V scale railfans:

I'm tired of my exterior camera being 9' off the ground. Anybody ever hack the camcfg.dat file to lower the minimum camera height to represent typical eye level? (i.e. about 5' 8".)

If so, mind sharing which value I need to hack? (Below is an default example.)



camera ( CamTypeFrontTracking
CamType ( CamTypeFrontTracking CamControlTethered )

CameraOffset ( -12.8 15.6 -45.7 )

Fov ( 60 )
ZClip ( 0.5 )
WagonNum ( 0 )
Description (Tracking_Cam_1)



Any input appreciated.

Andre

Good Morning Andre:

I don't know if this will help or not, it is about the number 6 view, but it does tell about the mechanics of the camfig.dat file and how to hack it. I have hacked my file so many times I have no idea what the original would even look like. I found this in a file that I downloaded from Train-sim and the original author is at the bottom.

PS Thanks for North Arkansas route, I think its great.

Chandler



Hi Folks,
whenever I was shunting wagons, I was annoyed by the lack of a proper view from the rear of the train. Using views '2' or '3' did not give reasonable views, as you cannot really make it look as if you were the shunter hanging on to the rear waggon.
But - after some experimenting I have now managed to get a more reasonable (although not perfect) view, using the 'coupler' view (6).
I know there have been changes to the camcfg.dat file described both here in this forum, as well as new version uploaded. But I have not seen this option as yet - if it has been described before, I do apologize for wasting time and space.
Here is what I changed. The changes apply to the 'camcfg.dat' file, which is found in the 'GLOBAL' sub-directory in your MSTS directory.
I altered the following lines :
camera ( CamTypeCoupling
CamType ( CamTypeCoupling CamControlCoupling )
CameraOffset ( 0.0 15.6 -14.0 )
Direction ( 90 0 0 )
RotationLimit ( 0 0 0 )
Fov ( 100 )
ZClip ( 0.5 )
WagonNum ( -1 )
Description (Coupling_Cam)
)
to these :
camera ( CamTypeCoupling
CamType ( CamTypeCoupling CamControlRotate )
CameraOffset ( -1.5 3.0 0.0 )
Direction ( 0 -180 0 )
RotationLimit ( 0 359 0 )
Fov ( 60 )
WagonNum ( -1 )
Description (Coupling_Cam)
)
The meaning of all this :
CamType ( CamTypeCoupling CamControlRotate )
means you can rotate the camera
CameraOffset ( -1.5 3.0 0.0 )
is the camera position : 1.5m. off centre, 3m high.
Direction ( 0 -180 0 )
is the default direction (horizontal, to the rear)
RotationLimit ( 0 359 0 )
means you can rotate the camera all around, but not upward or downward.
The rest is not changed, except that Zclip is removed.
Fov (field of view) is a matter of personal taste - I like 60 better, but some like 100.
The only problem is that the Z-point (in the 'length' of the waggon) is fixed at approx. 2 m. behind the waggon. This is not affected by the third value in CameraOffset, which should be the z-direction. Perhaps someone else knows the solution for this point.
But in all, it gives a nice view, as if riding from the rear of the train, and makes shunting a lot easier as well as more fun.
Good luck,
Rob Roeterdink

Andre - I think it's the CameraOffset, and the 2nd value. If you look through the config file, the values of the 2nd number range from relatively small for the passenger and head out views, and high for the others. The first number seems to be left/right offset from the track centerline, based on the coupling and derail views. I think the 3rd number is for the forward offset, so the other value would be height. This is all deduction and no experimentation, so take it for what it's costing you!

Andy

(Edit) - it appears Rob has beaten me to the punch, and with tested data, so I defer to his experience!

Thr screengrab doesn't look like much, but this was taken with the camcfg hacked as per Rob's post. It has made reversing onto a car a lot more realistic, and also a lot easier. You can actually see how far you are from it without the countdown of distance that comes with the MSTS camcfg.

Combined with the HUD to give you your speed, it is great.

The only alteration that would be good is for the camera to be close alongside the tender or rear car, so that you could see a bit of it just to the left.

Any suggestions from anyone?

Rod

JAndre, ust done a bit more fiddling - try this (back up Camcfg first!)

camera ( CamTypeCoupling
CamType ( CamTypeCoupling CamControlRotate )

CameraOffset ( -1.5 2.75 0.0)
Direction ( 0 -180 0 )
RotationLimit ( 180 360 0 )

Fov ( 54 )
WagonNum ( -1 )
Description (Coupling_Cam)

The 2.75 in CameraOffset reduces the height above the track and the (180 360 0) in RotationLimit allows all round vision plus up and down.

Can't get the position back to the end of the car though - still about 2 metres off.

the -1.5 in CameraOffset is the offset from the centre of the track. Tried other variables to move the camera back to the end of the car, but no luck.

Rod.

2.75 above the track was a bit low - increased to 2.85 to simulate riding on the boxcar.

Rod

Yea, I've always thought of the Offset values as ( x, y, z ) values. like a 3D GRAPH, if you see what I mean. You've got me interested in messing with it more. What does Z-clip do? I noticed you rid the new one of it.

Chris

Don't know about Z Clip - just followed on from Rob's original post. Anyone know out there?

The camera position is great for riding the train - gives a good view when in reverse and opens up some good possibilities for long screenshots

Rod