FaceTrackNoIR is a head tracker compatible with the TrackIR protocol. There was a thread about it here a while ago.

I finally got myself a web cam (Logitech C500 from the compatibility list) and spent ~2h setting it up for RoF. I've been using TrackIR 4 with RoF previously, so I can compare the two systems directly.
TIR works more or less out of the box. With FaceTrackNoIR I had to configure all axis (it offers 6 DOF!) individually until I got satisfactory head movement in cockpit. Some even needed to be inverted. Tracking is a bit slower than with TIR, but I'm sure that can be improved either by digging deeper into config options or over time when updates for FaceTrackNoIR emerge. But the bottom line is: It works!

To me this was a revelation. I can get head tracking on par with TIR from OpenSource software and a simple web cam below 30€! The best part is that I don't need any reflectors or LEDs. The extra equipment always bothered me.

So I encourage all of you to give it a shot wether you own a TrackIR or FreeTrack or not.

I'm using FTN with a variety of sims, with mixed results.
Can you share your config for RoF?
Cheers,
Keith

Good news, i really prefer to just sit in front of my screem without looking like a Cyborg lol

gonna give it a shot, lost my track IR camera. Missing head control big time, too hard to hit the buttons and control view and fly and padlock is just to, well, locking.

Too bad these guys can't make the kinect work with their software, probably a bit more accurate. You wouldn't think it'd be that hard to incorporate it into allready existing software. The one thing i always hated about trackir was having to wear a hat or something else to mount the dots.

The relevant parts of my RoF.ini:



That's what I got so far. I deactivated (sensXXX=0) the roll and Z axis because they are of little benefit to me. (The .ini files are plain text files located at ...\FaceTrackNoIR\Settings\.) I'm not quite sure what the "redXXX" values do. The filter is another point worth investigating further.

tried this out today. It's definitely not as accurate as trackir and completely loses me when i turn my head not too far either direction. Needs alot of light to work properly as well it seems. Works though and definitely cheaper than TrackIR which i think is a tad overpriced.

I didn't notice an increased loss of tracking at all - TIR fails beyond certain deflections, too. The quality of FTN tracking is influenced by many factors: lighting (as you mentioned), the type of camera and the camera's position. Also, note that the face tracking requires some CPU power. Loss in precision might result from insufficient CPU performance.

Thanks for the ROF settings, I'll try them out.
The red settings control the responsiveness, lower=faster.
Might increase cpu load.
All a bit of a black art...
Cheers,
Keith

@ moderator, can you please relocate or add this to one of the resource or knowledge stickies?
This is simply great information that can potentially help a lot of people enjoy this sim who are otherwise on a budget.

Also means they can spend those savings on more RoF buses and crates!

Could be the camera i'm using. was a logitech quickcam stx. If i turned my head more than 45 degrees or so it would lose me everytime. the camera was also running at VERY low FPS. Something like 7hz i think. I tweaked with it a little and got it up to 14hz and it was better. I wish their site would go into a bit more detail as to which cameras ran at higher HZ as that seems to make a huge difference as to how smooth it is.

My only gripe with this approach is that it requires ALOT of light in the room for the camera to work and i usually play in the dark. Maybe my issues stem more from the camera i was using.

Tempted to try freetrack as i still have my track IR clip, looks like all i need is some IR lights to reflect off it, but then i have to wear the hat.

I'm hoping someone manages to write a program that works with kinect since i got one of those for the kids, it'd be easy to just use that.

For those who are running a new Intel CPU, like the Sandy Bridge or having problems in running that free FaceAPI demo, put in a donation and V4friend will sent you a beta version which will get rid of all these problems.
Some info can also be found on http://riseofflight.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=267&t=15374&p=228419#p228419 Seems like the PS3 cam is the best cam for FacetrackNoIr.
And simmers, these kind of tracking is the future, no android-heads anymore.

Thank you so much FiveDigits. I have always wanted to use a TrackIR type system but I could never justify the $120+ for a system. This program combined with your settings works like a charm!

Now admittedly, I have never used any other TIR system, so please take this as coming from a newb with nothing to compare too, but I have never felt so capable as to situational awareness as I do with this now.

My specs (for those who are interested):

I use a PS3 camera, set below my screen.
I have white walls, so I have one 40 watt florescent lamp set behind my flat-screen monitor pointed at the wall. The defused lighting from that is enough to illuminate my face for the camera, while keeping it well within my desired brightness levels for playing.
My system is an i5 Sandy Bridge, so the current released versions do not work for me. I therefore donated money because I heard that 1.6 might work with Sandy Bridge and as he give Alpha access to anyone who donates, I got a copy of 1.6 and it works like a charm. I have experienced no bugs as of yet, and aside from the occasional recenter, I don't need to do anything to make it work great.

I upped the Neutral Zone to 5 (and I am still messing around with that) as I move my head a bit it seems, and I am going to try out the Z axis as I would love to be able to lean in to zoom.

Thanks again for turning me on to this wonderful program.

Those ps3 cams are cheap maybe i'll pick one up and see how that works.

I highly recommended it. I have had no issues with it so far, and it seems to deal with low light situations really well.

Picked one up today. yes, it works absolutely flawless. Same experience as a trackIR easily without the stupid hat. Can't say enough about how well it works.


That aside, what's your CPU utilization running at with it? The logitech cam i had was running around 5%. The PS3 eye cam is running around 15%

My CPU utilization is between 7-11%. I personally haven't noticed any effect on game play (no slow downs or hitches) and hopefully you won't have any ill effects either.

PS3 camera is a good tip. I might pick one up for a tinker.

Regarding fancy head gear - I'm already wearing headphones and mic, so I don't care about a few LEDs.



You shouldn't be moving your head 45 degrees anyway - you'd be looking at part of your screen with one eye!

I don't really notice any slowdown just thought 15-20% was a little high. I have a quad core cpu and a nvidia 580. Just thought if there was some setting i was missing to improve on that a bit.


Turning my head and losing tracking isn't an issue anymore with the ps3 cam, the logitech one was losing me constantly, the ps3 cam hasn't lost me once, even in a dark room. Truely impressed with this camera.

Does anyone use a Logitech C270 and if so does it work?

I do not know, check the facetracknoir website, if the webcam is listed?
Or why not try it, software is free?

I picked up the ps3eye and setup facetracknoir, it works very well with ROF (and every other game Ive tried for that matter)

the ps3eye works great for video chat on skype etc too

Got myself a PS3 Eye just to test this out. I currently use a TIR4 and track clip but, like a lot of people, dislike having the clip clamped onto my headphones. Even more lately as I have a wireless head set.

Well first test wasn't as positive as I hoped. The panning is smooth enough, but the amount of movement my head needs to make to look around in game is too much. I tried editing curves last night but still couldn't do much to multiply the head movement enough.

Does anyone know how to increase the head movement.
eg: I turn my head 45 degreess to get 180 degrees in game. At the moment I'm nearly at 90 degrees to get 180.

I tried 5Digits config, which works well in respect of deadzone and curves but movement is still limited.

im new to the program also, but I believe the sensitivity settings in the config is what your looking for

Thanks for the reply Positronic, I'll give the .ini a look over

Yes, I found the movement a little lacking too. The way to improve it is through the "sensYaw" and "sensPitch" values in the .ini file.

I found out what my underlying issue was.

I got the IPP error when I first ran it so installed the FaceAPI demo.
It was conflicting with FaceTrack. Reinstalled Face Track and a 100% improvement.

After playing with it I've come to the conclusion that with some very careful configuration and a camera carefully placed too, this software is a very good (very cheap) alternative to TrackIR. TIR is still better (IMO) and for now I'll continue to use that, despite the bulky head gear required to make it work.

However I do very much recommend FaceTrack to those on a budget. My testing cost me £10 (nearly new PS3 Eye off of Ebay) compared to £140 for TIR5 and clip and yielded acceptable results just not as sharp as TIR or easy to set up

Sounds about right to me, I assumed trackir would be a little faster and easier, but the price is a little daunting for newcomers to the genre.

Hopefully 1.6 comes out sooner than later so our sandybridge cpu users can enjoy it too

1.6 is released!!!

So how do I get it to work?
I've got a webcam (longtech but not sure which one), and it shows me in the little window in FTNIR, so I'm guessing that's okay, but when I start the game, nothing. Do I have to enable anything, or write anything in the config file?

THanks

Do you have that funny yellow markings on your webcam face?
Go to my earlier posting there, is a link to RoF forum, one guy had posted a printscreen of FTNiR, check the adjustments they are using.

Here's my RoF profile for any who want to try it, works great for me with Falcon BMS 4.32 as well but results may vary depending on your hardware.

http://www.mediafire.com/?nr7774wri1cu898

Jim, same as already posted on rise of flight forum?

I think I've updated it since then, after 1.6 came out I changed everything.

Thanks will try it!!

No worries, I hope it works well for you. Let me know if you need any help tweaking it.