FSX2020 Swing Camera Settings

[Jonsco]

Is there anyway to save the swing camera settings? I just purchased two cameras from the Image Source and they told me that there wasn't...at least to their knowledge. Mine always goes back to the default whenever I close and restart the program or the camera happens to drop out. It seems to me there should be a way to save the settings. Any help would be much appreciated.

[jasonreg]

Did you download the IS configuration utility - "IC Capture"? It is this utility which holds the camera settings. IC Capture - Capture images and control The Imaging Source cameras and grabbers

[Tom Howarth]

I have never seen this? I recently started using Imaging Source Cameras. I downloaded the drivers and my FSX 2020 settings never reset. Occasionally Camera #2 is not recognized, so I reinstall the drivers and it appears. Maybe if I download the IC Capture this occasional problem will go away?

[Jonsco]

The guy that helped me at IS (who was great) never said anything about needing to download any drivers.  The cameras work, but I have to change the setting each time....which is frustrating. So you are able to maintain your camera settings, perhaps because you are utilizing the drivers?

I see you use Swing Catalyst. The IS guy also told me that the cameras used for FSX2020 won't work with Swing Catalyst. Is that right?

[Tom Howarth]

I downloaded the drivers right from this page:
.https://www.theimagingsource.com/pro...or/dfk33ux273/

I also said "yes" for the drivers when I recently updated FSX 2020 (which did not seem to do anything - which is why I downloaded the drivers from the IS sight). After that, it worked fine. I changed the settings once when I set up the cameras and they have stayed the same (exposure, etc).

As far as Swing Catalyst, I don't have that (yet). However, I reached out to them and they do support IS cameras. They started supporting them 6 -8 months ago. They said there may be a few "bugs," but they are correcting them. They suggested I download the free 10day trial prior to purchasing. My current laptop is not powerful enough to run SC and FSX at the same time. I will likely get SC when I upgrade to a PC with a more powerful graphics card, etc.

[Baller]

It should keep the settings regardless of the software you install. Mine always has. I've used a ton of cameras. Right now an imaging source FO cam and then a cheapo DTL cam. It saves the settings in your config file and if you have trouble, I'd recommend moving that file out of the folder (keep for backup) and it will create a new one when it can't find the old one. (just note that you will lose all your program settings, but not a big deal to redo, I've done it)

Find the file "FSXSettings.xml" here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Foresight Sports Experience\System

If you want, you can look at the file if you open it with Notepad and you'll see a couple lines that look like this and those are your device name and your settings for those:
<videoCapCam1UID>@devicenp:\\?\usb#vid_05a3&amp;pid_9230&amp;mi_00#8&amp;3 0fab4c2&amp;0&amp;0000#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\global</videoCapCam1UID>
<videoCapCam1Options>&lt;resWidth&gt;640&lt;/resWidth&gt;&lt;resHeight&gt;480&lt;/resHeight&gt;&lt;pixelFmt&gt;10&lt;/pixelFmt&gt;&lt;frameInt&gt;83263&lt;/frameInt&gt;&lt;brightness&gt;0&lt;/brightness&gt;&lt;contrast&gt;32

[jasonreg]

While Baller is absolutely correct wrt any program holding the settings, I will say I find that the IC Capture program has much more flexibility wrt dialing in camera settings (or maybe I just found it easier to manipulate). I have also had 100% success in camera settings being maintained in both FSX (both Play and 2020) and Swing Catalyst. Also, my IS cameras work perfectly well with SC - not sure if you may have a specific limitation but I suspect you are good to go.

[Baller]

I'd love to see how you got your cams to work in Play (did they add swing cams and I totally missed it?)

The manufacturer programs will allow you to set and save parameters than can be stored in the cam memory (as default) and some programs will open that up as a place to start when you launch the program. (some programs will also just ignore those settings, like Swing Cat used to do on IS cams).

You still have to do some dialing in from there with each program, but yes, that is correct and I forgot to mention that part.

Thanks!

[Jonsco]

I appreciate everyone's response. I've tried everything mentioned above, but to no avail. The weird thing is that when I open the FSXSetting.xml file, the camera settings that I configured are there. However, when I start FSX202, it always shows both cameras as 1440x1080 / VU2 / 120 FPS. It does retain any of the adjustments that I make when I adjust the properties (i.e. exposure, gain, etc.).

How is this supposed to work with IC Capture? You guys are able to adjust the camera settings in IC Capture and it automatically comes up that way when you load FSX202? For me, it doesn't seem to matter what I do with the cameras in IC Capture....it always comes up with the 1440x1080 / VU2 / 120 FPS for both cameras when I go into FSX2020. Everything works great when I re-configure the cameras. I just wish it would retain my setup.

Again...I appreciate all your help, guys. This is my first experience with GigE cameras. I've reached out to Foresight as well, but that hasn't gotten me anywhere yet.

[Snipe]

Slightly tangential - but I highly recommend trying out Kinovea. It takes a some setting up to get just right (there's a long thread here detailing some of the steps) - but it's pretty good once you get it dialed. It's significantly better than the packaged FSX replay stuff - and it's free.

[Tom Howarth]

What "changes" are you making? Are you trying to get more than 120 FPS from FSX 2020? It maxes out at 120 FPS.

[Jonsco]

I have been setting it at 1024x768/ RG24 / 238.1 FPS. It registers at that frame rate and seems to perform well. It just won't save that setting....it always goes back to the 1440x1080 / VU2 / 120FPS.

I can definitely see a difference between when I choose 120 FPS vs. 240 FPS. I am confused as to why you are saying that it maxes out at 120. That's true under the VU2 setting.

[Tom Howarth]

I was under the impression it maxed out at 120FPS in FSX 2020. Perhaps you can set it higher, but it will not hold the setting?

[Baller]

@ Tom: No, FSX doesn't max out at anything. I have no problem getting 240 fps, I used to be able to get 270 fps out of one of my IDS cams, but you don't need it either.

@ Jonsco: if it were me, I'd uninstall everything, restart, erase all the folders, restart, then reinstall. Sucks and royal pain, but I'd be shocked if that didn't do it. Also make sure you are running as Admin to see if that helps. You could also move the course folder and all the course files before uninstalling and then move them back so you don't have to install one by one. Yes, it does work to do this and not have to install them all.

[Tom Howarth]

Thanks Baller. I did check and my dropdown menu in FSX2020 maxes out at 120FPS. I saw the video on Golf Simulator Videos about these cameras and FSX so I never tried setting it higher than 120FPS. I will do that when I eventually upgrade to Swing Catalyst.

[Jonsco]

Baller: That's what I was thinking as well. I am still discussing this with Foresight and I am going to play with it some more this weekend. Your suggestion on the course files is a good one. That's what I was most concerned about. Thanks for your help.

Tom: Have you tried changing the setting from VU2 to RG24 or RG32? If you have it on VU2, 120 FPS is the max. You can go much higher with the other settings.

[Baller]

For that fps, it does depend on the cam. Some cams will max out there, or whatever you have set in the cam parameters will dictate that as well. I have a cheaper cam that the max is 120 and I can't change the parameters, but my Imaging Source cam I can go higher.

Also, yes, like Joonsco said...changing a setting can make a difference is what's available. Also try reducing the resolution of the image. That will often get you higher fps options as well.

[vutung]

I used two DFK 33UX273 cameras to review the shot but only got about 20 views before the cameras froze and couldn't continue.
Please let me know the camera settings information so I don't see this error again.
Tks,

[jasonreg]

I used two DFK 33UX273 cameras to review the shot but only got about 20 views before the cameras froze and couldn't continue.
Please let me know the camera settings information so I don't see this error again.
Tks,

See post #34 in your other thread. FSX 2020 Swing Cameras no Playback - Golf Simulator Forum