Hello there
Why there are no manuals or tutorials for this product? Useful FAQ?
I have found ONE tutorial, and is in Italian.
I understand that It might be thought that it is intuitive, but it is not when you do not know what is the expected outcome.
How about tips on how to use it?
I bought it mainly for data overlay in my gopro videos.
On this "tutorial"
http://www.racechrono.com/news/?p=480Linking how? Is the data being exported or is the video being imported? I think is the latter, if so, how to import a gopro video into whatever I need to use?
Was at the track last weekend, started the application, choose the track, but the only thing it said was that the application would start once it passed the starting point. Sometimes it would, sometimes it wouldn't.
How do I know what exported data matches my gopro videos?
Should I start a new session for every video or can I have resume one session for different videos, if so, how?
When clicked to start recording in gopro from RC app, will the data exported in the overlay software know which lap the data belongs to?
Why when choosing the track, it does not display the track name? It says new track, it seems that is not recognizing it.
From where I should start a new track? From the main page, after starting a session, somewhere else if preferred?
Why does my track do not show under "close tracks" (GPS is connected at the time)? I've been selecting from the Library with spotty success.
Is RC supposed to recognize the track based on GPS?
It seems that it has a bunch of fixes and new features as of last release, but how do I know how to use those features?
Im using:
Samsung Galaxy S5
QSTARZ BT-818X
ScanTool 427201 OBDLink LX Bluetooth
Track is Summit Point, West Virginia
Obd reader, GPS and gopro seem to connect.
Using RC Pro
It has been a highly frustrating experience.
Sincerely
E.
Comments
Yes I know manual/FAQ situation is something that needs improvements...
You have a lot of questions as one post, so I will probably not be able to answer them all. But maybe these will guide you to right track in usage of the app.
EDITED: I think this might be major part of the frustrations you're having: Notice when you switch to the GoPro WiFi network, the data on your phone will be disabled completely, even if you have 3G/4G normally. This is due to Android limitations. Because of this the automatic track detection or downloading a new track will not work. Also nearby tracks will show you only the tracks you have downloaded beforehand. So when using GoPro remote control, I recommend downloading the track layouts you need before starting the session ( RaceChrono > Tracks > Library > your track > Download (the arrow down icon from top of the screen)). This is something I did not test which clearly an oversight from me, the user experience related to selecting / detecting track is very poor when no network connection. For instance the app does not correctly inform the user the track cannot be loaded... Started immediately fixing this, so maybe future new users will have a lot less frustrating experience.
1) "Was at the track last weekend, started the application, choose the track, but the only thing it said was that the application would start once it passed the starting point. Sometimes it would, sometimes it wouldn't."
"Why when choosing the track, it does not display the track name? It says new track, it seems that is not recognizing it."
Answer: You probably clicked the "create new" button, instead of the select button. Or possibly pressed the "+" icon from the track selection which will also create a new track. When you create new track, it will appear with name "new track" and it will not contain any trap lines. When you select it from the library, it should appear with the same name.
2) "Why does my track do not show under "close tracks" (GPS is connected at the time)? I've been selecting from the Library with spotty success. Is RC supposed to recognize the track based on GPS?"
When you're recording a session, it should use GPS for detecting the circuits close by. But if you're not recording, and select nearby circuits from the Tracks part of the app, it will use base station location if available.
There's quite many layouts and different circuits for the Summit Point race track. If you start recording, and press "Select" under the "No track selected" notification, does it show you the other Summit Point layouts, but not the one you want? Or does it show completely different circuits, or maybe nothing?
Selecting it from the library should work too, if you're checked it really is the layout you need. When you open the track layout from "RaceChrono > Tracks > Library > your track", pay attention that the Start/Finish line is in desired location and the arrow tip is pointing to the direction you want to pass it.
3) "Also, how do I make sure is working correctly and saving the data so I don't get surprises once I get home?"
RaceChrono records from the configured devices once you press start. You will have icon and "RaceChrono is recording..." message on your system tray while recording is on.
While at live recording screen, you can press the red/green floating button at left bottom of the screen to check if the devices are connected correctly. All the data is being recorded that you see in the gauges panel that opens. After you've done recording, remember to go back from recording screen. Merely switching the app to background does not stop recording.
While at recording screen, and when connected to GPS and other devices, all your data is always saved. This is even if the track is not configured properly and there is no lap times initially. You can always configure the track afterwards and the lap times will be recalculated.
4) I'm not covering the GoPro part that much as once you get the tracks configured properly, and actually get lap times, the app will make a lot more sense. The GoPro support in RaceChrono is merely remote controlling the camera. It will create sync points to the video files recorded, but the files are not actually moved anywhere from the camera.
You can either move the video files to phone using PC, plugging the memory card from camera to the phone, or the GoPro's own app. Notice the file names need to be the same they appear under the video list in the session. The video files need to be moved under /DCIM/RaceChrono on internal storage, or /Android/data/com.racechrono.pro/files/Movies/RaceChrono/ on the external memory card.
The latest v4.1 release had one major thing affecting usage, which was GoPro remote control feature, and here's a small writeup I did for it: http://www.racechrono.com/news/?p=504
I hope this will get you started.
- Antti
2a. When you say download the track, do you mean all tracks have to be loaded to my cell individually? Because I do see the tracks on my cell from the list, does this mean that it is just a list of the tracks and not the track data needed for it to work?
1a. So if the GoPro WiFi network is on and the phone is not connected to the internet, does this mean it would not recognize where the track starts/end? I thought that is what the external GPS is for, to recognize tracks, or do you mean if I haven't downloaded the tracks beforehand?
3a. I had the tracks "downloaded" before the event (They were on the list and I'm assuming this is all that is needed for it to work), the problem was that It would not "connect" to the track selected (Summit Main). Can't remember the error message, but it just wouldn't connect.
3b. "When you're recording a session, it should use GPS for detecting the circuits close by. But if you're not recording, and select nearby circuits from the Tracks part of the app, it will use base station location if available." What is base station? Are you saying that It would be best practice to select the track after you start recording and not before?
2b. What are these "Sync" point you mentioned and how do you use them to sync the videos to the data using software like dashware? Or is it just for RC internal syncing option?
4. Is there any way to start recording data only when the camera starts recording video using the RC remote control feature? This way it would be way easier to sync data to video. By the time I start recording, and then switch to the gopro screen to start recording video, there is "trash" data I don't need. If I get to start logging data only when the camera starts recording, I would think I don't need to synchronize the video with the data and just work on the overlays from dashware.
5. What about adding a stop button? This going back to main screen to stop recording is not intuitive at all.
6. To answer this question: "
There's quite many layouts and different circuits for the Summit Point race track. If you start recording, and press "Select" under the "No track selected" notification, does it show you the other Summit Point layouts, but not the one you want? Or does it show completely different circuits, or maybe nothing?"
It shows nothing.
1a. The track recognition is combination of many things. It's GPS detecting your location and a server having all the tracks in a database. Data connection is needed to download the correct track, unless already downloaded in 'My tracks'.
3a. I've improved the usability on this for next version that is currently in beta, and the user experience with no data connection should be much better. If you make sure you have the tracks in 'My tracks' list before disabling the data connection, you should be OK with the older version too.
3b. I'm talking about the cell tower, phones can detect location according to cell tower instead of the GPS. It's minor detail though. The track is selected always after pressing the start button, either selecting it from the list or automatically when the start/finish line is crossed.
2b. These sync points are for RaceChrono's internal use, to mark where video files start in relation to the data. They are used when analysing and exporting video. These sync points could be useful in external video generator software too, but currently they do not provide any way to import them.
4. Not currently. I will think about this use case.
5. From time to time I get this request, but not too often. Problem is there's not too much room for extra buttons. Currently there is two ways to stop recording: press the top left corner of the app (with arrow left), or the back button. Both methods will present a confirm dialog.
6. OK. Probably this was the issue with being connected to GoPro and no data connection.