Official Freetrack thread.

MoNkEyMiKeY

MoNkEyMiKeY

MoNkEyMiKeY

Soldato
Joined
17 May 2004
Posts
4,669
Thought I'd start an official freetrack thread. Theres not that much info on our forum about it and I think a lot of people would be interested.
If you want to know more and check it out you can find the website here Freetrack.

Basically a quick intro is that you download this free software that can track the movement of your head via a webcam.
The only problem is you have to make a device to wear on your head that has LED's so the software can track you.
Below is an example of a simple one you can make if you have some level of electronics know how and the equipment to do it.
Its very good for flightsims and have seen some videos of it working in armed assualt, rFacter and LFS.
Before you say "But you have to look away from the screen to look left then you're not looking at the screen whats the point?!".
The way it works is that if you move your head 1cm the on screen equivalent movement is 1 foot.

I have on order a Cateye rear bike light which I am planning on modifing into a 3 point clip. It can be clipped onto a cap or some kind of head gear.
Heres a video of how to make one DIY 3 Point Clip.

I'll post some pictures of what I make and let you all know how well/or not it works.
I don't really play that many flightsims which this is great for but I do like armed assualt and racing games.

If you go onto youtube and search freetrack you'll find lots of examples of in game action.

If any of you have been using it for sometime or have made your own headset please sure your experience. Photo's would be great.
 
Ive got some protective work gogles that have lights on each side. Freetrack lets you use a 1 light source to run it. Just been trying that out and in FSX and that works quite well. I think with a 3 point it will work much better. Also with a one point you can only look up down and left right.

Im using a Microsoft VX-3000 webcam which is giving me 30fps.
 
From what I was reading on their forum the 4 point isn't needed any more. 3 point is good enough and 4 point option was kept in 2.1 for backwards compatability.
 
I have an old trust camera I got from tescos for £6 or so. Took out the IR filter. Put a small peice of over exposed film in it. It can now get 30fps in freetrack and no jittering.

So when I do my little mod I think I'll replace the LED's for IR ones :D
 
Anyone got any idea what IR LED's I'd need to replace the ones in the cateye light. The set I've ordered has a front and back identical lights. So the red ones will stay red and the whites ones will become IR.
 
Ok finally made the 3 point clip. Its just a very quick botch job. The next one I make will be much better and using IR LED's




The finished product.




The insides.



Insides again



And a clip to attach to hats and what not.

I was planning on doing a picture and story of the whole build. However I haven't used a soldering iron since I was 12 so was too busy cursing at it. The next one I make might get that attention. This was very much a botch job as the measurements are very poor. The next one will be done so its more symmetrical.
 
Holy thread revival :D

Just to update theres a new version out its 2.2. I am nowing using a cap I bought off a guy at the freetrac forum. He's mass producing them at the moment. The latest version lets you use the wiimote as a IR camera. So I have invested in one of those. Runs at 98-105fps, makes it super smooth.
 
It does take some setting up and patience. But I think you can get it working quite well. I mainly use it in ArmA and FSX. But if you consider the cost of TrackIR to this theres no competition. If I were an avid flightsim player I would be tempted to buy trackir but Im not and I just like to have a fiddle. No point splashing out £100-200 for something you wont use.
 
I've now got a wiimote and a cap with IR LED's. The latest version 2.2 added the wiimote support. Its a great IR camera as its 100fps and hardly uses any CPU. Smooth as in game. Also with the wiinremote program and a wireless wii IR receiver I can use it as a remote moving my curser round the screen. I use it on the PC I have hooked up to my 32" telly.
 
Thought you guys might like to see the cap I bought a while back for $38.99. Its from a guy called marcusw on the freetrack forum, he's setup an online shop and sells lots of them. Price a is a little high really, but I wouldn't shell out over £100 for trackir.





And my Wiimote on its custom stand :D

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom