mmglads Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Hi guys, just was trawling the net the other day, as I've pushed "Freetrack" as far as I can (still saving up for TrackIR - had lots of expense recently) & found this program: http://www.cachya.com/esight/overview.php - looks quite good for an "almost" freebie (it's $14.00 USD for the program) & I just wondered if anyone had tried it? Cheers, Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan2 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Cant help...but would like to know about your experiences with free-track. Presumably it performs exactly the same Tracker . If so, why pay much more ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradHosking Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I have it however their support forums haven't responded to anything since april/may last year. It does work, but it's very sensitive. Highly recommend TrackIR...no quirks and works first time. If these guys actually responded to support, it might have been a good product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmglads Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 Hi Alan2 - Freetrack is quite good, but is very limited. First you have to disembowel your webcam ( I used an old one) & remove the infra-red filter. This is fun to do! Lots of info on the web site or the usual Google sources. Then build yourself (or purchase!) a cap with infra-red diodes. Finally, get it working. I found it to be a) horribly sensitive "blurry" when moving - can't explain that one, used all of the filter parameter in the program and c) a pain in the butt - 'cause you can't have 2 webcams plugged in at once (I use a hi def camera for Skype) - they use different versions of the software. It all got too hard, so I thought I'd try Cachya. I now have tried it - it's actually quite good, but again, a pain to calbrate - and there are times when it just packs up, although it uses my standard webcam. My advice? Save for Track IR like me - it obviously is a well proven system with good support. I'm back to the "hat" on the joystick! Cheers, Malcolm What's that old adage "you get what you pay for?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan2 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I use my staple gun on the space bar and just swing the mouse around . I have joystick ,pedals and throttle quadrant and everything works fine. Of course I cant look up and over or stick my head out of the window and would concede that tracker is probably a more immersive experience .....as I speak a flash of inspiration came - I wonder if I can move the view piont around quick enough ( or at all ) to simulate tracker completely.....off to experiment.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmglads Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 OK, tried out Cachya for a couple of days - and - I'm very impressed!! I know it's not Track IR, but the results that I've been able to achieve have far surpassed my attempts with Free Track. I'm using my standard web cam, & (with the exception of my good lady wife who can't surpress a giggle or two at my funny hat), I'm very pleased with the system. Have it working at framerates of 27-30 as well, so very smooth. More when I've really given it a good bashing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan2 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 sounds good Malcolm - I have a laptop, extra screen, and an inbuilt webcam . Is this a possibility ? suppose I should check the website ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmglads Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 You can but give it a go, the cost is minimal to set the whole thing up. I was getting poor frame rates, so I went back - read the manual - & followed the instructions. Worked a treat! No simming for me for 2 weeks, off to New Zealand tomorrow for a family wedding - bit of a nusiance really! Let me know how you go. Cheers, Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest javo Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 its not too bad, but you only get what you pay for I have it and have used it but at the end of the day its TrackIR for me. I see TrackIR have dropped the price $50 - TrackIR 4 Pro: $US179.95 now $US129.95. TrackClip Pro and TrackClip Pro Bundle have also been reduced. Now we just have to wait for the aussie shops to do the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finney Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Hey Fellas I gave Cachya a go when it first came out, was ready to get TrackIR but have been so happy with Cachya so far. I did go through a setting period where it go a bit frustrating but now I have it running on a lappy and I have all 6DOF. You will see it in many of my films. I like some of the functions of TrackIR that Cachya does not have. Support from them, ha, like previously stated above forums closed, e-mails unanswered, there is suppose to be upgrades to the proggy. But other than that works great as an alternative. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan2 Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Well, I just got an email from cachya . I asked them a question on about wednesday(?) Question about the inbuilt lappy cam and second screen. They havn't had a chance to check this out but suggest the results might not be "Intuitive" if Im looking at the second screen. At the moment Im waiting for a response from Adrian, it appears i'm downloading the wrong version and need v2.1 -vista enabled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogueqd Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 I bought Cachya a couple of weeks ago. I saw this topic so I thought I'd add my 2c... I got the trial version (only 1DOF at a time in FSX) to make sure it worked, then bought the full version. It works great, although I have no comparison, and I can't go back to the joystick hat. The bad/ugly bits... Well you have to wear a silly hat, lol, and play with your room lighting a bit. I ended up taking my small desk lamp and putting it on top of a vase behind my monitor. With the room dimly lit that works great. Calibrating all the settings took a while, but after a few days I had it settled to something useful and comfortable. Initially I wanted large 'realistic' head movements, but small ones work much better with some practice. Also adjusting the XYZ sensitivities properly makes a big difference. Lastly was the camera settings, getting a good brightness and contrast is critical, and I was running at 4fps (in cachya, not fsx) until I relaised my camera was set to 1/5 sec exposure time when I'd disabled auto-exposure. Limited support, they emailed me the full version when I had trouble upgrading after purchase, but other emails have gone unanswered and the support forum is locked. To sum up... Definately worth the $20 for those who can't easily afford the $200-300 hardware packages available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BennyHill Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Which camera did you use? I have a Logitech Quickcam. Its specs are: 640x480 pixels. Frame Rate: up to 30 frames per second. Still image: 1.3 MegaPixels How does it compare with yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogueqd Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Well I do have a Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000, but I think any camera should be fine. The only spec Cachya mention is usb 2.0 for the higher data throughput. My camera has a wide field of view, which is good as even with the wide field I still move my head off screen some times, which confuses Cachya quite a bit. Some more info... I set my resolution to 320x240 as the Cachya manual says this is just as accurate and much quicker to process, and I have to go into "Capture Pin" and change the frame rate (30fps), compression (I420) and output size (320x240) every time I start Cachya. You also need to manually load the default profile each time as well, you can save over the existing profile, but Cachya doesn't seem to load it automatically. The only other thing I can think of is that I find it helps to go to Task Manager and set Cachya's priority to Above Normal, so FSX doesn't steal all it's cpu cycles. If you're not sure if it will work for you get the trial version, you can only use one axis at a time, but you can still have a bit of fun even with that. Yaw is the obvious look left and right, and the Y axis is great to look at the runway over the top of the instruments. Z is great to move your head forward and read the gauges up close, and X lets you stick your head out of (or through, hehe) the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BennyHill Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Thanks for that. I am in the process of rebuilding again - going from Windows 7 Beta back to Vista x64, until Win7 is released and stable. Win7 is great but runs out in few months. I want to try Cachya before committing to a TrackIR - even $20 for the full Cachya is better that laying out hundreds for TrackIR. If I like the experience, then I will get the TrackIR. In the meantine the hundreds for it will go on more ORBx products . So far I have purchased everything released. I'll be up and running again by the weekend and will try it out then. Once again, thanks for your advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwikat Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Thanks for that. I am in the process of rebuilding again - going from Windows 7 Beta back to Vista x64, until Win7 is released and stable. Win7 is great but runs out in few months. I want to try Cachya before committing to a TrackIR - even $20 for the full Cachya is better that laying out hundreds for TrackIR. If I like the experience, then I will get the TrackIR. In the meantine the hundreds for it will go on more ORBx products . So far I have purchased everything released. I'll be up and running again by the weekend and will try it out then. Once again, thanks for your advice. It doesn't even come close to track IR. I tried it a ways back and I recently got track IR. I can't believe I've been simming without it for all these years. Track IR is brilliant and is a MUST-HAVE for every simmer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan2 Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Well I'll start by saying that I've had 3or 4 emails with catchya so absolutly no complaints about service from me . I was some way through tweaking when it slipped to the back burner and has been there ever since. It is not tuned yet. The one thing that worries me about a possible tracker purchase is .... Basically freezing my head in a given spot. I tend to move around a lot or drink a coffee or kinda fidget and Im wondering about the amount of lattitude given. Like , I mean is there a dead zone ? ( and not the zone between the two headspeakers !) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.