Windowmaker tool updated!

[wledzian]

Way back when I started seriously thinking about building a simpit, I was looking for a way to get FSX to output a true cylindrical or spherical projection. While not entirely successful, I did hit upon the method of using many vertical slices as an approximation, and to avoid the tedium of calculating the parameters for each window by hand, I created the original Windowmaker tool, discussed in this thread.

My understanding of the math relating zoom to FOV was limited, resulting in windows that didn't quite align perfectly for low zoom levels (ie 210° in only 3 windows). I've since reverse-engineered the zoom equation, and the new version produces pixel-perfect alignment at both extremes of the zoom range and everywhere in-between.

(It uses VBA code to work its magic. Depending on your security settings, it may pop up a message or just not work. If it doesn't work, check your macro security settings. Feel free to view the code by pressing [alt-F11].)

Procedure:
Set up and save your flight with the aircraft and airport you want to use.
Open the .flt file in notepad or your favorite text editor.
Open WindowMaker.
Set the number of views and total FOV.
Click the "Go !" button.

Copy the window and camera list from column E and paste it over the [Window] and [Camera] definitions in your .flt file.
Save the .flt file.

Go back to FSX and load the saved flight.

WindowMaker_110817

Extreme example of what it can do: 360° in 27 windows

[eyucel]

Thank you very much. You created a complete solution for a complex problem. I am glad I found out your file.

[Airhogg]

Wow! This is really nice work. Thank you VERY much for posting this!

[ghetto]

Thanks for the link to this I have run a couple of test and Iam getting very close..
schwitzer 220fov.jpg
Iam having to use my work pc, not the 3 screen system at home but I just squished the window to get rclose to the width I use..
1,Is there a way to lose the black lines?..
2, Since I am using this for a helicopter If i want to achieve a higher height wize FOV by using maybe just 2 projectors what settings should I alter?

[ghetto]

Ok even a little closer, by altering eyepoint using the FSX keyboard commands , shift + backspace and by stretching the fsx window down I was able to obtain this view which is much closer to what I want to achieve.. Of course this is all achedemic because when I try this on my 3 projector setup it will probably go all wrong.. Alsoi Iam sorry if this all seems rather remedial but searched many forums for the information to do this but never found a clear explanation, so Iam hoping this post will help others..

[wledzian]

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any way to get rid of the window borders. However, when you use this configuration with your projectors, the borders will essentially be just a line of unused pixels at each edge. Once you align your projectors, the black line won't be there.

How are you driving your projectors? Can you run them in portrait mode? If so, you could use all three projectors and get a drastically increased vertical FOV.
If that works for you, be aware that since your windows will now be taller than they are wide, you'll want to set WideViewAspect=True.

No worries about not finding anything elsewhere. I created WindowMaker precisely because I couldn't find any reliable information anywhere else either.

[ghetto]

270x3fov.jpg
So tried it on my home system with the 3 projectors in the 3820x720 format and loaded the altered .flt file but it came out wrong, 3 very separate views not aligning at all. I tried both aspect true and false with no improvement. Do I need to do something in the tool so it knows I have such a wide aspect?

[wledzian]

That looks like your intent is to have 3 90° windows in landscape for 270° total, but the images look like the vertical dimension is constrained to 90° instead, as it would be when Wideviewaspect=True. This would produce images ~116° wide.

Please double-check that your Wideviewaspect setting is correct.

Your settings should be:
Wideviewaspect=False
Zoom=0.301941960595019

If that doesn't fix your issue, please send me a copy of your window configuration text via private forum message.

[Kennair]

1,Is there a way to lose the black lines?..

Hi Ghetto,

Image warping software such as "Warpalizer", "Sol7" and I believe "Immersive Display Lite" can remove those black lines. They have an option to remove the 2 pixel border which results in a seemless blend.

Hope that helps,

Ken.

[ghetto]

That looks like your intent is to have 3 90° windows in landscape for 270° total, but the images look like the vertical dimension is constrained to 90° instead, as it would be when Wideviewaspect=True. This would produce images ~116° wide.

Please double-check that your Wideviewaspect setting is correct.

Your settings should be:
Wideviewaspect=False
Zoom=0.301941960595019

If that doesn't fix your issue, please send me a copy of your window configuration text via private forum message.

You were correct for some reason my .cfg file did not take the wide aspect=False command, once I rebooted all was well. Thanks for a great tool.. Frame rates took a bit of a hit so I will have to look into that..