FreeTrack Forum

Right... I've almost got myself sorted out here, and have only one decision left to make:

Cap or Clip?

I'm not in the habit of wearing caps, or headphones for that matter, so either way requires me to put something extra on my head that I wouldn't otherwise be wearing.

That said, I've got some old caps about, and I've also got my mono usb headset that I use for teamspeak/etc that I can quite happily attach a clip onto.  So in the end, there's really no advantage either way for me there.  I'm leaning towards the clip, simply because there's less on your head and it can get kinda warm here in summer time.

So, does one style outperform the other?  I've seen that tracking of the clip can mess up at extreme angles - but that making it larger can help with that.. Seems the cap does similar things as well.


So.. is one preferred over the other?

Thanks, folks.

I don't think there's much difference in tracking accuracy (if any).
The clip should give you a bit more side translation movement than cap, because of its smaller horizontal dimension. But it works best if camera is moved a bit to the side (not directly in front of you, but in front of the clip. Also, the clip needs some calibration (playing around with some sliders) to work properly - cap models should work better without any adjustments (but in case they don't, FT 2.2 allows fine-tuning their dimensions too).

So, in the end it's just a matter of personal preference.

Well.. thanks to all the bits and pieces of info I've picked up, I've now got myself a working FreeTrack setup

MS VX-1000 (after destroying a cheap 'generic' webcam trying to get the IR filter out..) that was a piece of cake to modify.  Popped off the case, unscrewed the lense, popped off the IR filter and put it all back together.  Cut out a little circle of floppy disk and sandwitched it in a few spots of blu-tack, which hold it nicely in the extended lens thingy in front of the camera.

bought some 5mm 1.2v LEDs at my local electronics store, along with some little 1ohm resistors and a battery clip, wired them all up and stuck 'em to a bit of cardboard for testing, and voila!  the thing works like a charm.


Now.. to rig up a more permanent clip.

I'm thinking maybe a bit of coathanger wire? hacked up aluminium can? Maybe some of the plastic clamshell the cam came in  All neatened up with a little heat-shrink tubing, of course.. though that probably wouldn't do the plastic much good, either.... Hmm.. Decisions, decisions