FaceTrackNoIR Guide with PS3 Cam

G.T

G.T
I have put together the following guide which should help people who buy a ps3 cam (£5 - £10 on ebay second hand) set it up and use it with ED, including a settings file that has curves put together that work well with the game. The game may work ok with other cams that can provide 120+ FPS but with this cam being so widely and cheaply available on ebay, and works particularly well with FaceTrackNoIR, I would thoroughly recommend it. No adjustment to the cam necessary.

1. Download the drivers for the ps3 eye cam (CL Eye driver) at http://codelaboratories.com/downloads/

screenshot included:

ps3cam%20driver.jpg
It costs $1.99 but worth it for the best driver. If the option to buy is not there, use Compatability Settings on your web browser.

2. Install the drivers and insert the cam AFTER installing the drivers.

3 Enter CL-Eye Test, a program you get following installation where you can test the cam picture. cam should be working (initially took me a couple of goes opening and closing). Under 'Capture', Enter Frame Rate as 120 (FPS).

Close down window/program.

4 Download the latest version of Facetrack NOIR which is free at http://facetracknoir.sourceforge.net/information_links/download.htm

Choose full installer of v170.

5. In order to get facetrack noir working in Elite Dangerous, you need to download an updated file called 'Facetracknoir Supported Games.csv' at http://sourceforge.net/projects/facetracknoir/files/

The file shortcut should be: http://sourceforge.net/projects/facetracknoir/files/FaceTrackNoIR Supported Games.csv/download

You need to download it and replace the 'Facetracknoir Supported Games.csv' file in your Facetracknoir/Settings folder (wherever you installed it) with the new one.

You may need to reboot to ensure new version is working.

6. Remove the ED test 2.ini file from the zip folder I have linked below:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/98632834/Ed_test_zip.zip

and place it into the same folder ( Facetracknoir/Settings), I have got some settings that now work really well with Elite Dangerous.

7. Open up Facetracknoir, and make all the settings exactly the same as on the screenshot below:

facetracknoir%20settings2.jpg
Note the profile from the zip file is selected.

Press 'Start'. Tracking should start... (you should see yourself with yellow box round your lower face),the best place for the cam is just under the monitor looking up, apparently it works better than on top of the monitor. It is possible to buy ps3 cam mounts on ebay, or fashion something at home to do the same job. Then run 'Elite Dangerous' and it should work fine.

Note, you initially may need to centre yourself looking at the screen and press 'Shift-Home'. (I changed it to Shift-Home on mine from the default 'Home' as that key was already in use, the setting can be changed in the menu if it clashes with other commands.) When you look side to side in the cockpit, you need to look slightly down at each side to see the menu - this is to not activate the menu when just looking sidewards.

Hope that helps.
 
Last edited:

Glimpsanity

G
I'll have to add that I've bought the CL-Eye driver and the driver package they've sent me is identical (hash-wise) to the one located here: http://cl-eye-driver.software.informer.com/ The reason I'm writing this is the link they send you to download is only valid for 360 days. If you ever need it again after that period, you have to pay again and I'd rather let people be aware of that fact. Not to mention the payment processor of theirs charged me twice.

I'll be trying this out later this week and hopefully it will be as good as EDTracker. I'll be using it for the games that I can't use the EDTracker on.

By the way, there is also the FreeTrack IR. I don't know whether if it works for ED, but hopefully someone can find out.
 
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kwik

kwik
facetrack api is unfortunately limited to 60 fps, and taxes your CPU a bit more than other methods. I would suggest switching to point tracker if you go this route with 3 leds, its a bit more responsive and accurate than facetrack.
 
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Antmax

Antmax
With the PS3 Eye and IR clip with pointracker. Your better off using FacetracknoIR's sibling app. Opentrack. It gets more updates than facetrack but only uses opensource addons.

With it you get accella v4 (FTNOIR has 2) which is noticeably smoother.

It also goes beyond 99fps. PS3Eye cam can do 120 -180fps at 320x240 in opentrack.

It doesn't need the Facetracknoir Supported Games.csv

The file people are downloading was originally written for opentrack and is included in the last few builds.

If you want a link to opentrack. The github is here with the dropbox link to the latest releases.

https://github.com/opentrack/opentrack

You can see that functionally it's almost identical to FTNOIR. See the pic below.


post-20713-0-80429900-1399836741.jpg
 
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Dax SharkFinn

Dax SharkFinn
That just ends up sending you to the page that asks for money.

G.T thanks a lot for this tutorial. I just bought a PS3 Eye last week to try out with Dangerous but hadn't installed it yet.
 

Fallout300

Fallout300
At last I have it working! I nearly puked after a few mins but it was worth it. Thank you for the tutorial on how to set it up.
 

Glimpsanity

G
Nero said:
That just ends up sending you to the page that asks for money.

G.T thanks a lot for this tutorial. I just bought a PS3 Eye last week to try out with Dangerous but hadn't installed it yet.
Click to expand...
Huh, what the hell? I just downloaded yesterday from there now it redirects to the pay-wall page. Weird. I could upload it somewhere if someone wants it.

Edit: Well apparently there is already an uploaded one. Hashes are the same so it should be safe unless the driver itself is malicious.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-ZoOP2Pa71DXzJuc19oS2NWZFE/edit
 
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sthalik

S
The driver's downloadable just as it was before, just the page layout changed. Downloaded it yesterday just fine with no issues.
 

bassman

B
If your using point tracking with an led clip youl need an IR filter (unless you intend to play in complete darkness). You can buy a photographic one or use an old photo negative (or two) and just dangle it in front of the camera lens.
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
Robert Maynard
G.T said:
I have put together the following guide
which should help people who buy a ps3 cam (£5 - £10 on ebay second hand) set it up and use it with ED, including a settings file that has curves put together that work well with the game. The game may work ok with other cams that can provide 120+ FPS but with this cam being so widely and cheaply available on ebay, and works particularly well with FaceTrackNoIR, I would thoroughly recommend it. No adjustment to the cam necessary.

1. Download the drivers for the ps3 eye cam (CL Eye driver) at http://codelaboratories.com/downloads/

screenshot included:

ps3cam%20driver.jpg
It costs $1.99 but worth it for the best driver. If the option to buy is not there, use Compatability Settings on your web browser.

2. Install the drivers and insert the cam AFTER installing the drivers.

3 Enter CL-Eye Test, a program you get following installation where you can test the cam picture. cam should be working (initially took me a couple of goes opening and closing). Under 'Capture', Enter Frame Rate as 120 (FPS).

Close down window/program.

4 Download the latest version of Facetrack NOIR which is free at http://facetracknoir.sourceforge.net/information_links/download.htm

Choose full installer of v170.

5. In order to get facetrack noir working in Elite Dangerous, you need to download an updated file called 'Facetracknoir Supported Games.csv' at http://sourceforge.net/projects/facetracknoir/files/

The file shortcut should be: http://sourceforge.net/projects/facetracknoir/files/FaceTrackNoIR Supported Games.csv/download

You need to download it and replace the 'Facetracknoir Supported Games.csv' file in your Facetracknoir/Settings folder (wherever you installed it) with the new one.

You may need to reboot to ensure new version is working.

6. Remove the ED test 2.ini file from the zip folder I have linked below:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/98632834/Ed_test_zip.zip

and place it into the same folder ( Facetracknoir/Settings), I have got some settings that now work really well with Elite Dangerous.

7. Open up Facetracknoir, and make all the settings exactly the same as on the screenshot below:

facetracknoir%20settings2.jpg
Note the profile from the zip file is selected.

Press 'Start'. Tracking should start... (you should see yourself with yellow box round your lower face),the best place for the cam is just under the monitor looking up, apparently it works better than on top of the monitor. It is possible to buy ps3 cam mounts on ebay, or fashion something at home to do the same job. Then run 'Elite Dangerous' and it should work fine.

Note, you initially may need to centre yourself looking at the screen and press 'Shift-Home'. (I changed it to Shift-Home on mine from the default 'Home' as that key was already in use, the setting can be changed in the menu if it clashes with other commands.) When you look side to side in the cockpit, you need to look slightly down at each side to see the menu - this is to not activate the menu when just looking sidewards.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Indeed it did - much appreciated. Total cost of implementation was about £8.75 including the driver.

I tried installing a different driver for the PS3Eye but it kept crashing the machine.

Many thanks indeed!
 

huwthomas

huwthomas
bassman said:
If your using point tracking with an led clip youl need an IR filter (unless you intend to play in complete darkness). You can buy a photographic one or use an old photo negative (or two) and just dangle it in front of the camera lens.
Click to expand...

The lenses (red and green pressed together) from a pair of cheap 3D glasses also work, and might be easier to source than film negatives nowadays.
 
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Meritz

Meritz
You can also use ordinary white LEDs but you will need to lower your camera exposure setting as low as it can go and tweak the Point Extraction threshold in FaceTracknoIR to get the best results. During daylight or when playing in an illuminated room, hang your shades over the camera lens to help bring the light levels further down.
 

G.T

G.T
Cheers Glimpsanity for the link, missed it the first time.

Glad the guide is useful for some, I personally got impatient for a facetracknoir solution so bought TrackIR, but got facetracknoir working when the problems were fixed and put together a guide for my brother who I gave my ps3 cam too, so thought I may as well share it wider. Good to hear what ppl think of the profile I made for ED with the curves I found were about right with detentes for the side panels.
 
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