The way to Overlay Data For Track Time Videos with AEM Data Software program
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Most gearheads agree that monitor day videos are cool. You are able to share heroic in-car shots associated with yourself on YouTube bombing through the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca or you can display people how you jumped out of your racecar during a fire . Of course , not every track day videos are equivalent, and I have found the ones with automobile data overlaid on them are much a lot more dynamic and interesting to watch. In order to step up our own game of creating awesome track day videos we made a decision to combine vehicle data and in-car video using hardware and software program from AEM Electronics .
Pertaining to collecting data in our 2019 Fiesta from ford ST autocross racer we how to use AEM Electronics CD-5 Digital Splash Logger plugged into the OBDII interface and suction cupped to the windscreen.
Hardware & Software Required
We’ve been playing with our AEM Electronics’ CD-5LG Carbon Logging Display with Inner GPS all period long with our Ford Fiesta ST task car in the Way of the Closed fist series for Kia Muscle . Mostly we have been utilizing it for its outstanding programmable shift gentle during autocross and rallycross activities. But besides the gauges that the electronic dash displays it is also collecting information about the vehicle through the OBDII slot and GPS data from the antenna on the roof. We could use this data along with videos.
Any action camera is useful for overlaying data on videos. We all use a GoPro Hero8 Black on the mount designed to attach to a vehicle’s headrest. This mount places the particular camera in the direct center from the vehicle to shoot through the windscreen.
For movies I have been using GoPro products for years and recently improved to the Hero8 Black Edition. The particular Hero8 Black collects its own GPS NAVIGATION data and can overlay vehicle swiftness using GoPro software, however , I have discovered that cameras mounted inside an automobile don’t always collect GPS information and the camera itself doesn’t understand what the vehicle is doing (RPM, temperature, and so forth ). So , we still make use of GoPro products for video, however for data information we will leave that will to AEM.
Before you can start overlaying information on top of videos you need two items: data and video. Here you can view us using the AEM CD-5 Electronic Dash Logger at an autocross to gather GPS data from a roof installed antenna and vehicle data with the OBDII port. (Track photos simply by Brad Dawson. )
The best part of this project is certainly going out and having some enjoyable with cars to create a track day time video. We headed to a local SCCA autocross using our own AEM Electronics dash and proceeded to go as fast as we could, sometimes on 3 wheels, and ended up winning the particular H-Street class that day. Following the event was over we going back home to download the video from you and the data from the digital splash. To access data from our AEM electronic dash logger we use the totally free AEM Data software .
To obtain this process started you will need the software entitled “AEM Data” which is a free download through AEM Electronics. This is a powerful device to help you analyze the data collected out of your vehicle.
Starting out
The AEM Information software is a simple and free download through AEM Electronics. When you download this for the first time, during the installation wizard, make sure to click the box to include the downloading it of another software called “WebM Transcoder. ” This will ensure you come with an additional program you will need to convert your own video files so they can be used with AEM Data. We will cover this a lot more in depth in a few steps.
After you are usually done having fun on track you will need to down load both your vehicle data from the AEM CD-5 and the video from your digital camera. We use a portable 12-volt energy source to power up the AEM CD-5 for the download.
Once you have the AEM Information software on a laptop you will need to switch on your AEM Digital Dash plus use the USB cord to connect the particular dash with your laptop. This will permit the AEM Data software to down load vehicle and GPS data through the dash. The whole process takes regarding twenty seconds.
To download the information from the AEM Digital Dash basically plug in the USB cord in the AEM CD-5 to a laptop computer, start the AEM Data software, visit the top menu bar, select “Logger” then pull down to “Download Record. ” The computer does the rest.
Once you have a record to work with from the AEM Digital Splash, you won’t see anything fascinating on the screen. You will need to go to the top of menu bar, select “Add” and after that in the drop down menu select “Channels. ” This will show you all of the various channels which were logged during your period at the track. We use the motor speed channel to show RPM. This particular “Add” option will also allow you to give a track map and a video display screen.
This drop down menu allows you to give a number of views to your screen. Those you will need are the Channel, Track, plus Video.
Before you add a video to the screen you will have to convert that video file in order to something called a WEBM movie. If you aren’t a video editing geek this probably doesn’t mean a lot to you. Good news, AEM made this particular easy with their WebM Transcoder software program. You don’t need to be an expert in Adobe Premiere video editing software program to make this work. AEM will get it, you’re a racecar drivers, not Steven Spielberg.
This WebM Transcoder software is free from AEM and may be installed when you initially install your own AEM Data software. You simply fall in your video file from your actions camera and it converts the document to a WEBM file which can be utilized in the AEM Data software.
The video file needs to be converted from whatever it initially started as from the camera – MP4, WMV, AVI, etc . – to some WEBM file. Using the WebM Transcoder software it simply converts electronic video files to WEBM files therefore the AEM Data program can use all of them. This can be a time consuming process, so possess some patience (it may take up to thirty minutes). Pro tip: edit your own total video down to just what you desire (like a single lap) to reduce up this process.
Here you can see There are three screens open on the AEM Data software. I additional a Channels screen (engine data), a Track screen (GPS data) and a Video screen (GoPro data).
Setting Up Your own Overlays
Once your own video is converted to WEBM you can include a video screen and you will see your video clip displayed in the software. On our display we have three things added: Funnel, Track, and Video. By striking the play button at the top of the display screen you will see all three screens shift according to the data. You will see the motor data start to move (RPM proceed up), you will see the white basketball on the track map begin to shift (GPS data), and you will see the movie play. Right away you will realize it and the GPS/engine data are probably from sync.
The video and the data document will both start from zero, which usually generally is never the same instant. You will need to synchronize the video with the information by delaying the start of either one.
You can see in the picture above that I delayed the start of the information log by 2 hours, 57 a few minutes and 44 seconds to match the start (zero time) of the video record. My vehicle data log had been very long (I had multiple occasions on it), which is why I had to setup so much delay to synchronize the video. Pro tip: download plus clear the logs in the AEM Digital Dash after every occasion. I used an RPM surge in the data to determine the exact time I left the starting series. You can also see the flagger is waving the green flag at the same instant. It is go time.
To add features to overlay on your video just right click over the video display. When the menu pops up, select Include Gauge and then pick the gauge you need. For our setup we used: Club (for throttle %), Image (for a DNN Motorsports logo), Quantity (for vehicle speed), Tacho (for RPM), and Track (for the GPS track map).
Adding different types of gauges more than your video is extremely easy with all the AEM Data software. By simply moving your mouse over the video, correct click, then select Add Measure, which gives you an additional drop down menus with lots of choices. The options here are quite limitless. It is in this “Add Gauge” section where you can add a team logo design (we added ours for Group Double Nickel Nine Motorsports ) by adding an Image. We additional a bar graph to show accelerator percentage. We added a monitor map to show where we are on course during a lap. We added the tachometer to show engine speed. All of us also added a number gauge to demonstrate vehicle speed.
Once you have an evaluate on your screen, click on the graphic to choose it, then right click to see the Gauge Configuration options. Right here we have selected our Number evaluate and then using the Channel menu we all assigned that number to the GPS Rate channel from the vehicle. And with that people had vehicle speed displayed.
The next step to making your own gauges work is assigning the channel to them. For the tachometer we all assigned that to the engine swiftness channel. For the throttle percentage all of us assigned that to the throttle station. For vehicle speed we designated that to GPS speed (we could have chosen vehicle speed in the OBDII data but that wouldn’t account for wheel slip). The features can be manipulated widely depending on what you want to feel with the data. You can move the particular gauges anywhere you want on display screen and adjust their size. You are able to change font size, color, and you will make the background of a gauge clear. I found that just playing around with all the options really helped me learn the skills of the software and what I wanted to find out on screen.
If you have the design you are looking for it is time to render your movie. Right click over the video display screen and select Encode Video. Here you should have the option to save the video to a particular location and to render the whole video clip or just a selection of the video. We suggest just rendering the selection (the portion of the lap you have highlighted).
The whole point of most this work is to end up with a very good video at the end. So , after you have your own video synched with your data in addition to all the gauges you want to see overlaid on your video it is time to encode it so you can watch it on the giant screen. Right click on the video and select Encode Video. I choose Best Quality and am choose to only render the portion of video I want to see (not the whole file from my GoPro). No one needs to see me idling within the pits for five minutes. Boring things.
The processing time for the video clip takes a few minutes so patience can be your friend here. But once it really is completed the video is ready to view.
Once our video clip was encoded it was time to discover where I told the software in order to save it on my hard drive plus check it out. The video came out great and much more importantly it taught me some thing about my driving style. I must be smoother with the throttle your pedal. According to the bar graph on the movie, I am using the throttle pedal just like a light switch: on or away. It is only because of the data overlay on the video that I was able to self-reflect and try to improve my driving. Utilizing the AEM Electronics hardware and software program didn’t just create a cool monitor day video, it also is assisting me to go faster around the monitor. Win-win!
