1. Video Output

The Video output window itself is very simple. When the video window is open, with no video data referenced, there will be nothing displayed. When you have video files referenced, the video window will divide itself up equally to all the video files. This allows you to see the view of the video linked to the .RUN file. Please note, the video functions on the software will be disabled by default. To learn how to enable the video output part of the software, email sales@race-technology.com

To learn more about the software's video functionality, read above.

1.1 Built in Video Function

The software has a built in video function. This function allows you to synchronise video footage with your .RUN file, and export a video file from the program. You can have several input files, all going into one output file. Please note that you cannot perform "camera changes" within the software, as you cannot configure the video output to change halfway through recording. Any editing like view changes you want to happen when you play back a video must be done in an external piece of video editing software.

The analysis software uses "DirectX" to display the video streams - DirectX is a standard windows component and will already be installed on your PC if you are using Windows XP. If you have an older operating system on your computer, you may have to visit the Microsoft web site and download and install DirectX - you will require version 8.0 or later. The software can also use any Multimedia format that windows understands including: .mpg, .mpeg, .avi, .mov, .wav, .mp2, .wma, .wmv, .asf. The analysis program will only generate .avi files.

You must have the correct codec installed on the PC before the video can be played back. There are many resources on the internet for finding codecs. Please do not contact us for support concerning downloading codecs. In essence, if you can play the video file using the latest Windows Media Player, then you should be able to use it in the Race Technology analysis program. Please note that before you contact us with any video related problems, that you have checked you can play it in the Windows Media Player - if Media Player won't play it we aren't going to be able to help or advise you!

1.2 Video playback/recording speed

The operational speed of the video system within the Race Technology software is almost totally dependant on the speed of the Windows operating system, DirectX and the Codec used - the analysis software itself is heavily optimised and typically only uses a few % of the processor time. The analysis software effectively requests the relevant section of the video and waits for a response. Similarly when generating an output file, the PC spends nearly all it's time compressing the video outside of the control of the analysis software.

Generally, video playback speeds are affected by 4 main factors (in order of importance):

Speed of the computer! Video playback is demanding on your computers processor and hard disk access speed.
Codec Used. Some codecs are much faster than others, this is the case for several reasons. The most important is whether they use "temporal compression" or not. Basically some codecs compress each frame without referencing any other frames - examples of this type of codec include DV and MJPEG. These are very fast to decode. Other codecs increase the compression by only recording the differences between frames, for example MPEG2, MPEG4. These types of video file are far slower to decode.
Resolution of the video file. Clearly the higher the video resolution then the more work there is for the PC so display it.
The size of the video file. Quite simply the bigger and longer the video file size then the longer it will take to find a particular section of video.

1.3 Importing video files

To import or associate a particular video file with a run, then:

Open the run manager
Set the run at the top of the run manager
Select the video setup tab
Select the run you wish to add a video to
Click on the right hand side of a row, under the heading "Video File"
Using the file explorer, select the video file that you wish to use
Click OK
The analysis program will now check that the video file can be accessed, it is a valid video file and the speed at which it can be indexed.

The name of the video file selected and the frame of the video will now be displayed as shown below:

You can add up to 10 video files of "camera views" with each run loaded. Note that at no point is the entire video file loaded into memory, for most video files this is not an option as they are far too large - Instead the analysis program simply stores a reference to the video file, so if you move the video file on your hard disk you will have to tell the analysis program you have moved it. You can rename the camera names, by clicking on the grey box to the left of the video file, which will prompt you with the following dialog:

1.4 Synchronising the video and data

Once the video file has been loaded, you will have to synchronise it with the .RUN file. To be of practical use it's essential that the video and the data are synchronised. When you load the video file the software assumes that the video and the logging where started at the same time - however this may not be the case and the software allows for adjustment in this respect. To Synchronise the data, open up the Run Manager and go to the Video Setup tab:

The way the video and data are synchronised are using the "Data Time [s]" and "Video Time [s]" fields as shown above. You can choose up to 2 synchronisation points which not only allow you to shift the video relative to the data but also stretch or compress it if required. To choose whether you use one or two video synchronisation points, check the "Sync video based on 2 points" box.

To fix a synchronisation point use the video player controls to select a video frame, then enter the data point you wish to synchronise with in the "Data time selected" box. Once the video frame and the time are set, then simply click the relevant "lock" button and they will appear. For maximum synchronisation accuracy, it recommended that the synchronisation points are separated by as much as possible - so if possible set one synchronisation point at the beginning of the video file and one toward the end.

There are a couple of things you can do to help you synchronise the data - however the simplest is to make sure that the logger is in the view of the camera, so you can actually see the "start/stop logging" button being pressed on the unit.

1.5 Configuring the video export feature

The video output file is in the configuration directory of the program directory and is named "XXX.VGL". It is made up of a list of object definitions that are read by the analysis program and used to build a complete video frame. The standard installation will include a number of standard layouts, however you can add any number of your own. When the video export feature is started from the analysis program then the configuration directory is scanned and all the *.VGL files are listed.

Each configuration file contains a number of "object" definitions, including dials, bar graphs, video windows etc. In theory there is almost no limit to the number of objects that can be included, and objects can be placed and overlapped as required, making it very flexible.

The objects are read and rendered in the order they appear, so objects further down the configuration script will appear on the top.

The format of the configuration file is very strict and is in the form:

Def=ObjectName

Property1=value

Property2=value

PropertyN=value

EndDef

Additional notes:

Comments maybe added into the configuration if they are proceeded by a "%".
All heights, widths and coordinates are in pixels.
Colours are specified as a number calculated from [Blue * 65536 + Green * 256 + Red], where Red, Green and Blue are in the range 0-255.
The "Frame" object which defines the size of the exported video must be the first object defined.
Object and property names are case insensitive.
The variable names must be exactly as they appear in the software. A list of names is given here.

Objects

"Frame" Defines the main backdrop for the video output file.
"Video" Defines windows for displaying the video data. Each camera can be used several times if required.
"Bitmap" This displays a user defined graphic (either a .jpg, .gif or .bmp) when a specified variable is between 2 values.
"AnalogueDial" Used to define a analogue dial or gauge for a specified variable.
"Bargraph" Used to define a bar graph for a specified variable.
"DigitalDisplay" Displays the specified variable as a text value.

Click here for a list of the object properties, or click on the object names above to be taken directly to that object's specific properties.

Alpha blending of bitmaps.

There are 2 ways of using alpha blending of bitmaps, either the entire bitmap can be assigned a constant alpha across it's entire area, or you can assign a pixel by pixel alpha. For a constant alpha value you simply enter "Alpha=0" for 100% transparency to "Alpha=1" for a totally opaque bitmap. To specify a bit wise alpha blend is a little more involved, as no standard PC graphics format supports bitwise alpha blending.

To generate a bit wise alpha blended bitmap, firstly prepare 2 bitmap graphics in an art package of your own choice, one bitmap containing the main graphic, the second bitmap containing black where you require 100% transparency and white where you require opaque and varying levels of grey to specify varying levels of transparency. Once the 2 files have been prepared, they can be combined into a single bitmap file that includes the extra alpha layer. This is done with the program "Alpha image creator" (available from Race Technology Ltd", a screen shot is shown below. Simply save the resultant bitmap and then use it in your configuration script with a specified alpha level of -1.

Click here to look at an example .VGL configuration file.

1.6 Analysis Video Option

The Analysis Video Opion allow you to switch between the draw methods DirectX 9 and DirectDraw. For more information on this refer Analysis Video Option

AnalysisTools / LegacyVideoWindow