The online racing simulator
Head Tracking - FreeTrack in LFS
2
(49 posts, started )
In case someone is interested, here is the profile that I've made for LFS. Here is the one I use for flight sims. As you'll notice they're quite different, but it's really easy to adjust the sensitivities in the different directions.
Quote from TAYLOR-MANIA :Nooo! Stop! Don't buy a webcam just yet if I was you!
Wait for version 2.2 to be released...it will be compatible with the Nintendo Wii controller (Wiimote) which you can use instead of a webcam, delivering 100FPS....apparently it will be a massive improvement over any cam. It's what I'm waiting for, although no one knows when 2.2 will be released but they are testing it, so can't be too far away...

Not everyone has a Wii-mote, though. I don't know how much that costs, but an average webcam now doesn't cost very much, and as you say there's no way of knowing when the new version will be released. I guess it's up to the individual to decide whether or not they will wait for 2.2 to be released. Personally, once I decide to do something I need to do it right away
I have the hat now too. In my first try it didn't work that good, untill i noticed you need to remove the filter from the webcam or put a photo negative on it and that you should not do both

It now works a little smoother. I think it can still be better, will play with it again tomorrow. Do you guys know if the webcam has to be right in front of you? I thought so and taped it on my monitor but i don't think that will hold (since my desks vibrates sometimes because of the force feedback wheel).
I think the camera should be more or less straight in front of you, yes.. but you can always play around with it and see what happens. For all I know it might work just fine. (I'm guessing that the sensitivity in turning left/right would be unequal, though)

How about strapping the camera to a desktop lamp or a bookshelf or something?
Quote from Gnomie :I think the camera should be more or less straight in front of you, yes.. but you can always play around with it and see what happens. For all I know it might work just fine. (I'm guessing that the sensitivity in turning left/right would be unequal, though)

How about strapping the camera to a desktop lamp or a bookshelf or something?

I don't have a lot of options. I can place it on a speaker, then it's a little to my left or tape it on my monitor. Then it's right in front of me. It allready fell on the ground because the heat of my monitor softend the glue on the tape I'll try to make it better tomorow and otherwise it will be placed on the speaker.

I've now ajusted the focus of my webcam (it's as unsharp as it can be) and now it works good. It sees 3 leds continuesly.
Hmm, I removed the IR Filter and taped a piece of a floppy drive in front of the camera. It sees the IR LEDS perfectly.

As for the position of the camera, I think, ideally, it should be right in front of you at about the same height your head is on. Unfortunately, when I play LFS I lower my chair a bit so I'm quite a bit below the level of the camera. I have it sitting on top of my monitor, but pointing a little bit downwards so it can always sees the IR leds. I don't know if that lessens the experience. Works pretty good for me.

Unfortunately, I find it very disorienting to use with LFS. I'm constantly missing apexes because of the head turning. It's probably because I'm so used to driving with static view forwards. Maybe I should give it some more time to get used to.
You could try playing around with the sensitivity a little. I use low smoothing and low sensitivity, so that I have to turn my head quite a lot to make the camera move. That way I can look quickly to the sides, but also I won't accidentally loose focus.


I'm now finally back in town!! That means I'm back to my G25, and I've been trying out FreeTrack a little. The cap is working just fine, and the tracking is fine. However my problem is that I'm playing on a laptop with a very poor screen ( ), which can't quite cope with quick yawing. I get pretty bad tearing at times, which is a little distracting. However I'll try activating vsync later and see if that helps. Right now I'm debating whether I should buy a Rinoseat or not.. however the first priority will be to get new headphones -- the ones I have just died on me, so I can't really play at the moment.
Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I just got FreeTrack working with my Wii remote. Does anyone have a LFS profile for v2.2 that they'd care to share?
#34 - Riel
I always wonder, how this should work?

I mean, when I am playing, and looking left, then I am not looking at my screen anymore... ?

You have to roll your eyes??
Hehe.. well, your motions are exaggerated. So when you turn your head a few degrees to the right the "virutal head" will turn much more than that. So you don't have to look out the corner of your eye! It sounds counterintuitive, I know, but after a little while you completely forget that you're using headtracking.. it becomes very natural.

Try it for yourself! Download FreeTrack or Cachya and give it a go. With Cachya you only have to print out a sheet of paper with a special pattern on it, and for FreeTrack you only need 1 LED light in the most basic configuration. That way you'll get an idea what it's all about.
#36 - Riel
Need a webcam too
I'll give it a try.
Any old webcam will do, basically, as long as it has at least 30FPS. If you're going to try FreeTrack there's a list of supported webcams at their site. Mine isn't on the list, though, and it works flawlessly, but if you want to be 100% certain get one from the list!

Or, if you perchance have a Wii, you can hook up the Wii controller and get 120FPS of tracking!
Sorry for digging up an "old" thread


But this rocks!! Took me a few minutes to get it setup but having a blast already, and haven't even got proper leds mounted yet

Just the feeling you get when looking through the turn like you do naturally, it's just great! (Prolly due to the widescreen tft I already lean abit into the turn when turning, so this translates perfectly in FreeTrack)

Had a Wii, just got me a bluetooth dongle. Fixed some thick metalwire in a shape so it "mounts" at the back of my tft with the wiimote on top.

Just tried it out with one IR source (lol a candle) think the headphoneclip will be in the mail tomorrow. I'm amazed at how easy it is, just connect the wiimote via bluetooth, start FreeTrack, start LFS and GO


So next time you see me racing, you'll prolly notice me headbanging on my music

I can recommend this to anyone who already had a wiimote or webcam. And since FreeTrack saved me lots of $ spending on the evil TrackIr monopolists I'll make a donation with a big

greetz SMOKE

(sorry if this sound so much like a commercial but I'm just happy with the result)
Quote from auch_enne :Sorry for digging up an "old" thread


But this rocks!! Took me a few minutes to get it setup but having a blast already, and haven't even got proper leds mounted yet

Just the feeling you get when looking through the turn like you do naturally, it's just great! (Prolly due to the widescreen tft I already lean abit into the turn when turning, so this translates perfectly in FreeTrack)

Had a Wii, just got me a bluetooth dongle. Fixed some thick metalwire in a shape so it "mounts" at the back of my tft with the wiimote on top.

Just tried it out with one IR source (lol a candle) think the headphoneclip will be in the mail tomorrow. I'm amazed at how easy it is, just connect the wiimote via bluetooth, start FreeTrack, start LFS and GO


So next time you see me racing, you'll prolly notice me headbanging on my music

I can recommend this to anyone who already had a wiimote or webcam. And since FreeTrack saved me lots of $ spending on the evil TrackIr monopolists I'll make a donation with a big

greetz SMOKE

(sorry if this sound so much like a commercial but I'm just happy with the result)

Seriously can you drive races with it? I was enthusiast at first that you can look around. But then the trouble comes calibrating your head to look right ahead again. I gave it up and now use buttons to look left and right. I guess it only works when you sit still in the same position for the race.
#40 - Riel
I just made myself a 3-point cap and got me a wii controller and it works just A-W-E-S-O-M-E

but ... my wii controller is seen as a gaming HID device, so LFS does not recognise my g25 properly (it sees 2 controllers).

Any fixes for that?
What is the problem with having two controllers?

I had two a lot of time, and the only diference was that my shifter used the buttons 40 to 46 instead of 9 to 15
As long as the gaming devices plugged and recognized by your system each time the the buttons and axis' will remain the same.

for free track i think its great but i cannot get used to it in a racing game. i cannot fly a flight sim, or play a combat sim like arma without it, but in racing its entirely different for me because there is still no 'feel' for the car.
hey guys im very interested in this as i have a wiimote , is it just the wireless motionsensative remote i need and the CAP? ive been on the freetrack website and looked at teh CAPS and stuff and i understand how a webcam works with this but how does a wiimote work? how can this see your movments? wouldnt you phsyically have to move the remote in order for the camera to move " in game " could some1 please exspaliin a lil more as i think this is very cool thanks GRUM
Hi,

The Wiimote contains a camera which works at 120FPS. When you play on your Wii the Wiimote detects the LEDs on the SensorBar thing. When you use the Wiimote for FreeTrack the Wiimote is stationary (you could mount it on your monitor for example) and it detects the movement of the LEDs on your cap. Apparently it gives very smooth and good tracking. Definitely worth a go I'd say!
The PS3 eyetoy is another good camera. it retails for about $40 USD and can do 120fps. i was able to borrow one from a friend and it works quite well, but will use slightly more CPU than a regular webcam (or the eye toy tuned down) that uses 30FPS. Wii remote uses 0 CPU.
Hey, thought I'd give this a try..

Webcam is a 'Trust Webcam WB-1400T' which is on the supported list, Runs at 30fps
However everytime I start FreeTrack the webcam is black (screen). If I open the webcam viewer all the settings are minimim (Brightness, Contrast etc etc) Press reset and I get the picture back... Start FreeTrack and all settings are minimum again, therfore FreeTrack doesnt see a thing...

Any Ideas?
OS: Windows7 32bit if it helps

EDIT: Tried it out with my PDA as a webcam (only 10-15 fps) Runs through Wi-Fi so its not exactly teh best but, better if I can get the webcam working...
Quote from Gnomie :Hi,

The Wiimote contains a camera which works at 120FPS. When you play on your Wii the Wiimote detects the LEDs on the SensorBar thing. When you use the Wiimote for FreeTrack the Wiimote is stationary (you could mount it on your monitor for example) and it detects the movement of the LEDs on your cap. Apparently it gives very smooth and good tracking. Definitely worth a go I'd say!

hi thanks for your replys very much appriciated, as i cant find a cap anywere on ebay it looks like im going to have to build my own, do the LED'S have to be a certain width apart or could i jus use a clip which clips on to the front of any normall baseball cap and has like 3 LED'S like this 1 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-ULTR ... es_RL?hash=item4cea648d58 or mayb perhaps 1 like this with the LED built in http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LAND-ROV ... la_ET?hash=item4a9aa71f6e ?? or if any has a clue were i could buy1 ready made as i dont really have very good patience this would be appriciated thanks again for your help guys, once i get the equiptment and its all set up ill let you know how it goes and what i think

EDIT: ive just had another thought guys, the wii now has this WII motionplus which is suposed to make it even more sensative to movement, so going off logic here if the motionplus is plugged in to the wiimote ( which is were it goes) and you then connected it via bluetooth to freetrack would it increase the FPS of the wiimote from 120FPS to whatever the motionplus is ? if this is possible it would make freetrack even smoother but as i dont have motionplus and its like £50 it seems a lil expsnsive for it not to work so has anyone actually tried this ?

Thanks again guys Grum GTI
I think the motion plus only detects inertia, nothing to do with the camera. But it is just my thought
Hey guys! Sorry for digging up this antique thread, but I thought "why create a new one if the knowledge can be collected in this one"...

Anyway.
I have tried different free headtracking solutions with LFS that all sort of work on paper. Face tracking is too sluggish, smartphone gyro is a little jittery.. but they all seem to have the same issue:

LFS seems to take the raw data from the tracking drivers, not the actual, filtered output data from FacetrackNoIr / Opentrack.
In other words, I cannot re-center, and my view is always off to one side. Maybe I'm wrong about LFS reading the raw data, but still, LFS is the only game it won't work with.
Any ideas how to solve this?
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Head Tracking - FreeTrack in LFS
(49 posts, started )
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