Snapper,

Do you mind if I ask how you set your guncam up? I assume you use FRAPS? I understand you've got it automatically linked to your guns, I'd love to work with something like that, please help!

Yeah id like to know too...but id need it hooked up to hit sounds...with the camera looking at my six...so i can see who chewed my arse off THIS time..

Yes, I use FRAPS set at 30 fps. I use Thrustmaster's TARGET programming software for the Warthog HOTAS. This software also works for Thrustmaster's TM16000 stick ($39). If you choose to go this route, I can test my TM16000 stick that I keep as a backup to confirm that I can program the TARGET software (which is free from TM) to do trigger-activated guncam with FRAPS as well.

When I shoot guncam I have two different, but simple, operations occurring at the same time:

1) The trigger: This is the most obvious - when I pull the trigger it both fires the guns (for as long as it's held), plus there's a PRESS (start FRAPS) and RELEASE (stop FRAPS) function that captures the guncam video "footage".

For most purposes this is probably all that is needed. What I found, though, is that when using TrackIR there is slight head movement which, in the guncam film, is distracting and just doesn't look good. This head movement is magnified if you zoom in to 30 POV (filling the screen with your gunsight and target) -- it looks fugly. Also, with this kind of precision shooting I found myself "chasing the reticle" a bit -- sort of weaving and bobbing my head a bit trying to keep the gunsight aligned while aiming. I added another macro operation to an entirely different switch located on my throttle (ie in my left hand) which I press when I'm about to aim, hold down while I'm shooting, then release after I've finished shooting. (It happens to be a spring-loaded switch, but later I realized that any joystick/throttle button would work using the same PRESS and RELEASE command in the TARGET software):

2) PRESS:

a) Zoom in to 30 POV (for precise shooting and better guncam footage)
b) Center TrackIR
c) Pause TrackIR (this "freezes" the gunsight deadcenter of your screen -- hopefully framing your intended target)

When you finish shooting, leave go of this joystick/throttle button to essentially reverse the above:

RELEASE:

a) Zoom out to 90 (or 70) POV
b) Unpause TrackIR
c) Recenter TrackIR (this helps you regain Situational Awareness) as you come off your target

All the above is not perfect. There seems to ge a very slight pause when you pull the trigger and when your guns start to shoot. Milliseconds, really, but I notice it most when trying quick "snapshots" at an evading quarry. I also think that the 30 fps limit reduces how much ordnance is hitting your target -- kind of like how interrupter gear slows down the rate of machine gun fire when firing through the propeller arc. But the filmic results do look pretty good and are fun to review afterwards.

Let me know if you need any more specific info.

Is there some sort of pause/delay for disabling fraps again after you let go of the trigger? Ideally, I'd like it to record about another second or two. I use Saitek, so pretty sure the software side can't be much different than TM's, but haven't thought about how to implement the delay, or if it would interrupt something if you quickly first bursts using the trigger.

Don't know but will find out. That would be an excellent feature; currently the guncam finishes too abruptly with trigger release.

Cool, thought maybe you already knew the work-around for that. I'll post if I dig something up that relates to both joystick softwares. There's got to be some sort of delay mechanism either in Fraps, or the stick software.

Saitek software allows to assign macros with delays between each keypress. TM probably also can use macros.

I thought so, I was wondering if squeezing the trigger off too fast would interfere with it. I figured Snapper might have already figured out the work-around. Was messing with it tonight, but realized since I had all my triggers set direct in game, I've got to figure out key-presses for these controls now... PITA.

Yeah, there was really nothing to figure out once I opened up my TARGET profile for editing. There's a box for selecting how many milliseconds delay to be applied for each action. In typing in "5000" for instance, I could then keep FRAPS filming 5 seconds after releasing the trigger.

Here's a quick video I shot upon successively programming 5, 2, 1, and 0 (default) seconds of fliming hold over when releasing the trigger. The only PITA now is that you can press the trigger repeatedly before the hold over is finished, and shots will fire, but you screw up the sequencing of the FRAPS on/off as a result. This not only screws up your guncam footage, but you risk leaving FRAPS running unnoticed during the excitement of a dogfight and end up filling a hard drive accidently with unwanted footage (those uncompressed .avi files are HUGE).

See what you think. I kind of prefer the 1 second hold over, since I don't tend to press the trigger in rapid succession.


http://vimeo.com/36308942

Thanks Snapper, exactly the kind of test I was looking for. And yes, I know exactly what you mean, I just recorded a flight to test FRAPS, forgot I had it on, and came back to 200GB on my 2nd drive. I do tend to flick my cannons a lot (I try to get 1 shot bursts most of the time), so accidentally running it is a huge concern to me.