As anybody who's been following this thread knows, TrackIr, by itself,  doesn't work with Prepar3-d.

Both sides have indicated that they want to use their own internal drivers and will not spend the time to make the other party drivers/methods work.

Enter  Ezdok Camera Addon (EZCA), hereafter referred to as Ezdok, cause that seems to be the most used handle on the av forums. Yes, it costs an additional $35 to make Pp3-d work with TrackIr, but guess what you get ...some outstanding features that TrackIr never even thought of.

Whether you have or use TrackIr or not, Ezdok is a stand alone product that almost, but not quite fully eliminates the need for TrackIr.  

That said, if you have used TrackIr,  you are spoiled rotten and you will refuse anything short of the precise head tracking TrackIr offers.  Ezdok LINKS TrackIr to Pp3-d.

Ezdok offers internal and external,very realistic camera, aircraft and head shake, incredibly smooth 256 camera views and moves per aircraft, each of which are individually and collectively settable, savable,exportable and importable.  I haven't tried that with Pp3-d yet, but if you are still flying FSX, as I suspect 99% of yall reading this are, just download Ezdok's PDF manual and click on the many Youtube demo vids, and decide for yourself. I am betting you will want it for FSX wether you buy Pp3-d or not.

 I've have heard that you can't get the outside world cams yet with pP3-D.  I will listen here and try it myself.

Nonetheless , Ezdok, with all of its camera and live ground and air motion simulation capabilities, really make the product worth the price. Far surpassing TrackIR's one talent, namely head tracking,  Ezdok gives you all of its wonderfully immersive intrinsic features AND what appears to be rock solid linking to TrackIr-5's head tracking to boot.

Thanks,and have a wonderful day!

Chas (Ipd)

Be bigger than yourself!

Keep your eyes on the stars,
   Your feet on the ground...

Sending healing vibes your way!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please visit http://www.katrinasangels.org

Maybe there is a more fundamental issue here.

It would seem thta TrackIR "can" be interfaced to FSX & P4D with Simconnect, but the issue is, while FSX simconnect is never going to change, P3D's simconnect can, and does, and it is when there is a new version of P3D (and it's Simconnect) that problems seem to be occuring.

If this is true, THIS COULD ALSO BE A POTENTIAL DISASTER for ANYONE developing a P3D simconnect interfaced application .

WHAT is breaking. ?

The whole idea of simconnect was to have a consistent interface to the SIM, that would work over updates of the sim.
(as opposed to HACKING into a given version of the SIM, as the Older versions of FSUIPC did).

So, maybe a more important question is

Why is the TrackIR Simconnect Interface "breaking" when P3D goes through a version update ?

Is it a SIMCONNECT design issue, or incorrect use of the Simconnect SDK by TrackIR. ?

How many other Sinconnect dependant applications are BREAKING, each time P3D is updated ! ! !

===========================================================
The only one that could be happy about this situation is Ezdok, laughing all the way to the bank.
===========================================================

And, if tomorrow Ezdok doesn't work with a new P3D version.... what will you do guys?

TrackIR is an essential hardware that needs to be supported natively in P3D. I understand the position of LM, but also understand that as a client it isn't my problem. As a non professional user I can't invest thousands of dollars in multiple monitors for creating a real 3D experience. Imagine a school purchasing 10 copies of the academic version.... they need TrackIr support.

Academic users depend absolutely on TrackIR hardware, and I think that LM should reconsider seriously this issue. If their investments are only focused for the proffesional clients, then P3D isn't for me, and sincerely, the Academic version hasn't any sense.

It's only my opinion. I don't want to criticize LM efforts to make an excellent flight simulation platform. I understand that the resources and the time are a scarse active that need to be applied in the most important areas, but if LM launch an Academic version for the non proffesional user, the correct supoort also need to be ensured.

You can't sell cars without wheels. It hasn't any sense.

Quote from FSMP on April 30, 2012, 11:04
M
Why is the TrackIR Simconnect Interface "breaking" when P3D goes through a version update ?

Is it a SIMCONNECT design issue, or incorrect use of the Simconnect SDK by TrackIR. ?

How many other Sinconnect dependant applications are BREAKING, each time P3D is updated ! ! !

Let's be clear on the issue. It is NOT SimConnect. TrackIR does not use SimConnect to connect to Prepar3D, it uses the window title. If we change the version number of Prepar3D, it does not connect because the window title is incremented in each version. EZDok uses SimConnect. We have updated SimConnect for each version of Prepar3D and yet EZDok still works!!

The only way to ensure compatibility between versions is to use SimConnect, other methods, such as hooking into windows, memory locations and so on cannot be supported as they will break. SimConnect is the approved method.

We are fully aware of the issues and requests to use TrackIR and know that it is a great tool. It is just down on the list of uber-priorities as we move forward. We have not forgotten and are not ignoring it.

John

Thanks John for the explanation. Think that the final user probably don't want to know nothing about technical issues, only want to get working the software in an easy way. If you pay 50$ - 200$ for your licence, and then need other 30$ for Ezdok.... the money maybe isn't the problem, but the fact that you depend on other software to use TrackIR not sounds very well... Is a perfect solution, but not the ideal solution.

I am sure this problem will be solved in the future. And please, consider I appreciate very much your support and efforts. Simply this a question almost all users have questioned when investigating about P3D features and possibilities before purchasing the required license.

Many users ask in the forums about TIR and other software compatibility, and when they heard that need a patch to get TIR working.... is a bit frustating, not for me, but for many people without experience installing and configuring addons.

Regards,
Dump

Can TrackIR be used through EZCA with all the other EZCA features turned off?

Without TrackIR I haven't used my P3D copy at all. I bought the EZCA program on the basis of these discussions, but tried it FSX first as I have a better understanding of FSX at this time and while it was interesting, it was also very frustrating with inconsistencies, confusion of what was doing what and the need to make profiles for each aircraft which didn't always stick was way too much work, so I've now removed it and can relax again with just TrackIR.

I'd like just to install EZCA only for P3D just to get TrackIR going, but then not have it mess with anything else.

Is this even possible?

Allan

First let me say thank you to the folks at Lookheed Martin for this fine product.

I too use TrackIR, I never leave home with out it. Flying with out TrackIR would be like flying with the keyboard instead of a yoke, so I hope that the fine folks here at Lookheed Martin and the folks at TrackIR can come to some sort of middle ground to get TrackIR working with Perpar3D.

Again thank you for your time and hard work.