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WOW!

Man you gotta check this out, this is WICKED.....

This thing is called "FS Recorder" and it's the simplest, trickest little goodie you ever saw. Small download, a tiny little DLL that goes into the FS9\Modules Folder, and BAM! You get a new menu in FS9 that gives you the ability to record your flights (unlimited length) and play them back......big deal right? Well, the killer thing is, you get to play them back as AI aircraft which means you can then accompany that flight in formation, or do whatever. There is NO END of the possibilities here...making a video (HOPPA!) and need another plane to coordinate a particular stunt, and no one is around to fly it with ya? No big deal, just fly that segment while recording it, and play it back, then do your other thing at the same time!

Here's the rundown on it from Avsim.com:

FS Recorder Version 1.2 Released

Posted: Monday, June 19, 2006 - 22:04
Version 1.2 of the Recorder Module for FS2004 is now available for download at the recorder website and in the AVSIM file library. The module is a freeware addon for FS2004, which can record flights, save them to files and play them back like the FS instant replay and flight video recorder, but with a lot more features. The module records data like aircraft position, speed, etc, so the recordings can only be played inside FS. This makes it possible to view recordings from different views.

Version 1.2 adds two new features: Recorded flights can be played back as (AI) traffic, which allows flying in formation with yourself. The advanced tower and spot views allow setting up multiple tower and spot views, manual panning of the view direction, automatic zooming, simulating cameras attached to the aircraft, etc. Plans for future versions include recording and playback of AI traffic, as well as traffic playback of multiple recordings to allow formation flights of more than two aircraft. The recorder website was completely updated and now also includes a support forum.

Here's the link at the recorder website for the free, quick download:
http://www.neusinger.net/recorder/

Oh yeah, the way it saves position, speed and vector information is very efficient. I recorded a 9-minute flight around the pigsty in the Bf109, and the file is only 354K!

Also didn't notice much (if any) hit on framerates while recording, and also while playing it back. There can be some "skips" if you switch views or hose around much when recording, and you have to go into the settings to turn on the engine animation otherwise you'll see prop planes flying around with their props standing still, but that's easily remedied by turning on the setting. Also, it will record certain events like smoke, animations, etc.

I just had a BLAST for 2 or 3 hours, recording a takeoff from the pigsty, with a little cruising, an inverted pass down the taxiway, then back around for landing and parking it right back where I started. Then I played it back as AI and flew in formation with that flight...WHAT A KICK!!

Matter of fact if you download it, then snag this and replay it...it's recorded at the KORS Pigsty and uses the JG300 Bf109. Try it out!

http://216.176.86.154/jg300/Pigsty_Bf109_SauPattern.zip
(just unzip it to somewhere like your flight plans or saved flights folder and load it with the FS Recorder menu in FS9, "Replay as AI").

A few pictures are worth a thousand words so I'll shut up and just post some pix...you get the idear....

Taxiing out with the recorded flight using the "Replay as AI" function...


Gear up!


No Bogies in sight...tower gives us clearance for the inverted pass....


I wonder if this is a first...a dual formation inverted runway pass with myself??


YEEEHHHHAAAAWW!


Ahh just one more angle...


OK lets not push our luck....set 'em down in formation:


Another succesfull mission!


This thing is just too cool. So many flights you could record and save for posterity, and re-fly them in formation, etc! And of course it allows for a different airplane in the recorder than in your flight, so you don't have to use exact similar aircraft like I did in the shots above. Cool.

Hmmm......hey, you could record a whole takeoff and five laps around a PROPS racecourse, then race against it to work on improving your time against yourself!

Like I said, this little dealy opens up a ton of cool options......would be cool to record some short flights or stunts and share them amongst ourselves, huh??

WOW!!!!!!!

Imagine, an entire Army of Wild Saus, Hundreds of them, flying across the sky. Oh the invasion we could create!! And oh my gosh, the smell would be wonderful!!

But then again, we may have to start rationing the JG300 Private Reserve and the strawberries, that would be catastrophic!! What was I thinking???




To this software though, I can't wait to check her out and finally take a stab at that movie!

Haha! Luckily, there are limits...I don't know if it's possible to re-create a whole squadron at once, since it only records and replays one plane at a time.

Wait wait wait....I just looked throught the description again....it sez:

"Plans for future versions include recording and playback of AI traffic, as well as traffic playback of multiple recordings to allow formation flights of more than two aircraft. "



But the current version does mention working in multiplayer too.... hmmm......and it has some interesting new view options I haven't checked out yet.

A pretty killer add-on with lots of promise! Can't wait to see what you do with it!

Oh hey....here's a tip for the "Tower View". For our Pigsty, go and edit it and set it to:

Lat: N48 42 16.55

Long: W122 54 41.50

Alt: 81

Should put you right in the tower with the pig!

WOW....Great find Stoopy!!!

Now we can record those 'landings'...lol

I just HAD to try this really quick.....to see how well the smoke recording works....

(took more than one pass obviously, but with practice it can be perfected!)










Cripes....I gotta quit playin' with this and get to work! Too addicting!

VERY cool Stoopy and this is now available in our Download Section.

Way cool, and good move! Ya won't be disappointed!

I'm VERY Stoked over this. We swines pride ourselves in airmanship first and foremost, and many do outrageous stunts that have to be seen to be believed....too many moments are lost forever when the replay data is tossed into the bit bucket when exiting FS9, and with screenshots, there's the old slew key getting called into question if it's too unbelievable. Not that we would fudge anything!

And the "flight recorder" option as provided in FS9 is just...well...terrible. I mean, it's like "Replay" where the plane isn't really flying as much as kind of just moving, unrealistically, between points set too far apart. Yuch.

With this lil' gizmo, the truly accurate, super-smooth dynamics of the replay, plus the small file size and no visible impact on frame rates means, there's no excuse not to just turn this on as a habit and record any of those flights. Then - and I think this is the best part - upload it and share with friends so they can actually see it done in person, real time, IN THE SIM and not a screenie or video...which would be easy to capture if desired by anyone anyway....and even fly along behind or alongside and do the same cool stunt, maneuver, or flight!

I can't wait to see a few files posted from Ascout showing some wicked carrier landings in the B-25, or flying the Aeronca Champ or Fokker Triplane in one entrance of the secret underground base then out the other without dragging a wingtip....not to mention any number of helo stunts....

Gotta go find my keys to the Tupolev TU-95 "Bear" and see how sturdy the San Clemente pier is these days.....

I was anxious to try it, but unfortunately, it don't seem to work with the french version of FS9. I don't see any "recorder" menu.

Oh you know what?

Are you updated to the 9.1 version of FS9?

That came out some time ago, and I remember the README saying it was required.

It;s a good update to do, many improvements. But, I wouldn't do it on a PROPS night in case you run into problems. I know there is an updated version of FSUIPC.dll that is for the 9.1 FS9 update also, the old one gives you problems.

I think we have some info on it in our private forum.

Thanks, but I have the 9.1 patch since it came out. The problem is more with different languages, I think.

Well......poup! Sorry, man. Dangit.

DOH!!! My mistake. I put it in the main FS folder instead of modules....works fine now.

And ya know, I almost asked....but stopped and thought...."Nawwwww, it's EXOS, he knows!".

Holy freakin WOW,,,,awesome,,,,,,great find and yes,,,,that is what a feller needs,,,,gonna have some fun with this for sure....

Yep!!! It's cool!!!

And good news! It has so little overhead, no frame rate loss or anything (at least on my system and limited to 20 FPS for PROPS racing) I was able to fly as an observer (invisible) in one of the PROPS T-6 races tonight, and recorded the whole race!

Here's the Flight Recorder file all zipped up, have a go!
http://216.176.86.154/jg300/Props-T6-4SD-BiplaneStandingStart.zip

So, if you have this gizmo recorder installed, enable the Biplane PROPS pylon course, get in a T-6, go to Reno Stead field (4SD), set yourself up on runway 8 right before the second white painted blocks on the runway....start the engine....and have it "Replay as AI", this file (after you fetch and unzip it....and I'd make a new folder just for these files, somewhere in your "My Documents\Flight Simulator Files" folder. I bet you might end up with a few of these babies....

THere's about a 15-second pause before the AI plane wil nail the gas, and it's balls-out from there, so be ready to rock and roll!

After the racing tonight I couldn't help but try it out and race against myself....damn, you know what? I'm FAST!!

Actually I also found that if the left-arrow key will do a slight "rewind" of about 15 seconds. And if you go into slew mode, the replay keeps going. So if I couldn't keep up with myself, I hit left-arrow, the plane would jump behind me, then I'd hit the Y key to slew to let it catch up and then exit slew right as it comes by. You can configure the number of secnds as "Step 1" in the settings menu. I set it to 2 seconds instead. Might try 1 second!

Anyway.... it was cool racing against myself, now in the PROPS off-season there's plenty of practice time!