Episode 27 How to set up DCS Mixed Reality for any Aircraft

[@davidlewin2744]

Top tip: run this video at 1.25 speed 👍🏻

[@jacksonsingleton]

At first I was like "why are your SE textures gray???" lmao didn't realize you had a full simpit

[@TripRodriguez]

Thank you so much for this! This is what I've been trying to achieve since 2017 and finally a solution that works well enough to use!

[@simpitacademy]

glad to hear this is helpful. Note most aircrafts have some viewport that is transparent and hard to read in VR. Take a look at episode 33 for solution.

[@dvladetich]

18:53 How do you get the lean in feature to work? I’m up to speed on the rest of the functionality but I am curious about this.

[@simpitacademy]

You automatically enter into passthrough in the past once you lean outside the boundary circle. Now it does not work anymore. I believe Meta changed something in recent updates. I haven't found out how to force it to enter passthrough once I cross the boundary. But at least I solved the instruments transparency VR issue so I just fly in MR without need for leaning.

[@andreyugarov1853]

Great video! Do you happen to have the plans for the actual cockpit structure anywhere?

[@simpitacademy]

@@andreyugarov1853 thanks! The panels were more carefully calculated in dimension. The cockpit structure was built in a simple modified way. The sides are straight up. Not ideal. you can look at open cockpit the hornet group with a typical curved shell design

[@SlushieTee14]

You did a great job!

[@simpitacademy]

@@SlushieTee14 thanks. I was not happy with the F15’s MPDs being transparent in VR. Tried many things for months. Finally got a solution. Will make a video on that

[@Rivkah1985]

Holy grail is right! This is amazing.

[@MemphisBelle291]

8:00 is that step still necessary with the new DCS Launcher and the possibility to choose between 2d and VR?

[@simpitacademy]

Good question. In the past without this launcher, sometimes when I was already in VR mode through VD, DCS would still launch in pc mode then I'd be looking at a window in VR, not a 360 degrees all VR environment. This force openXR thing added to the properties will force to not only launch the VR mode, but to use openXR, not steamVR. I am not sure the VR mode in the dcs startup launcher runs openXR. You can skip this step and see if it works well. Personally I'd still do this step to be safe. It takes only a minute to add this line.

[@MemphisBelle291]

sorry, but I´m a bit lost. I still dont really understand where you add these images within openkneeboard. The path you provide is where tjhe Kneeboard pages are stored, but when I create a such a kneeboard page (from an existing one) with a shape then it does not do anything on the Aircraft Tab.

[@simpitacademy]

First make sure you create a pink shape with transparent background and save as PNG file type. Then you put it PNG in saved games\dcs\kneeboard then the corresponding aircraft name folder. eg. A10C_2, F-15ESE etc. the openkneeboard discord will get you the correct name of each aircraft. Search for it or ask the developer who is very quick to respond. You can put the PNG in other dcs folders but they sometimes don't work. saved games path is the surest way to it to be found but you need to put it in the correct aircraft type folder that matches the aircraft you are launching. If you fly many aircrafts then you need to put into each aircraft folder

[@MemphisBelle291]

@@simpitacademy thx, I've figured that its not necesarry to use the png via the Aircraft Tab only, just load the png as new Tab, thus it'll be loaded as well. Its also possible to load while DCS runs, no DCS restart required.

[@simpitacademy]

@@MemphisBelle291 yes few days ago I found that changing the PNG file will change the passthrough outline in real time while in VR mode. and yes it's not necessary to put png in aircraft tab just found too but that's how I learned in the beginning. old habit. glad that MR is now working for you

[@MeplusYellow]

I believe Open XR toolkit isn’t needed anymore with the DCS Update and they’re recommending not downloading it. Is that accurate? Also is the file for the f18 kneeboard different than the default where I keep my kneeboards now?

[@simpitacademy]

@@MeplusYellow yes openxr can be skipped now the dcs prelaunch lets u choose between 2d and VR. For MR you put the png in respective aircraft and saved games. Then always go to aircraft tab and it’d pick the right one. Or just add your f18 png file as a tab and choose that tab instead of aricraft tab in okb

[@MeplusYellow]

@@simpitacademy Do you happen to have or know a resource where I can find some base png’s that have already been designed? Specifically for the Hornet? Or even just a general shape you’d be willing to share on discord? I created one with a transparent background but it’s not showing up.

[@simpitacademy]

@@MeplusYellow follow episode 34 on how to create better outline for aircraft of your choice. FreeCAD to draw outline of your aircraft cockpit, Inkscape to make it pink and background transparent PNG. I've done it for the two aircrafts I built, the F-15E and A-10. This approach works better than a generic shape

[@MeplusYellow]

@@simpitacademy I followed episode 34 and downloaded freecad as well as Inkscape and they worked well. Thank you very much for the guidance and also making that video! Cool to start seeing the pass through while still flying in DCS. I’m having issues lining it up in the cockpit while having to take off my headset off to see open knee board sliders to adjust. The image size will also jump from a bigger size to smaller size. Is there a trick to this?

[@MeplusYellow]

@@simpitacademythis worked out perfectly. Episode 34 was great. Thank you! One more question. Do you have any episode with how to make WinWing mfd screens work ?

[@pchow6829]

Great video. Can you do a video for the F18 Hornet?

[@simpitacademy]

I'm not sure what you are asking. If you mean do MR for the hornet, the steps are the same as per the Strike Eagle. VD, ONB, Q3, Helios etc. If you mean create a cockpit outline for the hornet, see how to trace out one for your choice of aircraft in episode 34

[@pchow6829]

@@simpitacademy Thank you. I found it. You mentioned something about the MFD getting passed through issue. Can you talk about that some more?

[@simpitacademy]

@@pchow6829 see episode 33 about issue and solution

[@assamita81]

I have a main monitor 1920x1080 and two small 800x600 lcds for Apache MPCDs. Do I need to have two different profiles if I play 2D or VR?

[@simpitacademy]

I assume when u fly VR you still want to see the two MPCDs in MR. You can use just one profile. But in order to make MFDs and viewports from Helios appear on your LCDs in VR, you need to add this line "VR_allow_MFD_out_of_HMD = true" to your helios monitor setup lua file, as mentioned in this video. If they still don't appear for your aircraft, you need to add the "VR_MIRROR" lines as explained in episode 33 as the fix. Whenever Helios asks you to reconfigure monitor setup, these two lines will disappear. To automatically populate these each time, use the special control toolbox function as explained in episode 34.

[@Munky332]

Here's a random thought What if you did a custom DCS cockpit texture mod that painted portions of the cockpit in DCS pink?

[@simpitacademy]

U are wondering if this will make the cockpit transparent like the kneeboard pass through and look like the F-35 hmcs that lets u see through the floor of the plane?

[@Munky332]

@@simpitacademy I mean, think of taking the MFD's -- you are already exporting them to external screens... imagine "painting" a layer over top of where the MFD is in the cockpit texture, that would become a passthrough window to where your hardware external MFD is...

[@simpitacademy]

@@Munky332 Oh you are talking about the transparent MFD issue. I've since solved it. I know in this video they look ugly and unreadable. It took me a long time to find the solution. See the comment I wrote yesterday. I made a video about the solution in Episode 33 and what's great is that it solves transparent viewports for ALL aircrafts not just this F-15E. Your suggestion of making a passthrough to see the physical MFDs will not work. I can draw boxes in pink to passthrough them, but the ones in VR are much bigger than mine using TM cougar MFD. I've thought of this too but the difference in sizes make it not workable and aligning them will be tricky. But thankfully now the MFD issue is solved

[@krakers665]

Is Quest 3 the best hardware for this application?

[@simpitacademy]

@@krakers665 I don’t know coz I don’t have other VR headsets. I know the pico 4 has pass through too. And varjo XR4. Very expensive with high resolution but bad pass through despite the price according to some KZbin reviews. Pimax crystal same thing. Native pass through camera sucks. They are working on MR faceplate then it’d be the best MR headset. With the crystal super.

[@phil-1115]

It seems that VD is updated, because it doesn't look like this.

[@simpitacademy]

Yup, this was made like 2 months ago. VD has changed some features.

[@Freeway7]

BUT actually seeing working would have been nice do !

[@kcthba6408]

14:57

[@simpitacademy]

@@kcthba6408 anything to note here?

[@kcthba6408]

@@simpitacademy nope…was accidentally…

[@HeliShed]

Unfortunately, this will not work with WinWing Displays and, for those of us who have partial full pits without the full blown encompassment of an actual cockpit, VD has now been updated to show your hands - go with that - job done.

[@simpitacademy]

I don't know how Winwing displays work, but they will have to export viewports like Helios or edit monitor setup lua in some way. Once you can export displays to secondary monitors or small LCDs, MR will work for F-18C DDIs I've tested them. As for hand passthrough it was only available in steam created by a Japanese guy for many months until now. Yes it's great for partial cockpit or if your secondary displays don't work and you want hand passthrough to help see and operate switches. It's a great option that VD now offers.

[@HeliShed]

@@simpitacademy agreed all round pal - good job

[@Munky332]

the VirtualDesktop hand passthrough is still kinda shit. It offers no customization yet (cannot offset, cannot turn it on/off quickly, cannot adjust bubble size), and it flickers like a god damn mad man.

[@HeliShed]

@@Munky332 it's far better than the alternative of loosing 15 years of ya fucking life though! I dunno what headset you are using but mine is crystal clear pal .

[@simpitacademy]

@@Munky332 yes it flickers like crazy lol. Since I have a complete cockpit I use my cockpit outline passthrough for MR. I use the hand passthrough only to check if switches are working by seeing the before and after of the switch positions in VR with the hand passthrough helping me find them and turn them

[@simpitacademy]

Guys, there is now a fix for the transparent MPDs in the Strike Eagle. After 6 months and 6 tries I discovered the solution was out there all the while. See Episode 33. This solution should fix transparent viewports for all aircrafts. So if your F-18, A-10, Apache, Viper, F-4 or whatever aircraft has this or that viewport showing transparent background and is not readable in VR, this will put a black mask over it just like when you fly in 2D. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sISknqyQqqyoj9E