FOV Calculator

taufikp

taufikp

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Actually, I had posted about this, but I figure this calculator deserves its own thread. This calculator was brought to surface by Zeos Pantera on his post about using the correct FOV.

Here's a triangle calculator that can be used to calculate your in game FOV. Basically, between our eyes and the monitor, the shape is very similar to a triangle. You just need to measure the distance from top of monitor and bottom of monitor to your eye position, and also measure the height (vertically, not diagonally) of your monitor, since rFactor uses vertical FOV. Enter those values in the 'side' input fields, and you'll get the angle calculated. This triangle calculator is unit-less. It really doesn't matter if you are entering inch or cm, as long as you don't mix between them.


FOV calculator by simfactor

image on the left is the original view of the calculator, image on the right is how we should view it
 
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It can't be hard to code a completely unique calculator like this for rFactor.

If anyone is willing to code (for a school project?) I thing we can redirect this thread to that purpose.

Things I would like to see in a custom built calculator.

1> It should show the proper layout.. Like this.

FOV.png


2> Perhaps the monitor can be drag-able to make it taller, farther away and shift it up and down all with accurate readout text boxes showing the settings for finite adjustments and inputs.

3> Choosing the Monitor sizes and aspects should available in pulldowns with the vertical height put in for you automatically. If a larger than normal screen (projector) comes into it then it can be entered manually.

4> It should also calculate you Orientation Offset in radians (I think). IE.. If the eyes are dead center the center of the monitor an OO of 0.0 sets the view strait ahead .. I know since my eyes are lower than the center I have to adjust my OO to +0.5.. The default setting with the players eyes above center is -0.07 .. This should be calculate-able with the info provided.

HorizonLines2.jpg


That is all I can think of for now.
 
So according to the program, I should use around 49-50 as fov.

Sounds a bit high?

I sit around 23 inch away from the screen and the screenwidth is 20.5 inch.

Im playing around as low as 35 right now. Should try a 46-50 next time.
 
John.Persson said:
So according to the program, I should use around 49-50 as fov.

Sounds a bit high?

I sit around 23 inch away from the screen and the screenwidth is 20.5 inch.

Im playing around as low as 35 right now. Should try a 46-50 next time.
Click to expand...
Thats because the calculator calculates vertical FOV and not horizontal FOV like rF2 uses.
 
Actually it is the opposite. Rf2 need vertical fov and this calculator is horizontal fov. So you have to divide by screen ratio. For example for 16:9. Use calc result then x9/16.which will give you the smaller vertical fov
 
John.Persson said:
So according to the program, I should use around 49-50 as fov.

Sounds a bit high?

I sit around 23 inch away from the screen and the screenwidth is 20.5 inch.

Im playing around as low as 35 right now. Should try a 46-50 next time.
Click to expand...



Use whatever you are comfortable with. If you are having a hard time putting the car where you want, chances are your FOV is too wide.

These programs and equations are a waste of time and over complicate things if you ask me.
 
FOV is an angle. Important to get correct, yes. But also very hard to measure and relate to the real world as regards the in-game objects...because we don't know all the dimensions (or even ANY of them).

What's more useful...and what WOULD be useful in the game itself would be a simple "cockpit calibration 3DO"--I envision not a car, per se, but instead a simple, wireframe 3DO open model--which I could select in the showroom and then sit "inside of" as with any other car...which would show me/display-to-me known dimensions IN the game, and which could then be used to properly set up FOV and all the rest of the cockpit.

If I saw, for example, a pair of vertical lines IN GAME with a known (modeled) in-game dimension between them of 1000 mm (1 meter--and even shown IN GAME as a part of the model itself)...and a known "distance" from the supposed viewpoint of... lets say again, 1000mm or 1 meter (assuming seat position set to 0,0)....I could then easily use that info to correctly set up my cockpit once and for all. As it is now, I've made some guesses from the EVE F1 car* and have come pretty close to what I think is the correct FOV for my own setup...but they are still that--just guesses--until I know the exact size of objects, and distance from those objects (assuming seat position 0,0) as shown IN GAME.

[* assuming, for lack of better info that it's dimensionally based on the real Lotus 49]

The discussions of screen size and frame size are very useful, as always, but what REALLY matters are those perceived--and measurable--dimensions ...of actual objects as represented IN GAME and ONSCREEN.

ISI themselves could easily offer such a wireframe model with each mod (or just one mod. Call it a "cockpit calibration" mod). As could anyone else (I'd have done this and put it out for community use myself way back in rF1 had I ever been able to get "Blender" built 3DO's into the sim...but it was a hurdle I was never able to overcome).


CS
 
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The "FOV calculator" above can be used as vertical or horizontal. In the sample given above, I'm using monitor's vertical height, so the end result is a vertical FOV angle.
 
i really wish i could make sense of this :/ i got a 50 inch tv and sit 25 inches from it what fov should i have? ;/
 
According to www.displaywars.com your 50" 16:9 TV is 24.51 inches high.

Now if I go here http://www.pagetutor.com/trigcalc/trig.html and put HALF of 24.51 (12.25) into A and tell it B is 25" the result puts angle X at 26.1° which is half of your vertical FOV. So your Vertical calculates to 52.2° and just using arithmetic your horizontal on a 16:9 is 92.8°

52.2° Vertical
92.8° Horizontal

You actually get to play most FPS games with 90° Horizontal in proper FOV. Congratulations. (But your eyes probably hurt)
 
thanks you very much for this info!


But sorry to be a terrible newb but how do i change my horizontal fov? :/

what it be with this?


Attached Files
simple_sceen.zip (4.1 KB, 25 views)
3_ecrans_identiques.zip (4.1 KB, 12 views)
 
CdnRacer said:
Use whatever you are comfortable with. If you are having a hard time putting the car where you want, chances are your FOV is too wide.

These programs and equations are a waste of time and over complicate things if you ask me.
Click to expand...

I have to agree. I tried one of these a few weeks ago, and used a FOV of 30. I see the logic behind it, but I didn't think was comfortable or practical at all. It looked like I was driving with my chin resting on the steering wheel.

Then again, I'm only on one monitor, so maybe that's the problem.
 
While realistic you tend to end up with really low FOVs that aren't really user friendly. For example using a single monitor you almost always end up with a FOV so small you won't see the mirrors, and I refuse to drive with anyone who can't at all see what's happening behind them without pushing a button. Most people's monitors are about as far away from their heads as the windscreen in a car is, so to get a really usable view you'd either need to get a screen that's similar in size to a windscreen, bring a smaller monitor much closer to your head or use multiple monitors. The last solution is often the only feasible one.

What ever FOV you set, please for the love of god at least make sure you can always see at least one rear view mirror.
 
jubuttib said:
While realistic you tend to end up with really low FOVs that aren't really user friendly. For example using a single monitor you almost always end up with a FOV so small you won't see the mirrors, and I refuse to drive with anyone who can't at all see what's happening behind them without pushing a button. Most people's monitors are about as far away from their heads as the windscreen in a car is, so to get a really usable view you'd either need to get a screen that's similar in size to a windscreen, bring a smaller monitor much closer to your head or use multiple monitors. The last solution is often the only feasible one.

What ever FOV you set, please for the love of god at least make sure you can always see at least one rear view mirror.
Click to expand...

just so you know there are virtual mirrors available to you. press 3 a few times in game as you ll see 3 big mirrors at top of screen. then u cant miss whats going on behind u :)
 
MUZTEE said:
just so you know there are virtual mirrors available to you. press 3 a few times in game as you ll see 3 big mirrors at top of screen. then u cant miss whats going on behind u :)
Click to expand...

The Virtual Mirrors in cockpit can only be enabled via an edit in the .PLR file.. That counts for both rF1 and rF2.

Also proper FOV even if you understand the physics of it is a hard transition to make all at once. I recommend going down 10° at a time every few days until you are at your proper FOV.
 
Thanks for posting this up. Got me thinking about the current FOV was using. I started on 50* then switched to 53* about a month back, until today. With my screen set-up I should be using 23*. Gave that a try and WOW. Letter-box view lol but the world inside felt more real and to the correct size. My physical steering wheel was near perfectly overlapping the virtual wheel, thought that was pretty cool. 23* was great for seeing the detail but just wouldn't cut it in a race when you already have such large blind spots, lol. So I tried to find a comfortable compromise and for me that was 47*.

Point of my story is that I thought having a higher FOV would only be of benefit. However, after driving with 47* around a track that I have come to know extremely well, it became apparent that with a lower FOV I could see the detail of the track better and this helped me massively to better gauge and induce the proper amount of rotation required for each corner. Instead of maybe hitting my target exit speed 2/5 times, I was now hitting it every 4-5/5 times.

If you have a really high FOV, perhaps its worthwhile lowering it a tad and seeing if it improves corner exit consistency.
 
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