9972RS

so, the soloDL seems to be a pretty decent unit for those of us seeking simplicity. plugs into the OBDII port, small footprint, etc.

but, how do I get HD video? the smarty cam is old tech. Can I hook up a gopro to the soloDL?

ProCoach

Best solution (if you have to have HD) is to do a data export from the Solo DL, then use TrackVision and a GoPro HD Hero, HD Hero 2, Contour or Replay XD 1080 synching them after the fact.

I think the SmartyCam looks really good as of W.08 hardware, offers data overlaid onto the video any way you want to do it and can be viewed immediately after you come into the pits. Also, AiM has now integrated transfer of the data from the Solol DL right onto the SmartyCam MicroSD so all the stuff is in one download.

Most of the folks I've worked with want an easy, expedient integrated solution rather than going through post-production work. HD can eat up HDD space in a hurry, too.

Good luck!

9972RS

I agree with simplicity, but for the price of the smartycam, it should be HD. I'm sure they'll update it soon.

ProCoach

The SmartyCam is so much more than just a camera, though. You can configure any video background you want, engine health overlays, lap time differentials, sector times, just about anything you want, all rendered real-time, ready to view RIGHT AWAY!

Now with the data files (.drk) for further "digging" sent to the SmartyCam making for only a single download step, it's really cool!

Dave (Coochas) has a great SC video uploaded in the David Murry Track Days VIR thread! Even with the down sampling for uploading to YouTube, it looks good.

Matt Romanowski

If you want video, I would say the simplicity of the Smarty Cam outweighs the lack of HD. While HD is nice, it doesn't add significantly to helping you with your driving. The ability to pull out the SC video, watch it right after your session with data included and be able to make improvements in the next session is what it's about. Or at least that's my thoughts.

utkinpol

as no new firmware got published yet i just wonder - have anybody found out what are those .gvs and .smc files solo DL unit creates on the smartycam sd card?
can they be opened or used by anything? is there some sort of hidden interface somewhere to import that data?

utkinpol

Huh? what version does it? i have 46.02.10 now and it creates gvs/smc file pairs.

ProCoach

Paul, I'll look into that, but as you can see, the prefixes are all identical and the gvs/smc pairs are there to allow RS2 to associate all of the proper information together when downloaded from the microSD card through RS2.

Like you, when I tried initially to look directly for the .drk files on the card, I only saw the gvs/smc pairs.

However, when I used the "Download from SmartyCam microSD card" option on the left side of RS2, I got the standard file manager window allowing me to name the driver, track, car and notes. Then, the files downloaded to the C:/AIM_SPORT/RaceStudio2/DATA folder and there they were! The .drk files!

It's some sort of packaging to streamline the download, I can only guess. But it does work well.

utkinpol

THANK YOU!!!

i was apparently blind. yep, it works, it`s so cool, now i do not have to bring notebook into car anymore. wonderful. thenk you so much for this tip.

ProCoach

No sweat. It was interesting because they promised this step "in a future release."

I did as you did, I looked for the .drk file on the microSD card and it wasn't there, so I was at a loss. Then, with 2.45.02 (RS2), I saw that at the end of January and voila! It worked.

As you say, really saves a lot of time and trouble.

amso3

Learning something new every day. Thanks Peter, I'll try to remember this at the next event.

I just returned from Limerock and used the built in Longitudinal accelerometer in an EVO4 logger in lieu of a brake sensor. It's going to work great as a substitute for adding a brake pressure sensor. I think I'll mess around a bit with filtering to improve the trace, but great tip. Not ready to give up throttle yet though.

Van

I was downloading some data this morning, from the SmartyCam's micro SD card, and I believe that the download procedure converts the .smc (SmartyCam data?) to .drk files when you're at this screen and click "Save":

ProCoach

It does. The reason why is so you can add your descriptive metadata to otherwise unassociated files so you can find it later. Pretty good deal. One of the biggest headaches with some other systems is that they have a "dumb," generic file naming convention.

Jerry, I think with practice (and a little faith <grin>), you'll be able to substitute the EVO4 LongG for TPS in gross measure. Couple with video (and more importantly, audio), this can really be a useful tool for measuring throttle "commitment," both in rate of application and amplitude...

amso3

Peter

I was trying to set up a video this weekend using Long G as a choice in the brake config in Smarty Manager. It didn't seem to let me set a range so that I could use something like 1 G as the "full brake" measure. I didn't totally sort it out because I was working data on about 6 cars. Any pointers? I'm going to Watkins Glen next week and want to get this working properly. It did work great in the data analysis, just need to sort out the video.

Thanks

utkinpol

i just tried latest firmware 46.03.02 aim got published on its web site.
confusing stuff. if you choose performace mode - unit looses all custom screens (and screen change buttons do not work at all after you get into that performance screen) and even does not show display config in the menu. if you choose circuit mode all comes back.
smartycam screen nevertheless is gone completely and unit still wakes up from any can bus activity.
still no option to calibrate sensors but they added an ability to regulate brightness (why?) and an ability to erase tracks from the menu (which is nice)

so i reverted back to latest 'unofficial' 46.2.10 version. very odd stuff.