Most realistic zoom setting

  • In my other sim there is a specific zoom level that gives me quite a realistic view on a 2D screen: not too far out (making round gauges look oval when looking around) and not too far in (making it hard to see the cockpit and feeling claustrophobic). The default zoom in AFS2 is a bit far out imho so I use a more zoomed in view. I was wondering though what zoom gives me the most realistic zoom in AFS2. Problem is 1. you can't check the zoom in the sim itself, 2. I use TrackIR so I can't move myself around in the cockpit and so 3. when I zoom in I not only zoom in on the cockpit but also on the scenery.


    When I check my main.mcf I see my zoom is at 0.82 (well, actually is it 0.828293585896231 ;) ). This looks quite nice, I can see enough of the cockpit but I do have the feeling the scenery is still a bit zoomed out too much: it all looks a bit small.

    Does anyone here have any thoughts on what zoom is best or how to set up the most realistic view on a 2D screen?

  • This depends on a lot of factor. Personal taste is the biggest one. If you want things to be the same size on the monitor as in the real world you'll have to zoom in all the way. That's what I'm doing sometimes. But if I want to keep the instruments and the outside in view at the same time I'm forced to zoom out a bit, so depending on the aircraft that is sometimes further away but I try to be as close up as possible. Some people don't like this, I feel the scenery looks more realistic this way, like I'm used to in the real world. And all of the sudden the aircraft actually feels big. Zoomed out too far just feels like a game, its unrealistic, disturbs the view at the corners etc.

    I've had a discussion about this with my room mate lately. He always preverred wide field of view, I was always really narrow. Then when he first sat in a real world glider cockpit he had to admit that everything is much larger and much closer than what he was used to from the sim and said that the narrow field of view I was using comes much closer to reality. If you're ever in a real cockpit, I think you should try to count how many fingers it takes to cover up a typical gauge from where you're sitting (your arm stretched out in front of you). Now try to do that in front of your screen...

    I think its good to estimate, from your point of view to the monitor, what is your actual field of view angle, then try to match that in the sim.

    Quick scan through my main.mcf shows: 0.45, 0.67, 0.55, 0.88, 0.77 (probably the outside fixed view), 0.64, 0.60, 0.64, 0.7, 0.45, 0.36, tower 0.11, follow 0.36, so roughly 0.55 is my average.

  • Yes, in the end it will always be a matter of personal preference, I suppose. What also matters is the size of the screen, the distance you sit from it, etc. It's a pity that I can't change the position and zoom in the cockpit independant from the outside view. But well, a 2D screen will always be flat and rather small and it will never resemble a 100% real world view, I suppose. Thanks for your thoughts about this!

  • Yes, I know, but you can't have a different zoom on the view outside while sitting in the cockpit. (Right?)

  • Each outside view (tower view, follow cam, etc.) has a different field of view setting in the main.mcf file, the same goes for all cockpit cameras. So in the pilot seat you can have a very narrow field of view, you can have a different fov in the copilot seat and finally you can have a different fov outside the aircraft. At least you should, my main config saves them individually and when I zoom inside the cockpit camera for the pilot seat no other view is affected.

  • Wow! Gave 0.55 a try and after that 0.6 and 0.6 looks great! With this fov the scenery doesn't look that small anymore and also the fish eye lense effect is a lot less (or even gone)! When I switch between the pilot view (at 0.6) and the co-pilot (still at 0.82) the difference is staggering! Even 0.82 really looks way too far off then! Yes, you do see a lot less of the cockpit but things suddenly feel at real life size! Buildings while on the ground, airports in the distance, everything looks better and bigger and not so toy-like, at least on my 2D screen.

    Nice bonus effect: I can read everything on the screens of the Q400 now!!! ;)

    It may take some time to get used to but somehow everything feels a lot more 'real life sized' now! Better than with fov at 0.82 (and obviously even better than default). I will use this setting for a while and see if it is indeed the best in the long run too.

  • Well, yes, I could do that but I do like to have the exact same view all the time and never change it... And I like my view to be precise so I actually edit the cfg manually (with the exact number of 0.6) because you can't set an exact zoom/fov in the sim itself. All my views in the cfg are 0.6 now... ;) I never touch that Z key (and if I do I quit the sim, edit the cfg and start the sim again LOL). In other words: a visual indication of the current zoom in the sim would be appreciated LOL

    EDIT
    Settled for 0.65... so just a tad little less zoom... ;)

    Edited once, last by J van E (February 18, 2018 at 8:10 PM).

  • @J van E,

    Not sure from this discussion whether you realize you can move your eyepoint (seat position) separately from everything else by using the settings->Controller->View->Move backward,forward,left,right,up, down commands (I have most of them connected to my POV hat on the joystick). A lot of folks miss seeing those commands because you have to scroll down to see them. They really help me in VR mode as well.

    Dave W.

  • @J van E,

    Not sure from this discussion whether you realize you can move your eyepoint (seat position) separately from everything else by using the settings->Controller->View->Move backward,forward,left,right,up, down commands (I have most of them connected to my POV hat on the joystick). A lot of folks miss seeing those commands because you have to scroll down to see them. They really help me in VR mode as well.

    Dave W.

    Thanks, I know, but they don't do anything when I use TrackIR. Unfortunately. The do in VR indeed but I don't use VR anymore.