Thrustmaster TCA Sidestick
The aim of this guide is to expose a few tips and axis / button mapping suggestions for the Thrustmaster TCA Sidestick and Quadrant.
You can use many other joysticks like the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro or an Xbox controller but we find this TCA combo very efficient since you have plenty of axes and buttons you can map.
Middle Control Mapping tips
Below is our recommendation for your Joystick mapping in Middle Control. You can buy the TCA sidestick and TCA quadrant separately. We recommend mapping focus to buttons instead of an axis, since you will get more precise control. We found that mapping focus to the rudder trim button gives a nice control too.
The small top hat / thumb joystick behaves differently on macOS and Windows.
- Windows
- macOS
Mapped to White Balance (left / right) and ISO (up / down) by default. You can remap the hat like any other button.
Can be mapped to any +/- setting. We recommend to map the left / right movement to focus control.
You can also buy the Thrustmaster TCA Add-on that gives you two additional axis, that you can use for Zoom speed and ISO for instance, giving you even more control.
Adjustments to make on the TCA Series
These joysticks were initially designed for flight simulation, so a couple of modifications make them more suited to live camera control. The first is to remove the detents — those "clicks" that occur when moving the levers up and down. To do this on the TCA quadrant, unscrew the two U-shaped parts at the bottom, reverse their position, and screw them back in.
On the sidestick, you can also disable the detent at the end of the slider by pulling off the knob and unscrewing the small plastic part.
We also recommend disabling the reverse lock system by moving the throttle switch to its single-engine position while simultaneously pulling back on the reverse lever. This way, the lever will travel from one extreme to the other without needing to pull back on the reverse lever each time.
Finally, at the back of the TCA quadrant, next to the USB cable, you can adjust the strength of the levers. So that they won't slide too easily.
That's it! If you have questions or suggestions for using this system with Middle Control, contact us at [email protected].
For more video walkthroughs, visit the Middle Things YouTube channel.