Which Video Do You Prefer?

[apk919]

I've been using a ChaseCam for in-car video and a Traqmate for data acquisition for almost a year. The Traqmate has great analysis software, and can generate video that combines some of the data with the ChaseCam video. It's very quick and easy to use, but lacks some flexibility. On the other hand, DashWare from ChaseCam offers an enormous amount of flexibility, but requires a bit more time and effort to use.

So I thought I'd ask for your opinions on which one you think gives the best combination of car video and data representation. With Traqmate, what you see is pretty much what you can do. With DashWare, much more is possible; but what you see is what I've come up with so far.

Two videos of the same two lap time trial from the LCS event at Infineon:

Traqmate TraqStudio:

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ChaseCam DashWare:

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1iWKoLmdq5s&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1iWKoLmdq5s&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

BTW, Randy is not allowed to vote...

[kaz]

I like the bottom simply because the extra data isn't overlayed on top of the window and you can see more of the view. It's not pertinent to the racing line but just makes it seem less "crowded". That is a purely aesthetic comment.

From a usability standpoint I like that the top video has everything clustered together like a real dash could almost look. The data is more legible. But, I assume the DashWare is configurable to the Nth degree so all that is negated. So...DashWare

[apk919]

Originally Posted by kaz

I like the bottom simply because the extra data isn't overlayed on top of the window and you can see more of the view. It's not pertinent to the racing line but just makes it seem less "crowded". That is a purely aesthetic comment.

From a usability standpoint I like that the top video has everything clustered together like a real dash could almost look. The data is more legible. But, I assume the DashWare is configurable to the Nth degree so all that is negated. So...DashWare

The Traqmate software only allows the "dashboard" to be placed in one of the four corners, and as far as I can tell can't be resized or split into pieces. I could put it in the bottom corner, but then it would interfere with the ChaseCam G-force displays (which can be moved also, but of course before actually recording the video).

With DashWare I can independently move each gauge or display anywhere in the frame, resize it, group with other gauges, change fonts and colors, etc. It also allows integration with other data... also, it's easier to control of the beginning and ending of the video (i.e. adding a few seconds before and after the actual duration of the timed lap).

It's actually not that much more work to generate the DashWare video once you've settled on the data and gauges you want to display (the danger is you can wind up endlessly tweaking tiny details... but of course that's not DashWare's fault).

Oh yeah, any suggestions for alternative placement of the tach, speedo, G-circle, and track map are welcome...

[rnr]

Originally Posted by apk919

The Traqmate software only allows the "dashboard" to be placed in one of the four corners, and as far as I can tell can't be resized or split into pieces. I could put it in the bottom corner, but then it would interfere with the ChaseCam G-force displays (which can be moved also, but of course before actually recoding the video).

Why are you using the Chasecam display for G-force when (I assume) the Traqmate is recording it as well? Wont the single solution be more elegant and have less interference?

For deciding between the two I'd say it all comes down to how much pain you are willing to go through to get the desired output. Is the more customizable Dashware worth the extra effort to you?

[apk919]

Originally Posted by rnr

Why are you using the Chasecam display for G-force when (I assume) the Traqmate is recording it as well? Wont the single solution be more elegant and have less interference?

That's a fair question... for a while I actually wanted to compare the two to make sure I was getting accurate data. They agree very closely, but the on-screen ChaseCam G-force graph is actually slightly delayed (probably a consequence of the real-time internal processing required).

Originally Posted by rnr

For deciding between the two I'd say it all comes down to how much pain you are willing to go through to get the desired output. Is the more customizable Dashware worth the extra effort to you?

Once you've settled on graphics, really the only extra step is exporting the Traqmate data from TraqStudio and importing it into DashWare. The biggest advantage in using DashWare for me is adding additional data logging to the video... as in this video which displays OBD-II data as gauges:

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GHt_iv7vvdo&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GHt_iv7vvdo&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[rnr]

Originally Posted by apk919

Once you've settled on graphics, really the only extra step is exporting the Traqmate data from TraqStudio and importing it into DashWare. The biggest advantage in using DashWare for me is adding additional data logging to the video... as in this video which displays OBD-II data as gauges:

Sounds like you have decided that Dashware is the way to go and just need someone to push you over the edge :-)

Plus you can always make different Dashware gauges for each data type and just save them to the toolbox as a reusable set.