they similar? If yes, what values would you put in to make the panning slower or faster!

FSUIPC merely lists the FS controls it finds in "CONTROLS.DLL". These are mostly also assignable in FS's assignments, but not all. FSUIPC just lists them all by their internal names. There's also an AXIS_PAN_TILT for the third axis of rotation.

All AXIS... controls take a parameter running from -16384 to +16384, as from a calibrated joystick. Whether the PAN axes values are related to the actual angle of view or the rate at which that is changing I don't know, but I would have thought that they directly relate to the angle, otherwise you'd always have to return the axis very smartly to 0 to "stop" panning.

The easiest way for you to find out what they do would be to try them, assign them to a joystick.

It would be a great enhancement to be able to set the pan rate (2D and VC, spot etc) [slower or faster) from FSUIPC particularly in FSX.

Sorry, I don't know how to do that. However, if those AXIS values pan at a rate proportional to their parameter you have a ready made solution -- just plug in another joystick dedicated to panning. Even if they don't operate like that it would seem to be a potential solution. A joystick with twist could control HEADING, PITCH and TILT angles or speed, whatever.

In my jet cockpit the outside world is on a projection screen seen through the cockpit windows, so panning would be wrong, it would sort of destroy the orientation. I don't use any FS panels so there's no reference. I do have a smaller set up for GA flying, but I use TrackIR with that, and of course it controls the panning at the rate you choose with your head as the "joystick".

Regards

Pete

[Dougal]

Sorry if my info was too vague.. I'm talking about FS9 & FSX, using the 'hat' switch on the CH Yoke. This i asigned by using John Cook's tutorial (v1.1) as shown on page 8.

I didn't think i could use the 'pane_rate' in fs9.cfg as i've turned off the contol in FS9. However, i will check to see.

Pete, if you don't use pan at all, how on earth do you look around?

[Pete Dowson]

Pete, if you don't use pan at all, how on earth do you look around?

Well, ideally I'd have 3 projectors and a wrap-around view, so that through the windows I could see everything you could see from a real aircraft of the type I model (a 737). However, my room isn't big enough. :-(

As it is the 10 foot forward screen does have a really good width of view. I just need direct side views on occasions, so, for checking for traffic and working out where to go, especially when taxiing, I use a pair of self-centred rocker switches to select a fixed view - forward right and right on one, forward left and left on the other. i.e those views I should be able to see out of the side windows.

The "incorrect" view only stays whilst the switch is kept pressed, returning to the "real" forward view on release. This way there's never any loss of orientation, I always know where I'm looking.

Panning in a cockpit with a fixed real panel is very disorienting, but I never really liked it even when I flew using just a screen with a normal FS panel on it. I've always used the fixed view options instead. I suppose with the onset of decent "virtual cockpit" panels in FS the panning is a little more useful, but it still makes me a little disoriented. I am trying TrackIR on my GA setup (which also has a hardware panel) and I find I can use it with a VC setup, but having a real panel and a virtual one at the same time is a little annoying.

However, I can see something like TrackIR would be marvellous for helicopter and microlite flying.

Regards

Pete