Optishot Software

[davray666]

I have an Optishot, Vector pro and now a Skytrak.
The Optishot was retired after 30 min's of play. I agree it's a fun toy but totally useless for any serious golf practice.
What I did like with it was the simulator software. Not as good as TGC but still very good. I know they have made a lot of improvements to it lately.
Instead of bundling it with a useless club sensor they could just sell the software for half the price and probably make more money. That is assuming they make it compatible with Skytrak.
I would definitely pay 250$ for it.

At my driving range they have several bays with pro tracer. (yes the same company that you see on TV when they show ball trajectory).
When you practice you have an iPad in front of you that renders the ball trajectory and shows you carry / total distance.
In addition you can do several challenges and play 18 hole courses against another hitting bay's at the range.
The software provider is the same that is proving the sim software for Optishot. The cool thing about it is that it will run well even on a dated laptop.
For those of you that have not heard about the company, check this out

http://www.simway.se/golf_product_page.html

[luv2golf]

WOW, I thought opti created their own software. Yes, I agree, I'd pay $$ for opti and ST. Already own about 12 platinum courses.

Never thought of that, I wonder if this is a route that Skygolf has considered. Opti is nice cause I run it off a WIN 7 laptop with 4 GB ram and can OBS and upload to twitch or youtube. My biggest thing right now is I don't want to spend $1,000 plus for a gaming cpu just for sim use. Opti has little to no delay and the graphics have come along way and with their online features..............HMMMMMMM..............someon e needs to see if this is viable.

[luv2golf]

Is the range part of a course or stand alone? That sounds pretty sweet. How do they charge?

[wbond]

I also own an opti, p3proswing and skytrak. Like others, i'm not looking forward to forking out the $$ for a new computer and then who knows what cost for the sim options. I would definitely take the opti software as i don't mind it at all.

THe range is a stand alone range. Also, they charge by individual course.

Also, Opti just did a 50% off a 10 course package. I almost bought, but held out hearing something may be coming this month for the skytrak.

[davray666]

luv2golf the range is standalone and not connected to a course or golf club. They charges for balls as usual.
If you want to use one of the Trackman bays, u have to pay. The ProTracer bays are free. E.g nothing extra on top of the money u pay for the balls.

[luv2golf]

Did this thread get moved? I thought we were under the skytrak thread. Very strange, GSF Admin likes to move stuff. We were talking about opti software for Skytrak. I sent SkyTrak_Seth at PM.

[GSF_Admin]

We have moved this thread because you were discussing Optishot software in the TM vs ST thread. We send you a PM about this. Please stay on topic!

[davray666]

Yeah. I actually looked for it shortly after I posted and could not find it so assumed I forgot to press the "post button" and kind of forgot about it until I saw the discussion in the activity stream.

[luv2golf]

Did this thread get moved? I thought we were under the skytrak thread. Very strange, GSF Admin likes to move stuff. We were talking about opti software for Skytrak. I sent SkyTrak_Seth at PM.

Strange davray666 and @gsm_admin there was no PM about the thread being moved. You can see my inbox and trash, nothing there.

[davray666]

I have had a few messages lately (that are announced with a RED number up at the top of the page) that just seam to disappear.
E.g. you click message with a RED number showing 2 and when you see the message center page. It's empty.
Anyway I can agree with the admin that the topic was misplaced in the ST vs. TM thread and that he needed to move it to keep the forum somewhat organized for all our benefit.
Feel free to reuse the material and start an appropriately named new thread in the Skytrak section. Maybe "Alternative simulator software for Skytrak".
Another thing that is worth mentioning is that WGT, TGC and PG are all PC games that have been converted to simulator play.
The Simway software was built from the ground up to be a golf simulator that is connected to some kind of sensor. That makes a huge difference when it comes to ease of use.

[JohnMeyer]

The Optishot software has lots and lots of positives, real courses, simultaneous online play, driving range with adjustable targets. Graphically not amazing but more than adequate imo. I too would gladly pay for a Sytrak interface. I wonder even how hard it would be program to be honest, as software is already pretty much standalone, just need to create a piece of software to convert from the skytrak data to that suitable for Optishot software

[SkyTrak_Seth]

We are up to our necks in sim partner integrations at the moment, but I'll never rule anything out. However, I would imagine this case to be a severe conflict of interest.

[wbond]

Not if you partnered with them to offer a truly affordable ball and club tracking system in one. I think most of us know the limits and accuracy of the optishot, but if it could use the ball data from Skytrak and just show the club data from opti, it would give you a general idea of why the ball is going in a certain direction.

Or a possible partner with P3pro.

Both of these would be affordable add-ons. I think other club tracking systems may start to get pretty costly.

However, I would imagine this case to be a severe conflict of interest.

[Sascha1818]

Why not skypro to get the club data ?

[wbond]

The thought was using the optishot software, which as of now only comes with the hardware and it's relatively inexpensive. Skypro doesn't give you simulation.

[liturbo]

I do not see a conflict--it seems to me that it would be a great marketing move for both Optishot and Skytrak--the large number of people that have Optishot that ultimately realize its limitation would be very interested in moving up to the accuracy and realism of using a Skytrak. For Skytrak owners, an affordable sim would be a great boon to Optishot. Moreover, as wbond points out, if the Optishot hitting pad with its head tracking capabilities could be integrated with Skytrak so that you used Skytrack for ball flight and the infrared sensor head measurement of the Optishot the combination would be powerful. I use my Optishot with my Skytrak and the Skytrak does not interfere with the Optishot sensors. Currently I will take a mulligan and swing again if the Skytrak feedback differs dramatically from the ball travel as determined by the Optishot--kind of a pain--would be great if the Skytrak determined ball flight. Again, would likely be a huge success for both companies. While the TGC software may be fantastic few people will want to invest in the $1,000 plus gaming computer that is needed to operate it.

[davray666]

With the risk of sounding like a broken record. The Optishot simulator software is not made by Dancing Dog. It's made by an independent company from Sweden.

https://www.simway.se

That means Dancing dog licensed it from them. I obviously have no idea what the contract looks like and if a Skytrak integration is politically possible.
What I do know is that it would be a great addition and that it's a piece of cake for the team at Simway to integrate it since this software has been designed to do just that and only that.
With that said I also know that for those of us that have the software already it would not work with Skytrak. You would have to buy a new package and license specifically for Skytrak.
That is unless Dancing Dog decides to get in there and make a few $$, but that sound totally unrealistic.

[Hoosierdaddy]

I do not see a conflict--it seems to me that it would be a great marketing move for both Optishot and Skytrak--the large number of people that have Optishot that ultimately realize its limitation would be very interested in moving up to the accuracy and realism of using a Skytrak. For Skytrak owners, an affordable sim would be a great boon to Optishot. Moreover, as wbond points out, if the Optishot hitting pad with its head tracking capabilities could be integrated with Skytrak so that you used Skytrack for ball flight and the infrared sensor head measurement of the Optishot the combination would be powerful. I use my Optishot with my Skytrak and the Skytrak does not interfere with the Optishot sensors. Currently I will take a mulligan and swing again if the Skytrak feedback differs dramatically from the ball travel as determined by the Optishot--kind of a pain--would be great if the Skytrak determined ball flight. Again, would likely be a huge success for both companies. While the TGC software may be fantastic few people will want to invest in the $1,000 plus gaming computer that is needed to operate it.

That is crazy talk my friend.
While the idea is a good one... Soon you will figure out that those limitations you spoke of will once again be present. How many courses do they offer now? And optional courses cost $60? And you still can't play Augusta. 10000 courses x $60 = Alot more than a Protee and a computer that you can launch a space shuttle with. Hmmm Seems you could buy a Protee and have it all. And get 70000 courses for free. Then let the SkyTrak do all the work and just use the Protee to give you the club data that is accurate. With 3 times the sensors in just 2 rows I would think that would be the choice of Champions. The biggest issue for me would be the fact that you don't have to worry about injuring yourself hitting down and through on the cheap surface you get with an optishot. I had my Protee 5 years now and the top is still in playable condition. How many $40 tops would you go through in 4 years? I had my Optishot 1 year and went through 3 aftermarket tops plus the original. But if you like limitations and somewhat accurate data and if you like playing the same courses then this would be a good plan. But, since Protee and SkyTrak already have a great relationship started my guess is you will see the Protee option long before talks even begin with optishot. If you do it right you only have to do it once. But if you try to skimp by on a dime then you might end up spending that dime over and over and over until you eventually spend the quarter and end up with a Protee and a Skytrak. Been there done that. Life is full of choices.

Let me ask you guys this. When you go to the store, which beer do you buy? Milwaukee's best? or Budlight? One is surely cheaper. the choice your talking about here is no different. But it's a one time spend. So yeah the price of TGC might look big. But in the end you'd save more money if you bought the Milwaukee best beer over a life time.