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  #51  
Old 11-12-2007
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

FWIW - the Singing the Blues material was from Mike's chip camera. He is using them only for the more robust cable connections they offer, not because of tape vs chip considerations.

The video connections on his tape cams were wearing out too quickly, causing too many poor or missed recordings. I can relate, a definite weak point of many digital cameras, they just weren't designed for the kind of abuse incar recording subjects them to.

I emailed Mike a link to these posts, I am sure you will hear from him Bill.

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Old 11-12-2007
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

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Originally Posted by cooleyjb View Post
Sorry if this is against forum rules, I didn't see anything against it.
no problem at all, we only ban users who have no affiliation with racing or SB who logon to hawk some product, racing related or otherwise.

Thanks for the links CJB - how do the videos look when burned to DVD for large TV presentation? I have a feeling the different video screen size might make editing with other (non-incar) video a problem (without some res. loss).
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Last edited by cdh; 11-12-2007 at 09:42 AM.
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  #53  
Old 11-12-2007
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

The camera is only shooting at 640x480 so when you start looking at the video on larger screens it is definitely not as nice as the Chasecam and Helix setups.
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  #54  
Old 11-12-2007
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

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Originally Posted by cooleyjb View Post
The camera is only shooting at 640x480 so when you start looking at the video on larger screens it is definitely not as nice as the Chasecam and Helix setups.
640x480 is fine, I thought it was smaller based on the sample vids. Should work ok with standard video.
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  #55  
Old 03-23-2008
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

I've gotten a GoPro HeroCam, does anyone know the size of clamps that will fit onto the rt-2000 roll bar and that might be able to hold the cam? Sy, I think you were saying that the double socket arm holds onto the roll bar. If so, I'll still have to figure out how to have the other end grip the camera tightly, as all the mounts currently in the GoPro assembly kit are either adhesive or one large suction cup.
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  #56  
Old 03-24-2008
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

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I've gotten a GoPro HeroCam, does anyone know the size of clamps that will fit onto the rt-2000 roll bar and that might be able to hold the cam? Sy, I think you were saying that the double socket arm holds onto the roll bar. If so, I'll still have to figure out how to have the other end grip the camera tightly, as all the mounts currently in the GoPro assembly kit are either adhesive or one large suction cup.
Mobilecx seems to have disappeared, I found same hardware at this site - Ram Camera Mounts

For the RT roll hoop you need a RAM-B-108B V base, ball and straps for 1/2"-2" dia.

For the camera end, depends on diameter of camera. For bullet cams this u-bolt assem works.

To use them together you need a BALL SOCKET ARM.

Catalog - PDF - tons of mounting solutions here.

Dead links in Sy's orig. post fixed.
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Last edited by cdh; 03-24-2008 at 10:32 AM.
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  #57  
Old 03-24-2008
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

Quote:
Originally Posted by wbs View Post
I've gotten a GoPro HeroCam, does anyone know the size of clamps that will fit onto the rt-2000 roll bar and that might be able to hold the cam? Sy, I think you were saying that the double socket arm holds onto the roll bar. If so, I'll still have to figure out how to have the other end grip the camera tightly, as all the mounts currently in the GoPro assembly kit are either adhesive or one large suction cup.
I thought GoPro was another bullet cam, is this the one?



If there is the standard 1/4" threaded adapter in camera base this assem would work.

If not I would look through the Ram catalog, has to be something in there.
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  #58  
Old 03-24-2008
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

Thanks Doug!

That is the one, specifically, the one on top of whatever that is in the pic. There is a kind of hinge at the bottom of the protective clear case - it is waterproof for scuba diving - but I will keep it on even though I plan on racing mainly above water, as it will hopefully protect the cam from dust and/or pebbles hitting it at 100 mph. I'll check again but I'm pretty sure that the clear casing doesn't have the standard adapter. I'll have a look in the catalog.
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  #59  
Old 04-12-2008
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

Came back from the finale of the Skippy western series at Laguna Seca! Great track and I got to check out the functioning of my new GoPro Hero cam. Works as well as (and no better than) the videos on their home site would suggest. Gotta say that this thing makes you the most popular guy on the track, as no one can believe that you are actually filming and recording a full session on something that's about the size of a small tangerine amd that costs less than $200 and has "made in China" stamped on it, so people crowd around your laptop between sessions. Couple of things: It's not wide angle, so you don't see your hands on the wheel, and can only get the top part of the front wheels to get a slight indication of over- under- steer. To balance this, when someone is 25 feet in front of you, they don't look as if they're a mile away.

As far as the mounting, it was simpler than I thought. I just got the GoPro wristband mount, i.e., the velcro strap for scuba diving, and, wrapped around a strip of foam, x-acto'd off a spare Skippy seat foam lying around, fit fine over the top of the roll hoop. I also used a couple pieces of racer's tape to keep the camera from sliding forward/down with each bump, but in the end, I don't think that was necessary, as the tape never seemed stretched to its limit after each session. Note, the roll hoops were bare and didn't have the Marino camera mounts in place.

The sound was a problem, as I got some natural sound even through the waterproof casing, but for whatever reason, there was really nasty static-y sound that paralleled engine revs and that overwhelmed any natural sound. Have to check with the GoPro guys about that.

Would love to show you an excerpt, but have to get some video editing software to cut it down. Any suggestions are welcome, I am talking about some basic software. I just got a Toshiba Tecra together with the cam so as to be able to download after each session. One more warning, you gotta do that, two sessions is too much for the cam.
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  #60  
Old 05-08-2009
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

Just came across what looks like a VERY good new system:

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/gro...pID=VIDEOINCAR

Pricey, yes, but looks very capable and high quality.
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  #61  
Old 05-08-2009
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

Quote:
Originally Posted by sydude View Post
Just came across what looks like a VERY good new system:

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/gro...pID=VIDEOINCAR

Pricey, yes, but looks very capable and high quality.

They've been around for a couple of years. The stuff is really nice. For that price I'd go for the ChaseCam setup though.
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  #62  
Old 05-09-2009
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

Can't believe anything would give as much satisfaction as completing the assembly Sy kindly provided at the beginning of this thread - or a psychotic state in the confused process to the more probable result of bits and pieces strewn hither and yon, burned fingers, etc.

We're running Chase Cams on our FCs. Very satisfied. They turn on and off automatically when they should; clear, right-sized field of view; good sound; no vibration; dealer easy to work with.
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  #63  
Old 05-10-2009
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

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Originally Posted by John Greist View Post

We're running Chase Cams on our FCs. Very satisfied. They turn on and off automatically when they should; clear, right-sized field of view; good sound; no vibration; dealer easy to work with.
Yeah, but you guys aren't going too fast....


Nice run at Blackhawk National by Revere last week. In case noone noticed, he took it to the defending multi-tme FC national champion and won.
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  #64  
Old 05-10-2009
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

Bravo Revere!

Quote:
Originally Posted by cooleyjb View Post
Yeah, but you guys aren't going too fast....


Nice run at Blackhawk National by Revere last week. In case noone noticed, he took it to the defending multi-tme FC national champion and won.
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  #65  
Old 05-11-2009
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

so, let's see some FC race video please, email me if you would like some help posting, we would like to see,

congrats Revere
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  #66  
Old 05-11-2009
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Thumbs up Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

Thanks, guys! We will work on posting some FC video. It will probably be after next weekend when we have the cameras totally dialed.

Missing the Skippy crew!
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  #67  
Old 11-04-2009
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

Here's a really cool new in-car camera from AIM (the company that makes our lap timers):

http://www.smartycam.com/index_eng.htm
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  #68  
Old 09-09-2011
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Re: Guide to putting together an In-Car Video Camera System

This thread is overdue for an update. There have been a lot of developments on the high-end video, but I'm going to use this discussion to talk about the capabilities of the iPhone 4 armed with an under-$20 app - Harry's Lap Timer Pro.

I've only had the chance to use it in the last day of a 2 Day Adv session, but I think the results are promising.

Function
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Triggered by proximity to preloaded GPS S/F and track sector boundaries, the app uses the iPhone's

- video camera,
- on-board GPS,
- gyros and
- accelerometers

to log lap data:

- cumulative lap time
- sector times
- speed at sector boundaries
- accelerations in 3 axes
- rotations
- video of every other lap (there's a lot of stuff to shuffle around, and right now, there's not enough processing power to unload and store all the buffers in time to get video of all the laps)

Postprocessing and data display
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- The position and inertial data can be merged with the video file to produce an animation (at 30 fps, I think) with session ID, a 2D accelerometer rose, current speed, track map with dot at current location. The video seems to be a normal Mac thing that can be edited and annotated in the iMovie app, e.g. or uploaded to your computer,

- The position and inertial data can be cast into a *.kml file for display in Google Earth. A typical GE display shows, for a selected lap, the sampled locations, sector boundary speeds, path with triangles or trapezoids representing the instantaneous accelerations superimposed on a satellite image of the track,

- a selection of x-y plots showing speeds and a accelerations as a function of time, superimposed onto a plot corresponding to a particular reference lap you've selected.

- the raw data, including video, can be uploaded to your computer in a variety of familiar formats for further crunching in software of your choice (spreadsheets, Mathematica, probably Matlab, etc.) If you use the app to merge data to video, then the video clock and the data clock are synchronized in the upload.


Initialization
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The app is initialized by entering your event data and selection of track data (there's a huge db that covers what must be most of the world's tracks.) There are facilities for building your own track dataset for anything special or for moving sector boundaries around if you don't like the default set.

Mounting
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For the full function, the iPhone is mounted, with video displaying the desired field, on the roll bar using any of the standard hardware (such as Ram Mount) and enough duct tape and zip ties to secure the phone itself into the otherwise-not-race-ready snap-in holder.

Running the session
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Once mounted, the accelerometers can be calibrated (press a button and wait a few seconds.)

Before engine start, press the 'video' button. This preps the device, but it doesn't begin recording until you pass the Start/Finish GPS waypoint. (I suppose a pit position beyond S/F would delay the start until the first flying lap, but at LRP school anyway, it started logging when we rolled out.)

Conclusions
_______________

1. This is a VERY cool toy. But it is still a toy.

2. Its principal limitation is I think the low data sampling rate. From what I can understand from the app's highly technical and highly responsive forum, the rate is limited by the on-board GPS, which can't reliably respond to a poll faster than 1 Hz. This is in contrast to the accelerometers which can be read by other apps at very high frequencies.

3. Putting that together with the unavoidable GPS errors and resolution of lap and sector times can't be better than a (large) fraction of a second. Speeds, I think, are calculated by differentiating the positions, so they figure to compound the error.

4. The video will appear very ragged to an eye accustomed to GoPro output. If I'm forced to post a sample video here, I'll have to wrap it in disclaimers about how I mounted the rig with the rubber gasket between vee-clamp and rollbar instead of between vee-clamp and hose clamp. The camera's modest resolution combines badly with the cheap scan routine and vibrations in the mounting.

Metaconclusions
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1. Complaining about low sampling rate or poor video is like complaining, when I introduce you to the dog I've taught to talk, about his accent. It's just dazzling that this can be done at all.

2. This is a valuable system for beginning drivers who are looking for seconds.

3. This is very fast-moving technology. Conclusions that are sound today might be laughable in a month or so when the iPhone 5 is announced or Harry's version 4 is released. (Version 4, now in beta, is supposed to be able to read separate wireless, via Bluetooth, GPS units, and much higher sampling rates may be possible. It's beta so no one's promising anything.)

4. Some day (like in late October) there'll be analog/digital data scanners, readable by the iPhone over Wi-Fi. This'll change the game.

5. Other iPhone apps routinely read the OBD (on-board diagnostics) ports, so if there were enough interest, Harry will probably add that to the data stream. Then all we have to do is to get SBRS to let us tap into it.

6. For under $20, it's a heck of a toy.

--
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