0:00 That is, look at that. Oh, THAT IS JUST BRILLIANT. >> [laughter] >> SO IT'S fair to say owning a motion rig is a lot of fun. But what about reliability? What is it like to live with? Well, I've had the DOF Reality for over 1 month now, but prior to this I've also had a DOF Reality H2 for well over 4 years now. So I think I'm best placed to give you all the good and bad of what it's like living with a motion platform, especially one from DOF Reality or DRF Reality. I might say that interchangeably through this video, so apologies. But what about the H4? This is a brand new motion platform with both pitch, roll, yaw, and heave. They have
0:47 been working on this for many, many years, and I've put it through its paces for well over 1 month now in sim racing titles as well as DCS World, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and I've got quite a bit to say about many of its good and actually bad points in this video. So if you're looking at getting one or you're just curious to see what it's like owning and living with a motion rig, then this is a video for you. So let's just start by saying that of course buying a motion rig is a huge investment and quite an outlay. And even though to be fair for what you're getting, it's very good value for money when compared to the competition, it's probably likely if you're considering a motion rig that
1:33 you are invested in your hobby. Whether it's sim racing, space sims, flight simulation, whatever it may be, you've probably already got a decent VR headset and a decent computer. And you're looking for the next level of immersion. Well, I can truly say without any shadow of a doubt that motion platforms is that natural next step when it comes to really feeling like you're in that car or you're in that plane. It is absolutely phenomenal. And I will say loud and proud it is a game changer, folks. That word gets thrown around far too much these days in YouTube land, but when it comes to motion rigs, it is absolutely a game changer. And it's right up there with the first experience of being in VR. And together, it is
2:19 absolutely a match made in heaven. So that's all you need to know. Thanks for watching and enjoy your new motion rig. But there's lots to talk about to be fair, because it's not all rose-tinted glasses when it comes to owning and living with a platform this complex. Thankfully, there are no deal breakers here, but these are the things you need to know. So let's start with the negatives first, because I think that's really important to talk about. So when buying your motion rig, if you're buying it from the DRF Reality website, just bear in mind you're going to get stung by import duty tax. This can't be helped really and it's no fault of the company itself. It's just the way of the world unfortunately, but it could run into the
3:05 hundreds of pounds. So maybe factor that in. And that's simply because you're talking about something that's going to be delivered, which is huge. It's really heavy and got a lot of moving parts and a very complex thing to ferry across the world. To be fair, DOF Reality do a very good job at delivering these and I haven't seen or heard of any complaints. There are other companies out there, but I haven't really dealt with them, so I can't really comment too much, but maybe just shop around to see if you can get one from a local hardware shop. But make sure it is a licensed dealer of DRF Reality products and it's all above board. That's really important. It's a minor point and to be fair, it's like that with all technology in the world right now. It's just that obviously the bigger thing you buy, the more expensive
3:52 it's going to be to ship around the world. That's just the way it is. So onto something that is specifically about the DRF Reality H4, and that is something that I have noticed as a bit of a minor gripe. And that's all this is really, it's not a deal breaker, but it's in relation to the heavy duty dampers or gas struts, whatever you want to call them, that help assist the motors and the movement of the motion platform. Over time, I've noticed they start to bind and vibrate when doing very small movements, particularly in a flight sim. You'd never notice this in a sim racing title, but when in a general aviation aircraft like this and you're doing very small movements, I have
4:39 noticed a slight bit of a vibration. The ironic thing about this is because the motors are now so quiet and smooth, this is more noticeable. On my old H2 with the cogging, I probably would have never noticed this. It's a bit like with VR technology. Now that lenses are so clear, you notice those imperfections in the panel such as mura or tiny dead pixels. It's much the same here. Now that the technology has matured and the motion is so incredibly smooth, any slight restriction or vibration, you feel it even more. Thankfully though,
5:25 there is an easy fix for this. All I did is apply a very thin layer of grease to the shaft and that has made it super, super smooth. But it is something that perhaps the company could look into uh in the future to ensure that these are shipped out very well lubricated. And I'm now going to try and demonstrate how smooth and quiet the motion rig actually is. You could literally hear a penny drop. Now obviously when you're going over bumps or say you're in heavy turbulence, maybe you've had a really hard landing,
6:11 things do get a bit louder then. This little issue though did take me about three or four days of tearing my hair out trying to work out where this problem was coming from. And therein lies another little gripe of mine and that is this very nice looking protective case that you can buy as an extra for your rig, which I highly recommend because if you've got animals or babies or anything around in your room and if you're in VR, they might get caught up in those motors and I can't even think or imagine how awful that would be. So make sure you do buy a protective case so that all fingers, thumbs, and paws can be safe at all times. Not to mention it does protect those moving parts. But anyway, I digress. One thing that I would have
6:57 liked to have seen is an easy way to remove this case without taking off the chair and some of the other parts of the motion rig. Because part of owning a motion rig is preventative maintenance and perhaps every 6 months or so, I would recommend just going round checking all the bolts and all of the gears and linkages, just spraying it with a bit of silicone lubricant or maybe a little bit of grease just to keep it running smoothly. But unfortunately, because of the way the case is designed, it needs to be put on the rig well before the chair and other parts of the rig. Bit of a faff there and just something that could be redesigned in the future. I think another negative, and I really am clutching at straws here. What I mean by
7:43 that is I'm trying to find anything I can because there are not very many negatives with this, is perhaps the software and motion compensation, which is still an area of work in progress. Although I must say it's great to see Sim Racing Studio providing software-based motion compensation. It is working okay and I'm still getting to grips with it. I will probably post a dedicated video on motion compensation at a later date, but I still feel the hardware-based solution using the WIT motion sensor seems to be the most effective way of canceling out the issue of motion compensation. If you're not sure what that is, basically when you move left or right, forward and back, up and down in a VR headset, what will
8:29 happen is is the VR headset will move outside of the cockpit or racing car. This is very distracting and completely ruins the immersion. So this is essential for VR users, but this is a subscription-based model with SRS software. You can get it for free however with SimHub, which I have used in the past. I do like it, but I do find it a little bit more complicated than Sim Racing Studio software. So pick your poison, folks, but in any case, motion compensation is an extra factor that you must be aware of when using motion platforms in VR. So really, folks, I am trying so hard to find any little niggle I can, but the reality is this is an
9:15 extremely reliable and solid motion rig. I recently did a poll on my own Discord channel asking people who have bought a DOF Reality motion platform to let me know if they've had any issues. And the result is 100% reliability. And I can vouch for that myself having used and abused my H2 for probably 3 or 4 years now, I haven't had one single issue with it. Pretty damn impressive. And trust me, as you probably know from this channel, it gets used a lot. So together with that excellent build quality of these rigs, which are second to none, one of the big deals for me is the fact that you can feel the character of your
10:01 aircraft or car. They all feel different because it's not just about the axis moving left and right, forward and back, whatever, but you can feel the engine vibration, the characteristics of how powerful the engine is, the deceleration, even the very texture of the circuit or airstrip. It's absolutely amazing. It really gives you that true connective feel of what you're seeing and what you're feeling. One of the first times I ever landed on a lake, I could not believe it. It literally felt like I was bobbing up and down on those waves, and I could have sat there for absolutely hours. We are in Scotland on a lake somewhere, and I am bobbing up
10:47 and down with the waves, and it's the most amazing feeling, folks. It really is. I actually feel like I'm on the water. Oh my god. In fact, yeah, let's just open this. I could just sit here for hours. And when it's all said and done, this is the easiest thing I can recommend on the channel. The DOF Reality H4 is quite simply phenomenal, especially with these new motors. There is zero cogging now. It's absolutely sensational. I couldn't believe it. When flying very, very sedately, you know, in a general aviation aircraft, moving slightly left and right with the autopilot on, there's
11:34 just zero cogging now, which is fantastic. Another huge plus with DOF Reality is the very small footprint of the DOF Reality H4 in this case. It is very compact. It just doesn't take a lot of space up considering the experience you're guessing. And I do have a confession to make, folks. I hate faff. >> [laughter] >> What that means is I am not a DIY guy at all. I hate building things. And not many people know this, but when DOF Reality first contacted me asking if I fancied checking out one of their motion rigs, I actually said no, simply because I didn't want the hassle. But I'm so glad that I changed my mind
12:19 because it is very, very easy to put together. And I just couldn't believe after about 4 and 1/2 hours of putting this thing together, I switched it on, plugged it in, and it just freaking works. And it works every single time without any faff. For me, that's a major deal because I can't be bothered to have to calibrate things, mess around, check settings, spend 2 hours getting the thing working before flying or racing. Because I don't know about you, I don't have much time in my life. I want to get in, have some fun, and get out. And you can simply do that with this rig. It's a major plus point for me. And a few other things I love about this motion rig is it's uber configurable. In a matter of moments, you can change it from a flight
13:05 sim setup to a race sim setup. You have lots of mounts and options, which are very, very tailor-made to be able to get the rig exactly how you want it. And at the end of the day, and the end of this video, this rig gives me a massive smile on my face, and other people who try it as well. It's so much fun when you have visitors round and they try it, because they just turn into a child on Christmas day. And let's be honest, you can't put a price on that. So, thanks for watching this video, and this has been my essentially 1 to 2 months ownership of the DOF Reality H4 alongside my H2, which I've also had for around 4 years now. And I really could not imagine my hobby without motion. Thank you so much for
13:52 watching. I really do appreciate it. Please feel free to subscribe, and I'll see you again very soon. Take care, and bye for now.
