Trackaroo Trackmaster

Foreword:
I have created an Excel file from scratch that automates every step to help you. Below you will find two links to my GoogleDocs. One is for the Excel file which has macros in it. It’s currently set up to handle 20 laps worth of data which should be plenty for any track day. If you need more then just start mimicking what I have and add additional lap tabs. Or ask me and I'll modify the file.

The second file in my GoogleDocs is the RaceChrono2AVI (RC2AVI) software that I use to animate the data. Download and install this program.

Purpose:
This setup will work with any bike and any car. It's completely wireless and only uses your Android phone and a bluetooth GPS receiver that is the size of a key fob. Thefore you can log just about anything at any time without hassle.

Background:
I wanted a cheap way to get the data overlay and was willing to put in some time and effort in order to save some coin. I found that with four programs I could accomplish what I wanted as long as I put in some effort in the beginning. Those programs are:
- My Excel File; to manipulate the data
- RC2AVI; this animates the manipulated data and saves it as an .avi file
- A video editor; I chose Corel VideoStudio ProX3, but you can use whatever you want. ProX3 can overlay up to 6 additional video tracks over the main video track so 7 video feeds in total.

My template
Before you convert any data do this:
- Rename your logged file from Trackmaster to "Trackmaster Export" and have both that file and my template open at the same time. If it's not named exactly that then the automated template will not work.

After you convert you data using my template
Right click on the .csv file and choose Open With -> NotePad. When the file opens in NotePad it’ll look like a giant brick of number with commas. In the first few lines of this file you will notice that there are a lot of extra commas. Remove all the extra commas so that there is only one comma at the end of each line. I haven’t figure out yet why this happens, but it doesn’t occur in the rest of the data. Save your changes after you remove the extra commas.

RaceChrono Software
Open the RC2AVI software. Load whatever “config” you want and choose either kmh or mph. Then click the “…” button to the right of the long white box to load your data. Go to your desktop and select the .csv file you just saved the changes to. Choose your starting lap and ending lap. Check the box for “record avi.” Now click play and let it run. FYI: do not put your mouse inside of the box outlined in yellow as it will see and record the mouse. Same thing applies for other windows. It also applies if you lock your computer. Just let it sit there and record peacefully.

Edit the video
You now have your .avi data file recorded. Just use your video editing software and match up the two video feeds. Done.
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Enjoy…

FYI, I've modified my template file. I also edited my OP because the template file is now 100% automated from start to finish. Makes it super fast to pump out the data.

I havent had a chance to try this out yet, bu am wondering if the rendered AVI files include an alpha channel for transparency?

The next Trackmaster release will be out next week. This release includes an open API that allows third party apps to read the Trackmaster data. As an example of using this open API, I'll release an open source (free) app that will allow you to convert to your track data to Race2Chrono CSV.

Jeff

Did the ver 2.5 include the free app to convert trackmaster data to Race2Chrono CSV...? I really would like to use race2chronoavi along with trackmasters to overlay my videos with telemetry... What about the open API data extraction will be compatible with other apps like Dashware, trackvision?

Patiently waiting. I played around with the RaceChrono2AVI and I really like it. ...although they need a mitsu template!

I've been successfully using the video export file from Trackmaster together with the RaceChrono2AVI from sessions at Watkins Glen. Thanks for the feature.

One odd thing though, a few days earlier (Oct. 5) I had a trackday at Mosport in Canada, and the video export files seem to display a very peculiar bug. The track is shown on the RaceChrono2AVI screen reversed east-to-west. In the Trackmaster app (& exported to Google Earth), the track is shown correctly. Weird. Watkins Glen was fine, Mosport is reversed!

Track from video export

Google Earth image

I'm seeing a north south and an east west transposition!

When the data plays back it shows me going around the track clockwise whereas I was actually going anti-clockwise (most of the time )

Track also seems distended.

In my case it might be a Southern hemisphere issue in the lat/long tranposition to x:y co-ordinates.

Should be fixable by negating the data in the X and Y columns in the excel sheet.

I'll have a play with it now.

Thanks. I'll have this fixed in the next release.

Jeff

This will be fixed in the next release that will be available in a few days.

Jeff