Cockpit Field Of View and Train Speed.

[trevor]

 

Something has always bothered me about the apparent speed of trains.... so check out this video......

The train is maintaining a steady 100 km/hr.. I did all the math, and took some measurements, so I know the scaling / speed is as I am demanding.

At the start of the video the cockpit camera is selected.. note visually it just DOES NOT feel like 100km/hr. Actually it feels more like 50 or 60 km/hr.

30s in, the video switches to a camera attached to the front of the train with a wider field of view....

Note ,suddenly it now feels like you are going that fast.

Me thinks the default field of view on cockpit cameras is a tad tight.
 

Edited January 11, 2017 by trevor

[trevor]

Having played with it a bit more it seems changing the FOV is not a great solution since it just tends to distort the image and make things look further away than they are.

Interestingly, the speed effect can also be reproduced by making the window wide and short with better results.

My screen isn't true 16x9,  so I tried sizing the MBS window to those dimensions and it was quite a bit better.

I notice you "zoom" the image with window height. That will cause different results for each user.
It may be prudent to use a standard zoom and simply change the display extents instead to produce a more consistent user experience.

Regards

T

[Neo]

Hi Trevor,

the ideal FOV depends on several factors, like the aspect ratio and size of your monitor, the viewing distance, your personal preferences and so one. MBS is designed for widescreen (16:9 or 16:10), but your video was recorded in 5:4, why the default FOV does not fit to your environment. This can only be solved by letting the user choose a custom FOV for cockpit views, which might be implemented in a future version.

vor 16 Minuten schrieb trevor:

It may be prudent to use a standard zoom and simply change the display extents instead to produce a more consistent user experience.

What do you mean by "display extents"? MBS cannot change the resolution or aspect ratio of your monitor.

Kind regards,

Neo

[trevor]

1 hour ago, Neo said:

Hi Trevor,

the ideal FOV depends on several factors, like the aspect ratio and size of your monitor, the viewing distance, your personal preferences and so one. MBS is designed for widescreen (16:9 or 16:10), but your video was recorded in 5:4, why the default FOV does not fit to your environment. This can only be solved by letting the user choose a custom FOV for cockpit views, which might be implemented in a future version.

What do you mean by "display extents"? MBS cannot change the resolution or aspect ratio of your monitor.

Kind regards,

Neo

When you resize a window width the image stays the same scale... just the X extent of what you can see changes.
That is different from changing the window height... which changes either the scale or field of view... I cant tell which..

 

Edited January 11, 2017 by trevor

[Neo]

Hi Trevor,

MBS uses the so called hor+ scaling, which means that the vertical FOV is fixed (see this Wiki article for more information). That's why changing the window height differs from changing the window width. This can be swapped, but the field of view keeps always dependent on the aspect ratio of the window/screen.

Kind regards,

Neo

[trevor]

AH interesting... Hmm... that could be a bit awkward. If you do a layout that stops a train at a signal, with a fixed camera up front,  and the signal top right on the designers wide screen, someone else trying out the layout on an older style display simply won't be able to see the signal.

Not really much way around that I guess and something to bare in mind when designing layouts ....

Though perhaps the addition of a master Y-Scale property in the settings page, or as a layout setting, would help... Just a thought.

Edited January 12, 2017 by trevor