# Docks & Visualizers

DR Sim Manager provides several **dock panels** that give you real-time insight into what your simulator is doing. Docks can be opened, rearranged, floated, and even turned into independent windows.

## Opening Docks

You can open docks in two ways:

1. **Settings tab → User Interface → Show UI Docks** — Click the toggle next to any dock to show or hide it.
2. **Right-click** any dock or window title bar to access additional options.

## Working with Docks

* **Rearrange:** Drag a dock by its title bar to move it to a different edge of the main window.
* **Float:** Drag a dock away from the main window to make it a floating panel. Drag it back to redock it.
* **Independent window:** Right-click a dock's title bar and select **"Convert to Window"** to give it its own taskbar entry. This is especially useful for multi-monitor setups. To return it, right-click and select **"Convert to Dock"**, or simply close the window.
* **Always On Top:** Right-click the title bar and toggle **Always On Top** to keep the dock above other windows.

{% hint style="info" %}
All docks except the Sim Visualizer can be converted to independent windows. The Sim Visualizer stays within the dock system due to rendering limitations.
{% endhint %}

***

## Sim Visualizer

A **3D visualization** of your simulator's motion in real time. It renders a model of your simulator component (e.g., hexapod, quadpost) and shows how it moves as telemetry data drives the motion.

**Key features:**

* **Component selector** — A dropdown at the top lets you choose which simulator component to visualize if you have more than one configured.
* **Camera presets** — Quickly switch between standard views: Front, Back, Top, Left, Right, and Isometric.
* **Orbit camera** — Click and drag inside the 3D viewport to rotate the view. Scroll to zoom in and out.
* **Accessories** — Toggle optional visual elements like the origin marker and seat overlay using the checkboxes above the viewport.

**When it's useful:** Great for verifying that your simulator is responding correctly to game telemetry, checking axis directions, and visually confirming your sim config is set up properly.

***

## Chart Visualizer

A **real-time charting tool** that plots telemetry and simulator data over time, similar to an oscilloscope.

**Key features:**

* **Multiple data series** — Add as many data series as you need and plot them simultaneously, each with its own color.
* **Data source selection** — Choose between raw telemetry fields (data coming from the game) and processed simulator position values.
* **Time window** — The chart displays a rolling window of data (default 30 seconds).
* **Motion-state aware** — Plotting automatically starts when motion begins and stops when motion stops.
* **Series management** — Add, remove, show, or hide individual series from the controls panel on the left.

**When it's useful:** Ideal for tuning motion profiles — you can see exactly how telemetry values translate into simulator motion, compare different axes, and spot spikes or anomalies in the data.

***

## Gain Display

A compact **gain indicator** that shows your current Global Gain value as both a number and a visual progress bar.

**Key features:**

* **Color-coded bar** — The progress bar changes color based on the gain level: green for high values, yellow for moderate, and red for low.
* **Resizable** — Right-click the Gain Display and use **Increase Size**, **Decrease Size**, or **Reset Size** to adjust the font and widget size.
* **Always On Top support** — By default, the Gain Display stays on top of other windows when detached, so you can always see your current gain level.

**When it's useful:** Keep it visible while tuning so you always know what your Global Gain is set to without switching back to the Settings tab.

***

## Source Data

A **table view** showing all the raw telemetry data currently being received from the selected game source.

**Key features:**

* **Live updates** — Values refresh several times per second while motion is active.
* **All fields visible** — Every telemetry field the game provides is listed with its current value — position, velocity, acceleration, rotation, and more.

**When it's useful:** Helpful for troubleshooting when a game doesn't seem to be sending data correctly, or when you want to understand what telemetry values a particular game provides.

***

## Sim Position

A **visual gauge display** showing the current position of each active axis on your simulator.

**Key features:**

* **Per-axis gauges** — Each configured axis (sway, surge, heave, pitch, roll, yaw, wind, belt) gets its own gauge showing current position relative to travel limits.
* **Automatic axis detection** — Only axes that are configured in your Sim Config are shown. Wind and belt axes show appropriate labels (e.g., "Wind L" / "Wind R" when two wind outputs are configured).
* **Units display** — Gauges show position values in the appropriate units (mm, degrees) based on your sim configuration.

**When it's useful:** Perfect for monitoring how much of your simulator's travel range is being used during gameplay, and for spotting if any axis is regularly hitting its limits.

***

## Debug Log

A **live log viewer** that displays application messages as they happen.

**Key features:**

* **Timestamped entries** — Each log message includes a timestamp so you can correlate events.
* **Auto-scroll** — The log automatically scrolls to show the latest entries.
* **Duplicate filtering** — Repeated identical messages within a short time window are suppressed to keep the log readable.

**When it's useful:** Essential for troubleshooting. When something isn't working as expected, the Debug Log often shows warnings or errors that explain the issue. Also useful when tuning — safety filter activations and overallocation warnings appear here.

{% hint style="info" %}
Set the **Log Verbosity** to **DEBUG** in the Settings tab to see more detailed messages, including safety filter activations and overallocation warnings.
{% endhint %}

***

## Manual Control

A **direct control panel** that lets you manually move each axis of your simulator using sliders and input fields.

**Key features:**

* **Per-axis sliders** — Each configured axis gets a slider that you can drag to set a specific position.
* **Precise input** — Use the number fields next to each slider to enter exact values.
* **Travel limit awareness** — Sliders automatically adjust their range based on your configured travel limits.
* **Automatic axis detection** — Like Sim Position, only your configured axes are shown.

**When it's useful:** Invaluable for initial setup and testing. Use Manual Control to verify that each axis moves in the correct direction and reaches its full range of travel. Also useful for checking that your simulator's home/center position is correct.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Manual Control directly commands your simulator. Make sure your simulator area is clear before moving axes, especially when testing for the first time.
{% endhint %}

***

## Docks for Troubleshooting

Different docks are useful for different troubleshooting scenarios. Here's a quick reference:

| Problem                            | Best Dock(s)                            | What to Look For                                                                                   |
| ---------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Game not sending data              | **Source Data**                         | Check if values are updating. All zeros = no telemetry connection.                                 |
| Motion feels wrong or weak         | **Sim Position** + **Chart Visualizer** | Check if axes are hitting limits. Plot telemetry vs. sim position to see if data is being clamped. |
| Axis moving in wrong direction     | **Manual Control** + **Sim Visualizer** | Move each axis individually and verify direction matches the 3D model.                             |
| Safety filter triggering too often | **Debug Log** + **Chart Visualizer**    | Set log to DEBUG to see which axes trigger. Plot acceleration to identify spike sources.           |
| Simulator not reaching full travel | **Sim Position**                        | Watch the gauges — if they plateau before the limits, check gain and overallocation settings.      |
| Verifying new sim config           | **Sim Visualizer** + **Manual Control** | Select the component in the 3D view, then use Manual Control to verify each axis.                  |
| Gain level at a glance             | **Gain Display**                        | Keep it always-on-top while gaming. Color coding shows gain level without reading numbers.         |

{% hint style="info" %}
For a comprehensive tuning workflow that uses these docks together, see the [Motion Tuning Guide](/dr-sim-manager/general/motion-tuning-guide.md).
{% endhint %}


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