Render 3 Screens independtly

Render 3 Screens - solved

Only iRacing does three screens perfectly. Please do three screens the same way. Edge warping for a three screen user is just absurd. I would hope rFactor2 will have three screens rendered in such a way as the outer areas of the view are in correct proportion to the center.

Derek Speare

 

Ok, I really (really!) don't want to start another FOV discussion here, but maybe you (or someone else with 3-screen experience) can clarify whether it's actually not handled properly, or it's just a product of an 'incorrect' FOV setting?

As an example, my screen (22", 1920x1080, at ~75cm/29") takes up 20.5° of my field of view vertically, and 35.5° of my FOV horizontally. 3 such screens would therefore total (set up beside each other, at equal distance from my eyes, and ignoring bezels) 35.5x3 = 106.5° horizontally.

rFactor's minimum vertical FOV (inside the game) is 35°, which for my screen shape would give somewhere around 60° horizontal FOV. That's a total, across 3 screens, of 180° - I'd need to position the screens so that the side ones extended all the way out to be level with my eyes at their far edges. If you picture it, you can imagine the centre screen would be rather close if I were to do that.

A default FOV, such as 75° (vertical), giving 130° (horizontal), would cover 390° with 3 screens - yes, that's right, a complete circle and a bit more

Now, you may be aware of all this, and maybe rFactor (1) actually does something wrong with 3 screens. But I think it's important to make sure it's a problem first, rather than worrying about something that isn't wrong, and therefore will still (not) be wrong in rF2

Please see this thread for more info: http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.php/93-Setting-up-your-rFactor-FOV-Tutorial

(if I had 3 screens I would definitely set the FOV properly, since they would provide enough peripheral vision to be practical for racing - and you don't really need to see the sky or your legs when driving )

 

I'm talking incar views. Believe me when I say I am fairly adept at computers. The issue isn't with getting a correct FOV. It's with the way ANY FOV setting is presented. If you don't have iRacing (and this is not a plug for it), then it's difficult to conceptualize what it is that they do and how well it is compared to other sims. Of course, rF is superb and I don't want to create some squabble about that.

However, I would be willing to see what I can do to get the most optimal FOV setting I can. If I can, then my suggestion will be restated as, "Make setting FOV for three screens EASY"

I also have all of the Simbin titles...if I can get my three 28" monitors to display things nicely I would be excited. It's the outer most areas of the outboard monitors which get stretched out terribly and make the sims undrivable for me.

Please show me this and I am curious about if it can be done for cockpit views.

Derek

PS - I am certain ISI knows what I am suggesting here. In iRacing doing three screens is as simple as plugging in your screen width both with and without the bezels, the angle of the two outboard screens and the view distance, and there is a setting for rendering each screen independently. It's this last feature which eliminates the edge warping.

 

This is a fact I know - the issue is with edge warping and projection of a rounded perspective on a flat surface. There's software out there for projection screen users. I'm completely familiar with eyefinity and bezel corrected resolutions.

d

 

Is your FOV setting matched to your actual FOV, as in ZeosPantera's thread? You've said above there's a problem with "the way ANY FOV is presented", but there'll only ever be one FOV setting that matches your screens and doesn't introduce stretching/warping.

 

As I recall the independent three screen rendering worked very well in rFactor. Several of us used this as the example when asking for the iRacing rendering feature that was added. It is a while since I have run it though.

 

Please outline what I need to do - if I have assumed something incorrectly, that's on me. Must I edit some file somewhere to make this work? I'd REALLY like some sound guidance here.

I tried manually setting my FOV according to the referenced thread by zp, but still got warping. BTW, there is a program out there for projection screen users called Display Lite. http://fly.elise-ng.net/index.php/download

I consider the problem with the way three screens are rendered to be the same as with projection screens.

 

Some while ago using the multiview and three 4:3 monitors I recall it working pretty well, can't remember the FOV settings though.

 

What are your setups specs and dimensions? Setting up multiview with a low fov should remove all image distortion but might not match the real angle of your screens vs the rendered angle since rfactor lacks that ability.

 

I have three 28" screens (16:10). The outboard ones sit 45 degrees to the center one, and I sit 36" from the center one.

 

Screen Height = 14.84 inches @ 36" = 23.3° V-Fov

You should try to keep the side screens center pointing at your face and ignore the perfect 45° tilting.

 

Understood - I'd prefer to turn them inward to me but can't. I calculated the same FOV, but when I punched all that into my camera file things looked the same. I have the endurance series on my rf install. oh well. ty anyhow.

d

 

You have to make sure you have the in-game FOV setting on DEFAULT or it will not use the cam file's setting.

And make sure you edited the correct line in the cam file and saved it.

LocalCam=COCKPIT
{
Fov=(62.50000, 20.50000)
Clear=FALSE

The first value isn't used at all, ignore it.

 

I managed to get the FOV correct, but I still have terrible warping. I hope they do it better in rF2. Thank for the guidance. I'd like to be able to adjust the cockpit cams in GTR2/Evo/GTL

Derek

 

As others have already mentioned you don't get warping when you select rFactor's Multiview option for multiscreen setups. Forgive me if I'm wrong but it appears from your comments that you haven't located that option and tried it yet. Open your rF config.exe and make sure the "Multiview" box is ticked (its directly underneath the Windowed option). rFactor's multiview has the side monitor camera's fixed at 45 degrees though so it is a problem if you have your own monitors at a different angle. I would love to see some iRacing style options for the multiview option in rF2.

 

Yeah, certainly sounds like it could do with a lot more options, probably not a massive job for them to set it up either (quick GUI and just set the cameras' position/orientation/fov accordingly).

rF1 shouldn't warp providing you set your screen positions to suit - and if the option mentioned needs 45° that could obviously cause some issues with viewing distance and fov, since it's a fairly tight angle. I don't have 3 screens and just assumed most implementations would have the side screens starting where the centre one ended, so you'd get pretty close just keeping the screens pointed directly at you - whatever angle that happens to be (and assuming your FOV is set right in the first place). Guessing SoftTH and the like have some better options in that manner.

 

I found the multiview option and enabled it. Things are still odd to me. I suppose it's me at this point. Thanks for all the guidance. Thanks to Krunch for pointing me in the direction to find the multiview option.

Derek