Written Guides

Step-by-step walkthroughs - screenshots, real photos and interactive 3D previews, with every click spelled out.

These are the hands-on, read-along guides. Work through Getting Started first to build and align your first mask, then pick a deep-dive for the workflow you need. Prefer to watch? Every guide has a video counterpart.

Start here 🚀

Getting Started

Your first mask, end to end: the one-time Virtual Desktop setup, Trace VR, the drawing tools, aligning the cutout to your real cockpit, and saving it in a profile.

Beginner · the essentials Open guide →
🎮

Snap Masks Back into Alignment

Mount a controller on your rig as a fixed reference and snap your mask back into perfect alignment anytime - Place & Release, calibrated offset, and the one-button Reset to controller ritual.

Intermediate · rig-mounted reference Open guide →
📋

Kneeboard on a Live Controller

Bind the DCS kneeboard to a controller you hold in your hand - switch off the two auto-park toggles for live 6DoF tracking, then align it with Reset offset and Face me.

Intermediate · hand-held, live Open guide →
🎨

A Crisp Mask Edge

Tame the pink/blue chroma outline: the Virtual Desktop settings that matter most (HEVC 10-bit, bitrate, VDXR, chroma smoothness), mask resolution, and PassthroughForge's Black border to cover any last fringe.

All levels · VD settings + resolution + Black border Open guide →
📥

Import a Pre-Made Mask

Load a finished mask from an image file or the community gallery, then align it in VR - Face Me, then slide, tilt and roll onto your real cockpit with the shortcuts, with three interactive 3D previews.

All levels · import + Face Me + X/Y/Z + tilt/roll Open guide →
✍️

Whiteboard with a Graphics Tablet

Handwrite notes on your kneeboard while flying. Full setup from zero: driver cleanup, OpenTabletDriver + the OTD-IPC plugin, the Whiteboard mask, pen calibration - plus the phone over Wi-Fi alternative.

Setup guide · OpenTabletDriver + OTD-IPC + calibration Open guide →
🏎️

Mixed Reality on a Motion Rig

Full-motion platform + haptics: world-anchored masks as the no-mount alternative to controller tracking, Quest Travel Mode against platform-induced tracking drift, hand passthrough in Virtual Desktop and readable MFDs via ReShade / VREM.

Best practices · community-proven on a full F/A-18 motion pit Open guide →
🖥️

Live DDI Screens on Real Panels

Got a WINWING MIP with real buttons but no screens? Export the F/A-18C DDIs & AMPCD from DCS, capture each with Capture Monitor Region, and pin the live picture straight into the empty panel openings — real switches, real displays.

Hardware pits · monitor export + screen capture Open guide →
📋

The Kneeboard Mask — PDFs, Tabs, Bookmarks & Notes

Load several PDFs into one kneeboard — approach charts, aircraft data, procedures — each as its own named tab that remembers its page. Page and switch tabs from your HOTAS, bookmark the pages you need in the air, and write handwritten notes on a blank page. Works in DCS and MSFS.

Multi-PDF tabs · shortcuts · bookmarks · notes Open guide →
🌐

Web Page Mask — a Live Browser in your Cockpit

Pin any live web page straight into VR without opening a browser window — checklists, web maps, reference pages. And with Browser Mouse you click, scroll and pan the page with your real mouse while the sim runs in the foreground. Single monitor is all it takes.

Built-in browser · Browser Mouse · DCS gaze setup Open guide →
📷

Webcam Capture — Windows into Reality

No chroma-key passthrough on your headset? Mount a USB webcam and cut live windows into the real world — the passthrough substitute built for Pimax pilots. Device & resolution setup, stereo 3D tuning, the cover gesture, and Head-Lock explained with an interactive 3D demo.

Pimax path · stereo 3D · head-lock · cover gesture Open guide →
Quick help 📐

Virtual Cockpit Size Mismatch

Mask fits your real cockpit, but the virtual one doesn't match its proportions? You don't resize the cockpit - you move your VR seat closer or further. DCS & MSFS, with an interactive 3D animation.

Quick help · VR seat position + IPD Open guide →
Fixes 🔧

Troubleshooting

Fix the big one - controllers not tracking (Mask Lock): the VR-mode requirement, the Virtual Desktop checklist, waking a rig-mounted controller and the OpenXR layer order - plus common mask & display issues.

Controller tracking (Mask Lock) · masks & display Open guide →

More ways to learn