In-Car Video, the “Bringer of Truth”

[Jad]

+1 Jad, could you come down and drive my car so I can see what not to do??...

I just bought a complete GPS data logger unit which includes the display for 625.00 and can use 5 additional inputs. Its the GPX pro and is half the cost of the others.

Oh, you don't need me for that

It will be interesting to see the data you get.... sitting in the garage while we are at the track racing.

Actually comparing data to Steve may really help you both, yikes.

[gulf911]

oh man , that wasn't right...not right at all..

[993Panzer]

+1 to Jennifers comment, both the good and bad parts.

If you really want to learn to go fast, lose the video camera and get a decent data acquisition unit. Under $1k and will teach way more than the camera, especially if you let others drive your car for comparison.

+1 Jad, could you come down and drive my car so I can see what not to do??...

I just bought a complete GPS data logger unit which includes the display for 625.00 and can use 5 additional inputs. Its the GPX pro and is half the cost of the others.

Do you think you can figure out how to use all of that high technology? Someone told me you just learned how to use a clutch.

[Steve Grosekemper]

+1 to Jennifers comment, both the good and bad parts.

If you really want to learn to go fast, lose the video camera and get a decent data acquisition unit. Under $1k and will teach way more than the camera, especially if you let others drive your car for comparison.

+1 Jad, could you come down and drive my car so I can see what not to do??...

I just bought a complete GPS data logger unit which includes the display for 625.00 and can use 5 additional inputs. Its the GPX pro and is half the cost of the others.

Do you think you can figure out how to use all of that high technology? Someone told me you just learned how to use a clutch.

And Dave wasn't talking about that cute little purse you take along when you go out on Saturday night...

[gulf911]

Some days it just doesn't pay to check the forum....

[Mmagus]

If you really want to learn to go fast, lose the video camera and get a decent data acquisition unit. Under $1k and will teach way more than the camera, especially if you let others drive your car for comparison.

While I would LOVE a set up like that and am very sure it would be very benificial, I will have to stay with my ghetto home-made $120 version. At least untill I win the lotto...oh wait...You have to buy tickets to win that huh? So it you want to see how to do it on the "cheap" stop by for a peek.

Mark

[Greg Phillips]

+1 to Jennifers comment, both the good and bad parts.

If you really want to learn to go fast, lose the video camera and get a decent data acquisition unit. Under $1k and will teach way more than the camera, especially if you let others drive your car for comparison.

Don't drop the video but add it to the data acquisition. It makes the graphs much easier to follow when you have the video also.
Of course the Jedi trackmasters like Jad don't need video to feel the force.

I also agree with the use of inexpensive point and shoot cameras for in-car video. Sony makes excellent cameras (DSC-S60 or S90) for video, only complaint is the Memory Sticks instead of SD cards. But they have manual control of focus which is nice to have it avoid "hunting" for focus or always focusing on the dash instead of the track.

Kodak also makes a camera that shoots 720p HD video that was $115 refurbished

Greg

[Jad]

If you really want to learn to go fast, lose the video camera and get a decent data acquisition unit. Under $1k and will teach way more than the camera, especially if you let others drive your car for comparison.

While I would LOVE a set up like that and am very sure it would be very benificial, I will have to stay with my ghetto home-made $120 version. At least untill I win the lotto...oh wait...You have to buy tickets to win that huh? So it you want to see how to do it on the "cheap" stop by for a peek.

Mark

Mark, I did it on the cheap for a long time in n/a 944's. Engine rebuilds in the garage etc, on my daily driver with no mods, so I know the cheap methods. Still, if you want to learn to drive, data acquisition will teach you a lot more than video ever will. Video is fun, and as Greg said, both is best, but I feel no matter how cheap you are trying to be, spend the $500-$600 on a system if you want to learn to drive. If you just want to have fun, the video is great. Best mod you can do to the car in my opinion (well besides seat time).

[Mmagus]

Jad,

I really do apreciate the sound advice and was not shutting down your suggestion. I have peeked at the systems online and the data output is amazing. Who knows? might just have one someday. For now I am working on as much seat time as I can arrange and looking forward to my first TT in September. Thanks for the advice and positive encouragement as I do want to learn to drive fast...while having fun

Mark

[Cajundaddy]

FYI-
A lap timer/data acquisition on the cheap:http://www.racechrono.com/about/
A lot more than a simple lap timer, not to be confused with the sweet all in one IQ3 system. Definitely worth a look for those of us on a shoestring.

[Greg Phillips]

Jad,

I really do apreciate the sound advice and was not shutting down your suggestion. I have peeked at the systems online and the data output is amazing. Who knows? might just have one someday. For now I am working on as much seat time as I can arrange and looking forward to my first TT in September. Thanks for the advice and positive encouragement as I do want to learn to drive fast...while having fun

Mark

Another inexpensive option is the MaxQData system for $289 (and up): http://www.maxqdata.com/products.htm

Greg

[gulf911]

Most all other data loggers are 1200.00 (IQ3 - G2X etc.) and up to start. Look at XT racings GPX pro , all in one, Dash is included, easy to use, GPS based, software , Shift lights, can export to trackvision all for $625.00. While the others can have 32 channels or more this has 5, but seriously how many do you need to monitor? RPM , TPS, Brake? Maybe not shoestring but does what the others do for less than half the cost.

[kleggo]

I do a lot of instructing in a couple of Porsche clubs. I stress visualization and the Speed Secrets book on visualization. The stop watch technique was presented to me a by a pro driver. I've used it ever since. I also lay in bed a couple of nights before an event and run several laps through my mind before falling asleep. Seems to embed the track in my mind.

indeed true, in a former life as a competitive skydiver, we called this visualization, Dirt Diving.
Typically even world class skydivers only have 3 - 4000 jumps. At 60 seconds a jump that's only 50 - 65 hours of total practice time in the air.
How many world class athletes do you know that only get that little practice?
Dirt Diving and Video Review are crucial to kickin a$$.

oh and Dave, regarding " I also lay in bed a couple of nights before an event and run several laps through my mind", that's TMI.
cheers

Craig

[Don Middleton]

"I also lay in bed a couple of nights...run several laps through my mind"

Craig, who's lap...anyone we know? Sorry, couldn't help myself...

[galis]

Hi Mark,

In-car vids can be done very inexpensively. I use a $99 Cannon digital camera (yay K-Mart) with a 16gig SD card so I can shoot 133+min of 640x480, 30fps footage. The camera lets me shoot 40 min at time. Each is different so make sure to test yours if you plan on using it. I made my camera mount using thin scrap aluminum and a pair of tin-snips, I then attached it to my harness bar. Total mount cost…$0

Thanks for posting this. Have you talked to Victor? He mentioned something about continuous shooting, I think he's doing it but we never discussed any details.

It really got me thinking and I have a vague plan to get 2 to 6 cameras running 24/7 for $500 to $1500. My goal is to have good video 24/7 and I think it is possible, not free but without spending a whole lot more than you have. Key component is a netbook laptop. They are light and small, fully functional computers (keyboard/mouse/wifi/bluetooth/ethernet/firewire/3xUSB2/camera/mic/speakers/SD Reader/160GB HD) that run on 12v, have amazing performance (Intel Atom) and battery life for $350. Some are $250 but I've not used them.

So I was thinking of developing some sort of recording queue that fills up the hard drive until some threshold when the old video gets purged to make room for the new. Bluetooth or Wifi cams could help a lot with wiring but USB cams are cheep and the whole system would need to be mounted... Maybe a second car battery and electrical power regulators would be good. Anyway I think a LOT of recording could get to disk, for "on demand" wifi download to a (regular) laptop or a home computer. The two bottlenecks I'm anticipating are all the simultaneous video cam writes to disk (two might be max, but 6!) and the cpu required to encode all that video, it's why I imagined two netbooks for my quote, but maybe the camera's can encode. Are you getting AVI or MP4 files?

Anyway, there are a variety of ways to address the issues, I'm not at that point yet. But I thought I'd throw it out there. It's a dangerous game building electronics when so much off the shelf stuff can do a professional job at +/- 30% of home made cost , and in as much time as it takes to buy it.

So what are the good commercial products to consider (cough/copy)?

-George