Best video overlay software

[f1racr]

Hi all,

I've had an IQ3 for some time and a few years back invested in the promoted Trackvision software, but it was difficult to use and then even when you did get the data imported etc it was hard to get the data channels to display properly (eg no RPM showing or if it did it wasn't scaled properly 8000rpm showed as 6000rpm for instance).

Getting support seemed impossible ....................

Just wondering if there's something else out there that people with IQ3's have used to overlay their data onto their videos..........???

[dasing]

You might want to look into RaceRender:

http://racerender.com/RR3/Features.html

I've heard a number of people on different forums talking about, but I've never tried it or looked into it.

I personally use Trackvision. I've done a fair bit of manipulating of the templates to get the display that I want. And their support a couple of years ago when I needed help was terrific. I did notice that their web site has been down for a least of couple of weeks. And I haven't tried to contact them recently.

[f1racr]

Thanks for that. It seems like quite a few other packages that require an "open" type file with all the raw data in it vs being able to read the data directly from the Racepak files.

I can't see a way to be able to export all of the data out to other files without a lot of fiddling around and even then I can't get all the data out, just certain things.......

I might try contacting Trackvision support again and see if I can get a fix for the issues I was having.......... I just gave up as they never responded.

[dasing]

I suspect that programs like RaceRender and Trackvision will not be able to read Racepak files because I believe that Racepak considers their format be proprietary. So the channels have to be exported out of DataLinkII through text files.

To set the channels that DataLinkII exports, I go to the main Run Log Menu and then press "Track Vision Export." Add the channels that you want to export into the "Custom Channels List to Export" window. If you add these channels to the car's configuration file and save the file, then the added channels will be there for export and you won't have to add them each time (for future run downloads of course).

To get the channels read into Trackvision, it needs to convert your channel names into something it knows. For example, if you've selected the logger model within Trackvision to be, "Racepak DatalinkII V3.7 Video Gen", then it uses this file to convert the DataLinkII channel names to the names in its dash templates:

C:\ProgramData\Apex Visualizations\TrackVision\loggers\DatalinkIIVideo GenLogger.properties

So for instance, if you call your throttle channel, "Throttle", Trackvision won't recognize it because the default template has that channel named "Throttle Pos". You can either rename your channel in DataLinkII, or change the DatalinkIIVideoGenLogger.properties file to use your name.

Does this help?

[f1racr]

From what I've done so far it seemed like Trackvision already does read the Racepak files directly...........or maybe it just seems to do that but it's exporting in the background to something else....

What you've given is very helpful thanks.......... I just wish it was a bit simpler to get the channels into Trackvision or something similar......... it seems a little bit fiddly and I had troubles with scaling of the data on RPM particularly which was a pain since it didn't really relate to what the video was showing......

I was just hoping people had come up with a better solution in the last few years......... It seems like I'll struggle along with Trackvision and try to get it more consistent.

thanks very much for your help.

[dasing]

Ok. I'm not sure why the RPM would be off. I can help if the RPM range of the display isn't what you want. For example, if the tach goes from 0-9000 and you want 0-7000. But if the reported RPM is wrong, that's just odd. It would take some digging around to figure out.

Agreed, it is cumbersome. I don't know of anything better but I haven't really looked. I've developed a work flow that works for me so I haven't gone looking.

Best of luck.

[f1racr]

Yeah it was really weird. It showed the right RPM range, but the scaling seemed to be off......... at first it wasn't even showing, then I mucked around and finally got it to show RPM, but as mentioned it wasn't showing correctly so 8000 rpm was showing like 5500rpm and 6000 rpm was like 4000 rpm so it was all out.......

Here's another example of something odd that happens..... the rpm limit lights don't match the RPM.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Mm_QnQBms

[dasing]

Here's another example of something odd that happens..... the rpm limit lights don't match the RPM.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Mm_QnQBms

Shift lights.... Yah, Trackvision isn't receiving any info about how you have those configured in DataLinkII. I'd guess you're using the "RacepakIQ3+TP_Metric+PDlap.properties" dash when rendering your videos. It looks like that dashboard template uses the following file to determine when the shift lights come on:

C:\ProgramData\Apex Visualizations\TrackVision\displays\Racepak_IQ3Shi ftlights.inc

This file is just a text file. So if you open it, look for the words "threshold". They should tell when the various lights will come one. They come in pairs, one for the left light and one for the right. It looks like yours are set so the first ones come on at 5200 rpm and the last one comes on at 6000. You should be able to adjust them. I haven't actually tried this, but that's what it looks like to me.

[f1racr]

Thanks very much mate......... that's great, I'll take a look at that and set it to match the settings in the IQ3 and that should sort it.........

Thanks for chasing that up.....

[dasing]

Happy to help. Best of luck.