Advantages of Simulation Training

Skill mastery requires repetitive practice. However, most methods of firearms training do not lend themselves to frequent use because they are restricted by limitations of time and money. This video discusses how DART solves these problems by providing training that is affordable and always accessible.

DART Range Introduction

Watch US Police Instructor Teams use DART Range in their Advanced Firearms Training class and listen to law enforcement agencies who discuss their reasons for using DART Range to augment their firearms training.

Placing TruTargets

In this example, a TruTarget is placed inside a prebuilt alley scene. Using the mouse, it is moved to a starting location called a waypoint. Dragging the TruTarget with the mouse creates a second waypoint, then a third and so on. This forms the path that the TruTarget will travel.

Each waypoint can be assigned a specific pose as well. For example, on the second waypoint, the individual pulls out a gun, then aims the gun, and finally fires the gun. Poses include threatening gestures with guns and knives and non-threatening gestures with a phone or empty hands.

Lighting

DART Range has a flexible lighting system that allows you to simulate virtually any lighting condition. You’ll notice that all changes to lighting and shadows occur in real-time as you move the mouse. Using DART’s time-of-day slider the position of the sun can be set to noon, midnight, or anything in between. Notice that shadows and ambient light update automatically as the time-of-day slider is adjusted. 

In this example, there is also a streetlight type of light that can illuminate the scene. Props can also have their own lights. In this example, the lights of the walls are controlled with a simple slider. Finally, a flashlight prop is added which can be positioned and adjusted as needed. 

Loading and Placing Props

Props in DART Range can be as simple as a box or as complex as a school. Loading and placing props in DART is extremely simple. In this video, the Add Prop button is clicked causing a box to be added to the scene. It is automatically sized correctly and positioned on the floor. Using the mouse (or the position fields at the top of the screen), the box is rotated and moved to the proper position. 

Shadows

Shadows can be an important part of a scene. In this case, the threat is not even visible until revealed by his shadow.

Behaviors

Target behaviors are powerful settings that will cause a target to behave in a certain way if/when certain conditions are met. Even though they are powerful, behaviors are very easy to use with simple sliders controlling most of the action. In this video, there are three examples of different behaviors.

In the first segment, a Distance trigger is used so that when the target is a random distance from the shooter (in this case between 2 and 25 yards away), the target will change from a non-threat to a threat.

In the second segment, a Zone Hit trigger is used. In this example, a single shot to the center of the target will cause the target to fall down. 

In the last example, the target is held in place between 0 and 8 seconds after which time it is released to travel along its path. This might be used on a non-threat target to cause it to stand in place until a certain event, like a gunshot, happens.

Perspective

Using a flexible 3D system instead of pre-recorded video gives DART range several advantages over traditional firearms simulators, such as the ability to change perspective and viewpoints as shown in these examples.