CamBot 6D

Overview

I developed a virtual camera robot for Star Citizen.

This is made possible by hijacking Star Citizen's head tracking interface and linking the in-game camera position and orientation to a fake head position. CamBot 6D sends out UDP packets with false head tracking data to a free software called opentrack. Opentrack translates the data into the freetrack (TrackIR™) protocol which is supported by Star Citizen.

Possibilities

With CamBot 6D, can remotely control the in-game camera position and orientation in all six degrees of freedom. Simply set individual waypoints and the software will move the in-game camera along a smooth path at a predefined speed.

You can also use CamBot 6D to split the advanced camera controls of Star Citizen between two real-time operators. One operator will control the camera angle around its pivot directly at the gaming PC, while the other controls the relative camera position and orientation remotely from a second computer.

Single PC

You can run CamBot 6D directly on your gaming PC. However, this only works if you set Star Citizen to "Windowed" or "Borderless" Window Mode (Options > Graphics).

A two monitor setup is recommended but not required. Any controllers such as gamepads or 3D mice that you want to use with CamBot 6D must be disabled within Star Citizen. Gaming performance might be slightly degraded in a single PC setup.

Multi PC

CamBot 6D communicates to the opentrack relay via UDP within your local network. This allows you to run CamBot 6D on a separate PC or laptop and control the camera position remotely. This will work as long as the second computer is on the same network.

A wired ethernet connection is recommended but fast WiFi should be sufficient. (CamBot 6D transmits 100 UDP packets per second, one packet every 10 milliseconds. A low jitter in ping times between computers is necessary for smooth camera motion.)

Controllers

Currently, CamBot 6D works with the following input methods:

• Keyboard and mouse (adjust sensitivity with scroll wheel)

• Microsoft Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and Xbox One gamepads (tested with Xbox Core Wireless Controller)

• 3dconnexion SpaceMouse® Compact, SpaceMouse® Pro and SpaceMouse® Enterprise (tested with SpaceMouse® Pro, wired)

If you need support for a different controller, let me know.

MQTT

I implemented a lightweight publish/subscribe network messaging protocol called MQTT into CamBot 6D. This allows you to connect the interface to third party hardware and software like the Elgato Stream Deck or Home Assistant. You can also develop your own solutions like a web interface or smartphone app to control CamBot 6D.

check out the CamBot 6D MQTT API

Executable (Windows)

Source Code