Flight training on a sim

[danhampson]

Could you not just use an external camera pointed at the screen URI, I've seen a few vids on YT using this idea. WC (wickedclown) has done that several times and it looks good enough to watch..

I've done that too when I used to play halo 3 and reach in the European MLG ladders it worked well for submitting video evidence to the judges.

[murankar]

I have been experimenting with a couple screen recorders. I started with ezVid and camStudio. I also had to install a form of xvid codecs to get the best possible playbacks. Long story short I think ezvid might be my solution. I will continue to look into it. For now here is my rendered unedited video from camStudio.

SO what this 8 minutes will demonstrate is that while I can control the heli I cant keep it under control. I am still fighting the heli if I want to keep the same spot or close to the same spot. If I did not have the circles on the ground I wouldn't have much issue but then again you wouldn't be able to tell all that much. So I still much stick time to get done.

This is not that great of a video, although I am still working on a better solution for screen capturing. I made this field in Realflight 7 and modified it with the spot lading circles. Each circle is 5 feet with a spacing of 5 feet and the closest circles are 10 feet away. These measurements are in Realflight terms.

As for hovering I am still practicing this in all orientations and this video is just a demo of what I am doing to better my skill. When using a tool like this its best to attempt a pattern of some sort. If you start in the center then move to one side then back to center then to the other side. Each stop should have about 3 to 5 seconds of a controlled hover. Once that is mastered then switch orientations and repeat the exercise. When you are ready then moving forward then backward with stops in the center. Finally move on to boxes. First learn boxes with the nose in the same orientation in both directions, then move to nose always forward and finally tail always forward.

After much practice you should have increased your confidence and skills that are crucial to progressing. Most maneuvers require a firm grasp of these basic exercises.

http://youtu.be/CHqaqX47UaQ


Not to bore ya with 16+ minutes of the same video but here is the ezVid screen capture. I captured this at 1366x768 and publish @ 720p. I added a medium amount of sharpening in pinnical along with a sound loop. I am now going to produce the same video at 1280x768 screen resolution and do some editing in pinnical.

http://youtu.be/9c9UaiQvZb8

Finally the video made with MSI Afterburner. I have to look into a few settings but i think this will work. My next test is to see if it will run while i fly, this is a screen capture of an in sim video. Hense why you see my name.
http://youtu.be/QrYnSOaRvIM

[murankar]

I thnk I found the screen capture software. Its MSI Afterburner, this is a gpu overclocking tool but it has built in video capture. I just made another copy of the previous video at 720p 16:9 ration with out flaw. One issue is the file is 3 gigs and needs rendered, but I have started the upload to youtube. I dont know how to stop the upload so I can go and render the file so it is small.

[murankar]

Today's trip to the virtual field was more of a success than yesterday. Today I jumped on the X3 and did some nose in clockwise boxes. I think this time you can actually see what I was intending. I did lose control a few times but for the most part I had it in my control. HowI am recording these flights is with the Realflight recorder then playing back the footage while using MSI afterburner. This 11 minute clip was almost 4 gigs until I processed it through handbreak which dropped it to 113m with decent quality. Its not done processing on youtube but once its done you should be able to view it. This flight is more of my intent with training. Box flying without changing orientation.

http://youtu.be/VKPvGnd1cVY

[Graham Lawrie]

Looking good Matt:) enjoying the video. This one has come through great quality as well and not jerky at all. I am getting a better idea of what you are trying to do:) keep them coming:)

[murankar]

Thank you Graham. I know my first three vids were not that great. I just could not get that 770 to calm down. The X3 settled right in.

I finally watched a small bit after it uploaded, I think hand break needs to be elimnated. It turned the end product to crap.

[murankar]

I got about 20 minutes of training last night. Just getting more stick time with nose right and left. I am still all over the place. Maybe tonight I can get some time in and maybe screen shoot it. Will see. I may have to charge the ol' tx pack soon, voltage is around 9.5 volts (I think). Its a 3s life pack.

[Tony]

Nice flying Matt, nose in really good on that last vid. And it's much smoother than the others..

[murankar]

Thank you. The screen capture is performing the best on my system. Took three different apps but I found one, and its free.

[pvolcko]

Don't get too carried away with the spot on hovering in the sim. I don't know about anyone else, but I have a very difficult time doing precise hovering in the sim. I wander a lot because my normal visual cues are all out of whack. Normally I hold my head relatively still and detect drift by the heli moving. In the sim you have the heli always centered and have to detect movement by the background motion. Also depth perception is totally screwed up in the sim vs real life due to the auto zoom features and crazy wide field of view in the sims.

I use the sim to get good at control movements and macro level muscle memory for maneuvers and whatnot, but in the end it takes real flying to get things precise and polished.

[murankar]

When your flying all over the field that's not good. Side in has been a rough go and I think its because it is a sim. Its hard to tell when it is drifting. If I can keep it in a "10" foot area then I am happy and call it learned.

Another thing I found is that when flying backwards from side to side I drift closer to myself.

[pvolcko]

Side in, nose right is my worst orientation. But both side ins, even in real life, cause me trouble when trying to hold a position. Something about the side-in profile and the look of the skids cause me to miss the fact it is drifting toward or away from me.

[murankar]

Same here, forward flight while side in is not bad its just holding it steady that's an issue.