WideViewAspect & Zoom: Part 1

[@LostOliven]

You're the most articulated gentleman on KZbin. Brilliant guide! To the point and easy to follow!

[@jamesgreer8610]

Just oustanding. I have seen many videos about FSX, but this is by far the best I've seen on any FSX-related topic. Well done.

[@AlmostAviation]

Thanks :)

[@AeroTechRevolve]

This theory helped a lot, I have a 16/9 screen started with 0.56. I ended up being comfortable with 0.75-0.8 😅. Zoom now at 1 since it’s the most realistic. Landings have been great. 👌🏾

[@stretchedits]

Hi, Thanks for replying so quickly.....So I changed the zoom in the camera cfg file for the virtual cockpit. It didn't seem to make one jot of difference to the view! I then changed the zoom manually in virtual cockpit using the shift+/- while sitting on the runway, then saved the flight and set it as the default........Now every time I start fsx in free flight, I get zoom at 1.0. perfect...............Tell you what though, it makes you realise how cramped some of these planes really are.

[@jcsk8]

Just WOW. I just landed here 8 eyars later. But´s fine. Well. These days I have been playng around zoom a lot, in my old and good fs9 .Before I was used to set zoom at 0.75, as the default 1.0, on mine 16/9 monitor looks to zoomed in. But was unrealistic too. So I started to test zoom levels looking inside and outside from the aircrafts, while taxiing, taking off, and landing. This trial and error gave me 0.54 zoom, wich is very close to your 0.56 from the formula. I wish I had found this earlier, because took me days. I wish fs9 could have that wideviewaspect, but it doesn´t. I´ll have to keep the 0.56. This is bad because I coud have more from the panel gauges than the lateral views.

[@AlmostAviation]

Oh well, better late than never :)

[@AdamBanksNZ]

Yes - correct. I went through a couple of my EZCA aircraft and rationalised them, setting them to 1.00 zoom. I had the WideViewAspect flag set anyway. It all looks a bit more consistent now - many thanks!

[@MoisesSimana]

Excellent explanation. Thank you! I was having issues with PMDG 737 HGS display and this correct the problem.

[@AlmostAviation]

You're welcome! Glad it was of some help.

[@StephaneSOUBIRAN]

Thank you very much. So, for P3D on a 4/3 monitor (1280x1024), the best setting is "Wide-view Aspect Ratio=OFF" + Zoom = 0.75 ?

[@AlmostAviation]

It will be a reasonable starting point but it depends on the size of the monitor. It will also be equivalent to Wide View Aspect ON and zoom = 1.0, so neither is better than the other.

[@GodsPoetryProductions]

Thanks I waa having problems with my newest 32 inch ultrawide LG monitor. The aspect ratio was off with FSX.

[@AlmostAviation]

Agreed on the 'cramped' observation. I used to think Ant's Tiger Moth for FSX was too cramped, and then I had a flight in a real one!

[@alexismmef]

The only problem is Zoom 1.0 I loose view of my instruments. I Guess to have a realistic outside view I have to get another monitor for FS...

[@tobichessell132]

Hi. I was not able to find a data called only fsx.cfg... i found one with fsx_display.cfg... but i can t find wide view aspect in it. Can anyone help me out please?

[@guitarman2341]

Amazing video! Finally made sense with the zooms. To think I had been playing with the wrong view for years AHHH

[@AlmostAviation]

Glad you found it helpful :)

[@AlbertvanEe]

Hello Thanks for sharing! at 9 minute you zoom out very much, is that also possible with one monitor? (it looks more than 180 degrees)

[@catmar1944]

Thanks Almost Aviation but not sure if I understood you correctly so please can you confirm for me. I have a 22inch LCD Monitor with a viewing area of 18 6/8cm by 11 5/8cm and I thought I would need a zoom of 0.84 but from what you are saying with wideviewaspect set to true I just set zoom to 1.0 is that correct? if that is okay great. Now the other mystery for me is where to set my viewpoint (head in the cockpit) so that when flying straight and level and descending for landing the view is as correct as it can be. Not sure if I have explained this correctly, but I will keep watching your video's on this matter to see if there is anything I have missed. Thanks for doing all this techie stuff.

[@AlmostAviation]

Yes, 1.0 will be about right. (P.S. Are you sure those measurements are in cm?)

[@catmar1944]

Nah sorry it was in inches, got so used to this new (wrong) measurement system, sorry about the mistep. The other tidbit of info from you is I must have at least three monitors to get the correct field of view. By the way I use my monitor standard size of 1680x1050 so it's not the best. Thanks for the info.

[@AlmostAviation]

Ah, thought so ;) For the fiddly details you could watch the Part3 vid but it's not really necessary unless your viewing distance is unusually close or far. As for viewpoint, I look at the external views for the rough idea. However, in my new cockpit setup I have a rotary control that changes up/down and a couple of buttons for back/forward, so I can change it on the fly. It also works well if you use joystick buttons with repeat set.

[@catmar1944]

Thanks for that quick response. Yes viewing distance is too close. I am flying (virtually) the a2a Cessna and the Cherokee. My setup is pretty basic, a Thrustmaster Joystick which has a throttle level separate, but I have put them together due to real estate not being very much. CPU is an overclocked i7-950 at 3.8Ghz, A Geforce GTX460 super clocked so it's all a bit minimal but its okay out in the sticks, no cars or boats just a low level of airfield ground traffic. Most of Orbx scenery including all the Global stuff and vector. Would like to get more serious but space is a serious concern as I only have a very small room. Sorry did not intend to give you my life story lol..

[@AlmostAviation]

The whole point is that it doesn't matter what resolution you are running in, 1.0x is always the correct starting point. 0.9 is probably okay but it will still make things look firther away and speeds look higher.

[@AlmostAviation]

Albert: yes, that video was captured from a single monitor.

[@yvind8625]

Are you using some keyboard shortcut to zoom in/out, are you changing the files of the game or are you changing settings under display when you are zooming in/out??????

[@AlmostAviation]

I am just using keyboard controls (which are generally mapped to -/=) to zoom in and out. I think I also mapped a couple of joystick buttons to the chase distance so I could do the simultaneous zoom in/track out shot.

[@yvind8625]

Almost Aviation Thank you for the quick answer

[@StarflightVirtual]

Hello, i have a 3 Screens a 3840x1080, so 11520x1080 Resolution. I Tried Viewgroups, but it gives me very very bad fps. But when i open 3 Windows INSIDE P3D v4.5, i have still very good fps. Have you any idea how to set up these 3 Windows inside the Sim ? Thanks Matthias

[@AlmostAviation]

No, sorry. But I would be surprised if you can achieve anything useful with that many pixels!

[@StarflightVirtual]

@@AlmostAviation Thanks for the answer. The frames with 3 windows inside the sim are good, but with view groups not. But inside the sim I can not set up the same values then for the view groups it seams?

[@AlmostAviation]

Yes, your summary is correct - it could have been a 20-second video, but nobody would have listened ;) I can't speak for FS9, though I have heard that the default zoom of 1.0 is correct for FS9, not 0.75. I think I may also have read that FS9 uses the vertical FOV default instead of horizontal, which means it doesn't need the WideViewAspect flag. I have not verified any of that, so caveat emptor! There is some detailed discussion of FS9 zoom at calclassics dot-you-know-what.

[@AdamBanksNZ]

Fantastic! Thanks for such excellent (and painstaking) explanations. This is a "must have" for anyone setting up FSX. Does this same sort of logic apply to *external* views as well? What I mean is that I'd like to have the correct zoom set internally, then when I jump into outside view, have the zoom set identically. So ... if you're looking at a runway (on approach) and you jump into outside view, it appears at the same zoom/distance as the internal view.

[@stretchedits]

Hi, great video, nice to see an explanation of how you got the results too, instead of just saying this is right. Had a look at my FSX and I'm not sure how to go about changing the virtual cockpit zoom to 1.0 to become the default figure. Had a look at the panel cfg file but there is no line about zoom! Do I have to insert a new line in the panel cfg for each aircraft in the hanger? or am I missing something? I found a camera cfg file in the main fsx folder for virual cockpit, is that the same?

[@AlmostAviation]

I have the Baytower RV-7 and I get a good picture of the panel at 1.0x. I can't speak for the other two, which I don't have.

[@ИодаЗеленый-л9ц]

Unfortunately, I don't understand English. Tell me what formula to use to calculate the zoom, if the monitor is 3440x1440 34 inches. WVA is on. Thanks.

[@AlmostAviation]

It depends on the viewing distance. Use this formula: z = 34 / (2 * atan(h / 2d)) z = zoom factor h = screen height (measured) d = distance from the screen (measured)

[@ИодаЗеленый-л9ц]

@@AlmostAviation I don't quite understand what it is "2 * atan". And what units of measurement should I use?

[@AlmostAviation]

@@ИодаЗеленый-л9ц 'atan' is a trigonometric function, the inverse of tangent. You will find a button for it on most calculators. It will be labelled 'arctan', 'atan', 'tan-1' or some such. It doesn't matter what units of measurement you use, as long as you use the same units for height and distance (you will see they are divided in the formula). However, you should make sure your calculator is set to work in degrees for trig functions, since the '34' is an angle in degrees. Calculators may work in radians or by default. There may be buttons labelled DEG/RAD/GRAD to set the mode.

[@ИодаЗеленый-л9ц]

@@AlmostAviation Thank you, I got 1.45 with a screen height of 30 cm and a distance of 80 cm. You're right, and I agree that if I were sitting in the cockpit of an airplane, it would look real. But it is impossible to play with such a zoom))))) Stopped at 0.9.

[@AlmostAviation]

@@ИодаЗеленый-л9ц You just need more and bigger screens :)

[@AlmostAviation]

Thanks. The location is Caloundra, which is a great one from Orbx and also features in my recent Ryan ST-A video.

[@marinavillanueva7787]

HEY GREAT VIDEO BUT IM HAVING ISSUES DOING IT WITH MINE. I HAVE SET WIDE VIEW ASPECT TO TRUE. BUT I HAVE 3 MONITORS (23.6 ASUS) i USE THE 5994 X 1080 RESOLUTION THAT NVIDIA SORRUND MADE. I USE THE SAME RESOLUTION IN GAME. CAN you please help me get my zoom right? thank u

[@AlmostAviation]

The video explains in detail how to get your zoom right, so you'll need to say what you are struggling with for me to be able to help. You basically need to measure the height of your monitor (about 30.5cm) and the distance is it away from your eyes, and then just plug those values into the calculation. Make sure your calculator is set to use DEGREES for trig functions, as that will mess you up (there is usually a DEG/RAD/GRAD button to switch).

[@marinavillanueva7787]

Almost Aviation i got it, thank very much!!!!

[@AlmostAviation]

I haven't done any real fiddling with external views, although I thought the external view was maintained independently of the internal one? There ought to be a way to figure out a standard outside zoom by comparing the internal cockpit view with the external one.

[@GametutorialsRobin]

Very nice video and setup! I'd love to know which aircraft you are flying in this video?Thumbs up

[@AlmostAviation]

This is the RealAir Scout 2007, probably the best aircraft I own for FSX. I hope you can still buy it, although RealAir shut down recently.

[@GametutorialsRobin]

Yeah i heard about it, sadly enough i can't seem to find it anywhere.

[@AlmostAviation]

You can download it from Flight1 Software or buy it boxed from Flightsim Store or PC Aviator. (It's also called 'American Champion Aircraft', so try searching for that.)

[@GametutorialsRobin]

thank you, sir

[@LarryTheImpersonator]

Thank you...thank you...thank you. My 3 X 32" monitors now zoom out properly with the correct ratio.

[@AlmostAviation]

Awesome!

[@90sarcadefighter5]

What would be thee most realistic zoom for a 34" 3440x1440 ratio screen, would it be the same figure of 1.0?

[@AlmostAviation]

You have to use the formula for a precise answer. But that screen isn't far off mine, so it's be somewhere around 1.1, depending on how far away you sit.

[@90sarcadefighter5]

Thank you

[@shantanudutt]

Wow Microsoft should employ you as a consultant.!!

[@TheMrBitsy]

Which file needs editing in Prepare3D version four to achieve the correct zoom?

[@AlmostAviation]

Sorry, but I can't really answer this with confidence. I am just starting with P3D myself and I am getting some funny results for the saved zoom values that I can't explain. There are settings called (I think) 'InitialZoom' in cameras.cfg but that doesn't seem to be the whole story.

[@FLYCOCKPITEU]

Very nice, which keys to use for the track zoom in? Thank you

[@AlmostAviation]

I'm not sure I understand the question. If you're referring to the 'track in/zoom out' segment, I used the 'decrease chase distance' to track in and the 'selection decrease' to zoom out. Chase distance is usually mapped to CTRL- /CTRL=, and selection (i.e. zoom) to -/=

[@FLYCOCKPITEU]

Hi, thanks for the reply, the minute 3:05 shows us a zoom out + track in which keys are used to use this feature? We changed the projectors in our simulator with 3 full hd benq and the total resolution is 5760 x 1080 but using three windows for they can be collimating we must keep a very close zoom and the quality of the simulator lose much.

[@AlmostAviation]

So as I said, you need to use the zoom out (selection decrease) and 'decrease chase distance' (track in) functions at the same time. For this video I think I used the keyboard to zoom out (SHIFT-, which is the fine zoom control, with auto-repeat) and I had the chase distance mapped to joystick buttons, with maximum auto-repeat. BTW, this shot is called the 'triple reverse zoom' and is used in lots of films (notably Jaws and Vertigo).

[@FLYCOCKPITEU]

Thanks so I have to map a joystick button to be able to use the track in? I can not use a keyboard key for the track in?

[@AlmostAviation]

You can use a keyboard key if you want, but you can't use both track and zoom at the same time from the keyboard.

[@AlmostAviation]

Yes, I believe camera.cfg is where the zoom is saved. Sorry, I've never changed the defaults manually so I don't know much about the config files.

[@AlmostAviation]

Just Google it. It's also sold as 'American Champion Aircraft Citabria, Decathlon and Scout', but you can find it on RealAir's own web site. No, it's not free.

[@blocbonbon]

Would head-tracking be possible with Kinect? Or Intel's&Creative's similar 'Iinteractive Gesture Camera' (the latter is the one I have...)

[@MF-og1ct]

What file is the setting WideViewAspect in? How do you change the zoom settings?

[@AlmostAviation]

The file is fsx.cfg. It is in the [DISPLAY] section (add it if it's not there already). The zoom is generally mapped to the - and = keys, or SHIFT- and SHIFT= for fine adjustment.

[@alexismmef]

Perfect! Make more videos like this one! I have always had doubts about that

[@Nirond]

i saw all your video can you help with mine i ve got 3 monitors 3840x1024

[@AlmostAviation]

+Nirond What kind of help do you want? Set WideViewAspect=True and zoom to about 1.2. You should be good with that.

[@PEPcessna]

Almost Aviation what was that airfield at the begginning of the video?

[@AlmostAviation]

PEP cessna That's Caloundra (YCDR), from Orbx.

[@PEPcessna]

Thank you

[@SD1922]

Good video. Well shot & very well narrated.

[@nathanieladdleman1913]

Excellent description.

[@AlmostAviation]

I believe it's in cameras.cfg.

[@AlmostAviation]

Realistically, you can't run your display at life-size with a screen that small. Imagine driving your car with a single tiny window like that (19.5cm high and 90cm away from you) - it just wouldn't work. Your options are: get a bigger screen or accept a smaller-than-life-sized display. If you're flying airliners I guess the view out of the window is less important than the systems, so I'd say just go with a wider zoom.

[@AlmostAviation]

It's is the RealAir Scout, available from most online vendors.

[@SeamusMcNeil]

Another nice video - thanks for explaining this one mate. Cheers Jim

[@nostalgijaungitara]

Nice video.

[@p165711]

Good one! I hope you are prepared for the flood of argumentative types. :-)

[@Joshcradz]

ive looked all over fsx download sites but i cant find the realair scout where did you download yours and is it free

[@AlmostAviation]

I don't use FS9 so the simple answer is I don't know. I think I read that the correct zoom (life-size) in FS9 is 1.0, and I also think I read it in this article called 'FSAviator's Simulator Control Interface Tutorial' at calclassic dot c o m. (Look for the 'tutorials' link.) Perhaps that will help.

[@ryantttt]

Iam a little confuse do set the zoom in your cfg or manually while in simulator?

[@AlmostAviation]

You can set it manually, generally using the -/= and SHIFT-/SHIFT= keys. You can set the default zoom in a cfg file (I think it's the 'InitialZoom' parameter in cameras.cfg). If you use a tool like EZCA to manage your views you don't need to do either of those.

[@ryantttt]

Almost Aviation thank u but i try and still gives me the default 0.7 when change in cam cfg by the way there are 2 cam folders containin same one in the hidden fsx and one in the prog 86 fsx folder

[@AlmostAviation]

I'm sure you can find out from somewhere how to change the default zoom. I don't bother as I use EZCA.

[@ryantttt]

ok thanks ..but let me tell u it looks great on 1.0 thanks alot

[@semperoccultus1969]

Great presentation! Thanks!

[@TheLastBen.]

That was really helpful, thanks !

[@AlmostAviation]

+The Ben Good to know!

[@AlmostAviation]

What resolution does your monitor run, and what aircraft do you use?

[@Joshcradz]

what aircraft is it and where can i download it

[@AlmostAviation]

Just set WideViewAspect=True and Zoom=1.0. I could have just said that in a 20-second video but nobody would have listened :)

[@AlmostAviation]

@@shahzainshahid988 fsx.cfg

[@alfredoo5318]

full tutorial please :)

[@AlmostAviation]

Did you watch parts 2 and 3? I'm not sure what more I can explain.

[@alfredoo5318]

@@AlmostAviation is there a link?

[@AlmostAviation]

@@alfredoo5318 kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5zahaKFr72Si6M, kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKiqhWWees53i8U

[@alfredoo5318]

@@AlmostAviation Cool thanks man i will watch it xD

[@mopauly]

great tutorial, thanks!!

[@alexismmef]

1920x1200. I use RealAir Legacy, Vans RV-7 and PMDG 737NGX

[@yasuo865]

In fsx plase tell me to zoom out of a vc

[@AlmostAviation]

Zoom is usually mapped to the - and = keys. To move you need to look up what keys are bound to the eyepoint movement commands. You can find out by looking for those commands in options/settings/controls.

[@bravocharlie4159]

how To dezoom?

[@AlmostAviation]

Sorry, I don't understand the question.

[@AlmostAviation]

In principle, no doubt.

[@Randy97402]

Thank you! :D

[@L3Kable]

Nice tuto, merci!