Guys in iRacing Virtual Reality forum are working hard to gather all the info available about CV1. iRacing is offering right now one of the best virtual reality experiences out there and these tips will provide you an straight forward approach to this experience.
Thanks to Ben W Saunders for useful guide
You can also have an excellent one in spanish by Carlos Casas.
1.RUN IRACING IN DX11 MODE
You need to run Iracing in DX11 mode.
From the members site select settings and then change the mode to DX11.
2.rendererDX11.ini CHANGES (default path libraries\documents\iracing\rendererDX11.ini)
You need to make changes to this file.
Browse to the path shown above and open the file in a text editing program such as notepad.
Once you have made the changes be sure to save the file.
If you mess the file up you can always delete it and Iracing will automatically download a new version of the file next time you start iracing.
Changes to the file are shown below.
Thanks to Derek the Legend Speare for info…
[Oculus Rift]
RiftEnabled=1 (Enables rift to work with Iracing)
PixelsPerDisplayPixel=150-200 (You will need to play with this to suit your setup)
AutoSelect=1 (Changing this from 0 to 1 will force Iracing to use the Rift automatically)
AutoCenter=1 (Rift will recenter automatically after loading screen disappears)
UIScreenSize=150 (change this to 100 if you find the Virtual mirror too big)
UIScreenDistance=80 (changes distance UI appears from you)
MirrorEnabled=1 (changing this to 0 will turn off the rift display projection on your single screen, this may improve frame rates)
3.IRACING GRAPHICS MENU CHANGES (This is very user specific so you will need to try different things for your PC)
Turn Crowds to low/off
Turn Grandstands to low
Turn ALL AA OFF
Lock your frame rate at 90
Turn off shadows (Shadows do work but I have read on multiple threads to turn them off- I don’t know why)
4.USEFUL VR RELATED COMMANDS
Move black boxes =Alt+K
Resize black boxes = CTRL+PAGE UP/DOWN
If you are having the issue that you cannot see all of the black boxes to relocate them
because some of them are currently not in use then browse to the
iracing app.ini file (default path libraries\documents\iracing\appi.ini)
and under the [graphics] heading change
‘ForceVisibleWhenMove’ from 0 to 1.
5.MOVE DEFAULT CAMERA POSITION
To move the default cockpit camera position lower or higher go into a replay after sitting in your car for a while and hit
CTRL+F12 (cameras command)
Next move the X Axis to reposition camera forward and back
and the Z Axis to move up and down to the desired racing view.
SelectSave car at the bottom to save your settings for each individual car.
Next time you go to race the new position will be saved.
6.SET A RECENTER CAMERA BUTTON ON YOUR WHEEL
From time to time the CV1 view might slip, so it is best to go into
Iracing options/controls
and scroll right to the bottom on the right hand panel and assign a button on your wheel to the
Recenter HMD position key command.
7.PLAY WITH THE SETTINGS TO GET A STEADY 90FPS
Get a replay with a full grid of cars at COTA or SPA and try playing around with the graphics settings in the replay until you get a steady 90FPS. Remember to apply these settings to your actual race graphics settings.
It has also been noted that turning any triple screen support off improves frame rate.
It has also been noted that turning off CV1 mirroring on a single screen improves frame rates
It has also been noted that turning off Virtual mirror improves frame rates.
8.CHANGE YOUR SOUND SETTINGS TO THE RIFT
To get audio out of the CV1 headphones in Iracing change your simulation device to Rift Audio.
If you want to use the rift for chat then change the Voice Chat settings playback & Mic to Rift Audio also.
Same again if you use the spotter.
Dont forget to assign a push to talk button to your wheel.
9.MOTION SICKNESS
Again thanks to Derek the Legend Speare for info…
If you are having issues with motion sickness some Iracers have found a quick change to the head movement commands makes things more comfortable.
To do this browse to
iracing appi.ini (default path libraries\documents\iracing\appi.ini)
then scroll right down to
[view]
and change
DriverHeadHorizon=0.900000
DriverHeadNoPitch=0.900000
DriverHeadWobble=0.000000
then save the file.
If this doesn’t work buy a yellow bucket and place it near your wheel in your sacred man/woman cave.
Drink some water.
Take a break.
10.REDUCING FOGGING
Not that I have had this issue but I have read of a few cases of fogging with the CV1.
Solution seems to be to point a small fan at your head if you have one available.
11.NVIDIA USERS CHECK THIS SETTING (I am convinced this made a massive difference to my viewing pleasure)
VIA Gary Tall
‘I just realised that I’d mistakenly got the Texture filtering – Quality setting in Nvidia Inspector set to Quality.
I’ve changed it to High Quality and I think it has made a big improvement in the image in iRacing with the Rift.
This is also available in the manage 3d settings in Nvidia control panel.
12.SOUND POSITIONING
VIA John Erich.
‘I know it helped with my monitors, but this is probably even more helpful for VR users with our more limited FOV.
I adjust the stereoStreamInSurroundBalance in the app.ini. (default path libraries\documents\iracing\appi.ini)
I believe this adjusts how loud your engine is in comparison to external sounds, ie: other cars on track or brake squeal.
I think default is 100 (I have mine lowered to 50).
Having your opponent’s car a little louder should help with positional awareness.
13.VRCOVER & VRINTERFACE
Some users are reporting that this is a great bit of kit to use although some are not!!!
It keeps your CV1 clean and prevents the build up of dirt and oil coming of your big sweaty racer driver face.
I have not tried it myself but I will hopefully be getting one soon so I will update with a verdict.
https://vrcover.com/product/oculus-rift-vr-cover/
A new kickstarter has just been released by the same guys that make the VRCOVER for a VRINTERFACE
The interface seems as if it will provide better comfort for all and more useability for glasses wearers.
link for the kickstarter
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1869563556/ne…al-interfaces-with-replacement
14.CV1 ADJUSTMENT
Try playing with all the different lengths of the side and top straps.
Adjust the angle of the CV1 too.
I found having the side straps medium tight and the top strap quite loose works well.
I have the back strap snug up against the back of my head as low as I can get it.
(But then I do have a huge bowling ball shaped bald head)
I then adjust the angle of the screen so it sits nice and snug on my ugly mug.
15.GRAPHICS CARD CHOICES
With VR in its infancy most software is still not optimised for our CV1,s as yet.
Iracing is no exception so the graphics card choice is still a grey area until the programmers really start to push the VR graphics to the limit.
However all though this may be common knowledge to most it may be of use to someone.
The general consensus seems to be that the cards to buy are the Nvidia big guns.
1. 1080 £££££
2. 1070 ££££
3. Titan ££££
3. 980ti £££
4. 980 ££
5. 970 £
In that order.
980ti’s, and 980/970’s are going cheap at the time of writing and will only get cheaper.
1070 is the mid range safe bet.
1080 is the big daddy but is expensive and it may be worth waiting for the 1080ti to be released.
Ultimately budget will determine your choice but in my experience buying cheaper older kit is a false economy.
That said I am currently happily running a 980ti and enjoying lots of settings turned up to max.
16.SENSOR POSITIONING
If like me you have a triple monitor setup on your cockpit then you may have found that there is no place to mount the sensor straight ahead.Luckily for us Mr Speare has come up with a tidy little solution which mounts the sensor directly onto your monitor.
The ‘Restii’ is available on the link below.
http://www.derekspearedesigns.com/restii.html
17.IRPITCREW SOFTWARE FOR PIT STOP AUTOMATION
Sean Woodhouse created this excellent software which will fully automate your pit stops for you.
No more knocking things over as you desperately claw your way round in the rift searching for the enter button!
http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3336495.page#9360365
18.INCREASE YOUR FOV
Via Henk Schoone
About 6 weeks ago i removed the foam insert from the rift and and tried it on, just for fun. The result was pretty shocking. Because i could move my eyes much closer to the lenses without the foam insert, the FOV was improved significantly.
I did some back to back comparisons and found out that, without the foam insert, my FOV was improved about 20% horizonally and 20 vertically.
Using the rift on without the foam insert is too uncomfortable, but after having experienced the much larger FOV, there was no going back.
I modified the rift so that it hangs right in front of my face, without actually touching it. Just like the PSVR. I added an extra headband at the front and i can make final adjustments using the tilt ability of the rift.
The improvement in FOV is pretty big and i can’t imagine ever going back to the normal mounting solution of the rift. Because the rift hovers in front of my face without touching it, it’s much more comfortable and i have much less heat build up.
My eyes are so close to the lenses that i can sometimes feel my eyelashes touching them, so this mod is probably not such a good idea for people who wear glasses.
Pro & Cons
+ Much bigger FOV
+ Less heat buildup
+ More comfortable
+ Easy to put the rift back in the original state
– More difficult to adjust the rift voor other users
– Not for glasses
– Slightly more glare effect
– Bigger nose gap / light bleed (since the foam is missing)
Overall i’m pretty happy with the result. I have been using the rift like this for 6 weeks now. Only when friends are over to try the rift i use the foam insert because it’s easier to adjust it for different users.
19.NEVER REMOVE YOUR CV1 AGAIN!!!!
Thanks to Ryan M Mcbride for this one.
I have tried BigScreen now and it is awesome!
Ryan has been trailing software which will run your desktop on the CV1 thus iliminating the need to remove the headset when dealing with the Iracing website.
Ryan writes….
Just a PSA for those of you who might not know, but you do not have to remove your rift after each race. There are a handful of VR desktop programs that will allow you to do anything and everything you’re used to doing on a monitor….. but in the Rift!
I use BigScreen (Beta). It’s free and works perfectly well for what I need. You can make the screen small and close like your monitor, or set the size and distance to use your desktop on an Imax sized screen. Not to mention, you can set the curvature of your desktop which is a pretty handy feature.
Download BigScreen Beta from Steam Herewin 8/10 only)
http://store.steampowered.com/app/457550/?snr=1_7_15__13
Virtual Desktop is another virtual desktop (herp), but it’s not free (only $15). I have not tried this yet, and don’t know what features this has that BigScreen does not. I’m sure some exist, but you should do some research before purchasing. I believe this software detects 3D and 360 degree media automatically, so it might be worth the price just for that feature alone. Don’t take my word for it though.
Download Virtual Desktop from Steam here:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/382110/
SPACE Beta is one I tried for an hour before realizing I didn’t want to set up all my bookmarks, passwords, etc. again. It has the ability to have 6 separate virtual “monitors”, but the remaining options are very limiting. Maybe worth checking out to see if this one is for you.
Download SPACE beta here:
https://getspace.io/
It’s such a convenient method to move in and out of iRacing practices and races without having to remove the Rift to interact with my desktop. You can watch movies, play regular games, launch VR games, send email, and write forum posts through your Rift (like I am now.)
It’s also taught me how to properly use my home row keys since I cant look at my keyboard while typing any of this. It’s all win-win.
If anyone has any other VR desktop apps worth mentioning, please let me know!
20.VOICE ACTIVATION SOFTWARE
Thanks to Carlos and Jiri for this info
Apparently this voice activation software is well worth a look.
https://www.voicebot.net/
Carlos has created a video tutorial here for our viewing pleasure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRzVmVma0bk
And Jiri highly recommends voice attack as an alternatlve.
https://www.voiceattack.com
21.VR CLOCK
Gary tall has made this excellent virtual clock for those of us who need to know what time it is.
http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3492248.page
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I can’t thank you enough. This simply answered a whole bunch of questions for me about the oculus rift and iRacing. And, it provided so much more! Basically, everything I wanted to know about that and extra things that would enhance my using of the Rift in general. I can not recommend this site enough.
Thanks, man! I really appreciate your work here!
When I launch the simulator the loading screen is HUGE and the UI bars that contain garage, options etc at the top and the info bar at the bottom are way way up and down respectively. It wasn’t like this at first so its something I did but I’m not sure what it was that I did! Any ideas?
Redo graphic configuration using settings tab in iRacing main page
Great guide for new VR users. I tried Big Screen and it’s great, but I have the impression that you get back to Big Screen again after closing iRacing. That is not the case for me as the Rift goes dark and I have to take it off, close Big Screen and then re-launch it to get it active again. Am I doing something wrong?
Virtual desktop will return you to the desktop once you have exited iRacing.
I tried these settings, thanks for them.
Unfortunately I cannot keep a solid 90FPS (I know about AWS and how to turn off/go back to ATW mode) even with lowering almost everything.
I’m running fresh Win 10 install, GTX 1080 FTW, i7 6700K, 32GB 3200hz DDR4, SSD.
I see people saying they are getting solid 90FPS, but with any more than 10 or so cars the FPS is constantly jumping from 90 sometimes down to 45. It’s not staying at 45 (AWS issue some report), instead it will go back to 90. Not sure why I’m not able to see stable FPS given my system is about as fast as you can buy (Titan X aside)?
Try unchecking dynamic track data. There was some issues since last update
Thanks a ton for this information! What are your setting on the 980ti? I just got one from a friend and looking for best graphics I can achieve .
Im using a 970 with half AA and AF filters an los medium setting in the left column. No shadows volumes nor shadows on everything. Maybe you can push a little more with your card.
Thanks so much for all the information and details. I am running an AMD RX480 and from Iracing main screen/sttting/graphics, it does not recognize the Rift CV1 as a display, and only my main monitor. The card has only one HDMI port and 3 Display Port version 1.4 ports. I’ve tried using an DP to HDMI adapter, but the Oculus still does not show up. I’ve even tried plugging in my main monitor (HD TV) to the onboard video cards HDMI, then it doesn’t show anything at all plugged into the AMD RX480. I’m not sure if this is a known issue. My configuration is a Cyberpower PC in their VR line, purchaed last week. Win 10, with I7 7700, 24GB ram, SSD…. this being the case, I’m not sure what to set the resolution to once iracing session is loaded, under option/graphics. I’m new to sim racing, just signed up and have been building my right and acquiring components. I’ve just been testing for the last 3 months. Last time I played with a car sim was over 15 years ago.
I noticed while editing one of the ini files, it has resolution settings there. From the limited Google query results, I find that the Oculus has a resolution capability 2160X1200. Can I enter this in the resolution lines of the ini files, or does someone have the actual resolution that iracing uses by default?
If someone has information on best RX480 AMD control panel settings, could you please share?
I just installed Big Screen last night, but up until now I’ve had to go between HMD and Monitor with screen mirroring to get around in iracing menus. There are two mouse pointers, which I can’t seem to get aligned by sizing the window to any size large or small. The one in the Oculus seems to be the working one. Hopefully Big Screen resolves this issue, but I would still like to be able to see iracing on my main monitor while my son or guest are trying it out. Any advice on sizing the session so pointers are aligned?
Thanks, Jonathan
Hi Jonathan, sorry for the delay.
You can use DP to connect your main monitor and use HDMI with CV1 Oculus. You should pass configuration process without any problem. Check you Crimson settings and your screen setting to be sure if CV1 set is recognized as an extended screen or not when HMD is enabled. I cant tell you AMD settings because almost everybody is using nvidia here but that card is powerful enough to run iRacing.
I set resolution as my monitor in iRacing but it doesn’t matter I think, when you enabled Oculus, iRacing is running in a different mode.
Thanks again for the reply. I have checked through AMD Crimson and the Rift doesn’t show up as a display there either, even with the Oculus app opened. It’s very weird. I’ve been an IT Desktop/Network guy for the past 25 years. The Oculus not showing up as a display is weird, especially since it seems to work as designed.
I racing does run in my HMD at 90 FPS with most of the setting recommended here. What I see in my oculus in Iracing are like small closely spaced dots making up the image, it’s hard for me to describe. The graphics look good, but again, the dots. I purchased Project Cars through oculus and it is much more detailed, and I don’t see the dots. What I’m seeing is similar to an old, lower DPI inkjet printed photo. Hope that analogy helps a little.
I will run Graphics configuration again and then launch iracing to see of that helps.
BTW, in crimson I can’t find any settings related to the Oculus or HMD. Same for display settings in Windows. Oculus is plugged into the HDMI port and TV is plugged into DP via HDMI adapter. I’m beginning to regret not buying the Nvidia 1080 configured PC. I may return this PC to Amazon, and start over.
The OP is getting close to being a year old.
Does anyone know if AA has been properly implemented in the current build of iRacing? Or is it still not worth using?
Anyone using shadows on cars/tracks or is this still seen as something that should be turned off?
Thanks.
The whole concept is all based on frame rate. If shadows work and doesn’t get you below that 90fps, go for it.
A Google search got me here and I’m thankful for finding these setup instructions. The iRacing documentation is very poor for Oculus setup and even after I had everything initially running I kept having issues running iRacing smoothly. Even called iRacing tech support and 48hrs later I still don’t have a call back. Your guide above is the best tool I have found to get things running smoothly. I have bookmarked your site and I will return often. Thank you!
I, too, really appreciated the CV1 set up for iRacing. So much so that I donated to the site and read it when they have a new article out.
I donated because the CV1 set up save me a TON of hassle. They solicited donations at the time. I bet, with a little bit of inquiry, you could too.
Oops, I did the inquiry and there’s a “donate” button on the “about us” page, which you can find in the menu in the upper right corner.