In car video

[babak]

Weather is finally turning and it's time to start thinking about this year's track/autox season and the video requirements that go with it. A sticky may help those of us who are neophytes to the art of 'in car video.' So post your set up, likes/dislikes, teething problems etc.

For now I'll leave this here in the Electrical-A/V section but if it's better placed in Track and Technique it can always be moved.

[babak]

I have a PDR100 from chasecam which has yet to see the light of the day at the track. I've been playing with it during the off season. The set up:
PDR-100
Chasecam Camera, one big plus is that it derives power from the PDR and does not require a separate power supply, 12V Y splitter etc.
Suction mount.

Things I need/am considering to add:
--Small external LCD repeater/viewing screen to view things at the down time between sessions without a laptop and also to help aiming the camera better.
--Larger/Faster Compact Flash cards.

[slaughtr]

Old Sony DVR bolted directly to my harness bar. Works great for me. Steady, good vision. Wind noise is a problem.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...s+miller&hl=en

[waydui]

Originally Posted by slaughtr

Old Sony DVR bolted directly to my harness bar. Works great for me. Steady, good vision. Wind noise is a problem.

Hi Ronnie,
Great video!!

I like the way you drive: nice and smooth, very consistent. Engine RPMs always seem to be in the sweet spot.

Can't wait to get out myself this year, once the weather gets better.

Regards,
Wayne

[Conan]

I'm building my own camera mount. Anything I liked was $100 or more, so I found a tripod head that I can build from. I'll post info when I get it done.

[Toad]

Just copied this guys setup.

http://www.zetecinside.com/xr2/incarcamera.html

Tested out on the track 2 weeks ago. Mounted the bullet cam on the bwr harness bar and put the camcorder in the netting. Velcroed the battery pack behind the drivers seat. Great video and no wind noise ( I duct taped ) the mic along the center console. The mic does pic up some engine noise when the engine is at full howl; I might try to splice a electret microphone in place of the the one that came with the bullet cam.

I need to edit some of the video as it has a bunch of misc. stuff in it, and try to post in on google or youtube.

Jeff

[Conan]

Originally Posted by brgm100

Just copied this guys setup.

http://www.zetecinside.com/xr2/incarcamera.html

Tested out on the track 2 weeks ago. Mounted the bullet cam on the bwr harness bar and put the camcorder in the netting. Velcroed the battery pack behind the drivers seat. Great video and no wind noise ( I duct taped ) the mic along the center console. The mic does pic up some engine noise when the engine is at full howl; I might try to splice a electret microphone in place of the the one that came with the bullet cam.

I need to edit some of the video as it has a bunch of misc. stuff in it, and try to post in on google or youtube.

Jeff

Can I ask where you got the JXD 689 digital recorder?

[mlk_f1]

Originally Posted by slaughtr

Old Sony DVR bolted directly to my harness bar. Works great for me. Steady, good vision. Wind noise is a problem.

Nice Video. Looks like a fun track for the elise. Straightaway not too long, combination of tight turns, some elevation changes.
I heard from someone at the last track day that you can tape a piece of foam over the mic on the camcorder to reduce wind noise. I will give it a try next time.

BTW, can I get your permission to link the video on trackHQ.com ? If so, can you tell me the date of the event and organizer? I want to properly archive it.

Thanks

[Toad]

Can I ask where you got the JXD 689 digital recorder?

http://www.asia-product.com/digital-camera-p-109.html

Jeff

[slaughtr]

Originally Posted by mlk_f1

Nice Video. Looks like a fun track for the elise. Straightaway not too long, combination of tight turns, some elevation changes.
I heard from someone at the last track day that you can tape a piece of foam over the mic on the camcorder to reduce wind noise. I will give it a try next time.

BTW, can I get your permission to link the video on trackHQ.com ? If so, can you tell me the date of the event and organizer? I want to properly archive it.

Thanks

Ronnie Slaughter, '05 Lotus Elise, stock with the exception of a Larini exhaust and sport cat pipe.
Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah, East Track. Sponsored by Lappings Days. I'll get you the exact date but it was last Spring ('06) sometime. Your welcome to the video.

[blondie]

Here's my original setup:
http://www.quinndunki.com/lotus/video/
(ignore the video at the bottom- that's the older, lower quality setup)

With modifications as follows:
http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34427

Here are some samples:
http://www.youtube.com/blondie7575

[slaughtr]

Originally Posted by blondie

Here's my original setup:
http://www.quinndunki.com/lotus/video/
(ignore the video at the bottom- that's the older, lower quality setup)

With modifications as follows:
http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34427

Here are some samples:
http://www.youtube.com/blondie7575

Great video.

[babak]

So how are you aiming the camera? And where are you mounting it (for those not using harness mounted cameras)?

[blondie]

Originally Posted by babak

So how are you aiming the camera? And where are you mounting it (for those not using harness mounted cameras)?

The aiming and mounting procedures I used are detailed in the first link in my post above. The short version is, I mounted the camera under a bracket I built for my radar detector in the rear window. It's a simple 90* plate wedged in front of the rear glass, and screwed to the trim above the light.

Aiming was achieved by hooking up a laptop to the video output on the recorders (or any portable video device, such as a camcorder or small TV would work also).

[mlk_f1]

I finally tried out the Foam over the microphone trick to reduce wind noise from in car video. You can really hear the difference. I have two sample videos for comparison here:

Clicky:
http://www.trackhq.com/forums/showthread.php?t=588

[babak]

Using the PDR from chasecam, have you noticed a big difference between regular, say 1-2G, and larger, 4+ Gig CF cards?

[ZJChaser]

Canon SD700 ultra compact camera on the S111 mount. Small, light, simple, works great for me. Still playing a little with wind noise reduction. accidentaly early apex mistake at the end.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...29926598&hl=en

[Conan]

well, I made my own camera mount using a cut t-section PVC pipe and some u-bolts.

[lancer360]

I just purchased a Samsung Sports Camcorder Model SC-X205L/XAA. It comes with a bullet camera. I got a piece of that foam used to line the walls of recording studios at a local guitar store and made a pocket for the camera and shoved it down inside the netting. The bullet camera is mounted on the harness bar using the mount from S111. Pretty stable with the electronic image stabilization. I'm trying to solve the wind noise issue though. The bullet camera has a microphone built into it through a small hole on the top of the camera. I cut a piece of foam and taped it over it and it helped some, but it is still really bad and the glorious Larini exhaust note on the cam sounds like a horrible tin can buzzing in the video. Could really use some advice on these sound issue from some of the experts here!

[ffhillclimber]

Here are a couple of onboard videos from the Wolf Ridge Hillclimb held a couple of weeks ago in western NC. A VERY TECHNICAL and EXCITING hill. These were taken with a Samsung SCX210L. Since formula cars are very space limited and have high levels of vibration, I think this is the perfect camcorder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aJJoUMSQhw

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...e+Hillclimb%22

Stan Vann
Caldwell D9 FF1600

PS: These are deep discounted at less than $400 complete with the bullet cam. I'm using Chasecam's roll bar mount.