Which Tracker is "best"?

spookytooth

spookytooth
I picked up a Trackir 3 cheap off the bay a few months ago. I'd never before tried one so it was a good introduction. I used the basic software having converted an old pair of sunglasses (read removed lenses!). This was a great step forward but found I needed to pay an extra $20 to unlock the full software that gives far more head movement. I also needed 3 reflective patches to utilise the program. I experimented with a homemade clip that slipped onto my headset, and whilst it showed what a massive advantage the upgrade gave I realised I needed something better. I ended up buying the Proclip and to be honest it's been brilliant - even with the old TrackIR 3. I have less head movement than the 5 but the advantages are massive over having nothing at all!

The other posters are dead on - I could never go back to not using one, and it's surprising how many games support it. It feels weird at first, but it soon seems like second nature. I was annoyed about having to pay extra to unlock its full potential, but there you go.

Incidentally I've only just found out about the company's dubious reputation, but that aside I love it. I have no other experience or knowledge of the alternatives.
 

Antmax

Antmax
So far I have used opentrack and facetracknoir and now EDtracker.

I had 6dof with the camera and ir clip. ED doesn't really use x,y,z much only rotations because your strapped into your seat. So 3DOF is fine.

ED is incredibly smooth and low on resources but due to the limitations of the ED control settings only using 2 axis. You don't get head roll.

If it had roll or if your playing a game where you can move your head right up to the canopy and look over the side of your plane TrackIR probably scrapes past. But if you are fixed in your seat I think you can't go wrong with EDTracker. Despite missing the roll axis I will not be going back to the clutter of cameras, IR Clips, even with light weight ion batteries.
 

Amos

A
Edtracker is a good option, also FTNoir is good too with a 3p IR cap, only draw back FTnOIR uses about 10% cpu and can affect some games FPS depending on your setup of course, I have both and I am really happy with them.
 

Neillm

N
I just ordered an EDTracker today so am looking forward to trying it out. I went for the fully assembled and programmed version because I don't have the facilities to build it here. Damn quick response from brumster and dead fred...ordered at 1am last night and emails waiting for me this morning. :smilie:

I thought it would be worth getting now before standard beta arrives and they get very busy!
 

Steve_T

Steve_T
I use TrackIR and couldn't go back to not having it now.

One thing to mention is that (with the standard clip at least) any bright light filtering through to the IR sensor causes the tracking to go haywire. My PC is right by a window and I generally have to close the blind during daylight, so that it doesn't cause any problems.
 

Voz

Voz
EDTracker is great. It's come a long way since the early versions

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Kidding! It's great for attaching to a headset but personally I struggle with anything that even partially blocks any of my senses. That's why no matter how good the Rift is I'm never going to be able to get on with it longer term. I think it's a general trust/paranoia thing. :rolleyes:


This means that I'm looking for a way to mount the EDTracker that leaves my ears free but isn't cumbersome.
 

Nomadski

Nomadski
TrackIR 4 uses around 0.5 - 2% cpu, and 51mb of memory, according to task manager.

(That's on an Intel i7 4770k)
 

Completely Harmless

Completely Harmless
I can only speak from my usage (obviously) and I never see it use more than a couple of percentage (usually 0%, with "peaks" at 1%) on my 3.3GHz quad core. Never noticed any frame-drop either.

It seems some people have problems in some games (a search on the net can show this), but since I never experienced it I have no idea what might cause higher usage or frame-drop.

I got TrackIR 5 with software version 5.2 (the latest). :)

Edit to add: It seems to use about 60 MB of RAM.
 

prasak

prasak
I also have TrackIR 5 for 2+ years now and I am very happy about it. I got my DK2 ordered, but I think for games which does not support OR or when I am OR exhausted, I will keep on using it. I cannot compare it to any other tracking solution as I only have experience about TrackIR, but I can tell you that TrackIR works absolutely perfectly.

P.S: I do not care that NaturalPoint is evil company and Oculus Rift is owned by Facebook, if they can deliver a good product.
 

timbow

timbow
Define "best"? For the money EDTracker for ED is at least as good as TrackIR and costs significantly less, it gives more or less the same bang for far less buck! Also as the software is open there is no reason why it can't be enhanced (within the limits of the hardware), by the community. In theory there is no reason why it can't work with FaceTrackNoIR or Opentrack to work with other games as well, and there are 4 more DOFs that haven't been explored yet!
 

Fenris Wolf

Fenris Wolf
Neillm said:
I just ordered an EDTracker today so am looking forward to trying it out. I went for the fully assembled and programmed version because I don't have the facilities to build it here. Damn quick response from brumster and dead fred...ordered at 1am last night and emails waiting for me this morning. :smilie:
Click to expand...

Where can you get the fully assembled one from?
 

NeilF

NeilF
timbow said:
Define "best"? For the money EDTracker for ED is at least as good as TrackIR and costs significantly less, it gives more or less the same bang for far less buck! Also as the software is open there is no reason why it can't be enhanced (within the limits of the hardware), by the community. In theory there is no reason why it can't work with FaceTrackNoIR or Opentrack to work with other games as well, and there are 4 more DOFs that haven't been explored yet!
Click to expand...

If "best" requires something that you can simply order, plug in and go, then you might see why EDTracker might not do so favourably, no matter how clever it is etc.

EDIT: Didn't realise you could buy it fully constructed. So ignore! That said, I still don't know how turn-key it is!
 
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Sessine

Sessine
I am using TrackIR with ED but also for other sims. Works great. TrackIR with pro-clip. Don't have a baseball hat and don't want to wear one for gaming.
I don't know if the DIY ED tracker will work with my other sims.
 

NeilF

NeilF
Neillm said:
I just ordered an EDTracker today so am looking forward to trying it out. I went for the fully assembled and programmed version because I don't have the facilities to build it here. Damn quick response from brumster and dead fred...ordered at 1am last night and emails waiting for me this morning. :smilie:

I thought it would be worth getting now before standard beta arrives and they get very busy!
Click to expand...

Please do let us know how you get on :)
 
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