Forum Discussion
BlackFang
11 years agoHonored Guest
Cockpit with Monitors instead of Glass
I'm wondering if anyone has set something up like this before. I'm going to start modelling the cockpit soon, and I'm wondering in a general sense how I will end up setting this up. I'm thinking I would have 1 camera per monitor positioned where the players eyes would generally be, oriented toward the center of their respective monitors. The clip planes would then be set to just outside the vehicle. I would render from these cameras and use the renders as guides for the UVs of the monitors.
Does anyone have any techniques they would like to share for doing something similar?
Does anyone have any techniques they would like to share for doing something similar?
6 Replies
- MrMonkeybatExplorerWhy? Are you trying to simulate a simulator?
- torcHonored Guest


Japan mecha anime think that since '80 :D - BlackFangHonored GuestThose Images are basically what I am trying to do. This is because the cockpit is inside the vehicle rather than on the surface of it.
- MrMonkeybatExplorerIf the setting has advanced holographic screens you could still make it like an ordinary cockpit with windows. The vehicle model presumably would only need to be used for other players views.
- 2EyeGuyAdventurerHow high-tech do you want the cockpit to be?
Are the monitors 2D or 3D?
Is it just showing what the cameras on the outside see? Or does it generate an image from some kind of 3D scan?
Does it have head-tracking like a CAVE?
Where are the cameras located on the outside of the vehicle?
Those are the questions you need to ask if you want to be technically accurate, and the questions a real cockpit designer would consider. They have a large effect on how you render it.
Edit: also, what framerate are the monitors rendering at? If they were only 30Hz non-genlocked monitors, you could update one monitor per frame and increase performance a lot.
I don't think it makes any kind of technical sense to have the camera where the players eyes are, because that is impossible with monitors and cameras in real life. Realistically the cameras would have to be on the outside of the vehicle, or use a 3D scanner processed by a computer instead instead of cameras.
And remember not to render the world while you are rendering the cockpit, if the cockpit is fully enclosed. Otherwise you will waste time rendering things that can't be seen. The cockpit shouldn't even be in the same world as the scene itself. You should just have the scene with 3 cameras floating in it at places on the outside of where your vehicle would be, rendering to textures, perhaps one camera per frame, and then render the cockpit by itself with the three textures on the monitors (even if the texture wasn't updated this frame) at 90Hz. That's how I'd think about doing it if I was going for the simple 2D monitors.
But I don't know what engine you are using. - RazTOOHonored GuestHi!
If you mean creating an environment in a game where you sit as a pilot in a cockpit controling something for ex. bike, armored vehicle.... than yes I am currently working on something like that.
Basically I want to combine HUD helmet display + cockpit indicators (non-movable ones, no monitors inside).
I am trying to figure that one out using UE4 and blender. Will see :)
Wish you luck !
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