Lap Timer

[teacoach]

So i guess we will all be sporting Ultra XT Laptimers...

Except maybe Tom or do you have one too?

[oneal]

Laptimers are a must-have in my opinion.  Wish mine had a longer cord so I could mount it somewhere on the tail.

Teacoach, did you pick up yours yet? 

Anyone have the download cable?

[teacoach]

yeah i got mine now...i actually didnt get it from bmwpgh...but from online

no download cable....and only the 20" wire....should i have gotten the longer one?

[prudolf]

I believe the ones that I ordered have the longer cable, just for that; to have more freedom of mounting point.

Lee has a full kit, beacon and all, so after a trackday we can use the download cable if someone brings a laptop

[TGriffith]

Wish I could get a timer... but after getting a cam corder, bullet cam, and steel brake lines (and hopefully a steering damper)... I'm already over budget for 2007! 

[oneal]

What would be bad-azz is if we could superimpose a timer in with the video... other than using a second cam to record the timer, any ideas how we could do this?

[TGriffith]

If the timing of the video is completely accurrate, then we could take any video of a stop-watch (or timer), and then place that in the lower-left corner of the video.  The "timer" video could be used over and over again.  The only issue would be that watching a track video lap on TV for 1:07 might actually be 1:08 in real-life.  i.e. there's potential for error of a second.  But, at least we'd only need 1 video.
I could write a simple program to display a timer... I just need an app to capture what's on the screen and convert it to avi or mpeg.

[prudolf]

any sort of counter built into premier?  only problem would be how to pick a frame to reset for a new lap...

[TGriffith]

I'm not aware of any timer built in to Premier - but I did build my own video of a stop watch.  I can use any background color and any fore-color and any font.  I nabbed some fonts from here: http://www.1001freefonts.com/fonts/dfonts4.htm
As for grabbing the video - I used "Replay Screen Cast" (from applian.com).
As for making the timer - just a basic VB app with a timer control.
Now that we have the timer video: http://www.trackdayriders.com/vids/misc/timer01.wmv I can put it in to any other video in any position.  Additionally - for video, it might look neat to display a progressive list of lap times.
But, with having the timer video - we can easily add the video to Premier and put it in the Bike lap video, and easily start the timer over for each lap.  I'll try to get a sample soon.

[TGriffith]

OK, I uploaded a video with a timer, and the progressive lap times.
Of course, the video quality is picture perfect in DVD quality... but on the internet, it's a little fuzzy.
Personally, I didn't care much for the timer, but liked the lap times displaying as you go.  What might look even better might be to display all lap times all the time, and have an arrow pointing to the current lap time.
Here's the sample: http://www.trackdayriders.com/vids/TDR_2006_TomFront_Timer.wmv
(keep in mind that the first lap time does not display until the end of the first lap.)

[prudolf]

damn, pretty cool Tom!  I'm going to buy you a snickers;  you must've been there for a while

[oneal]

Tom, that's awesome.  I just thought it would be a nice feature to have if we made videos for other riders.  Can't believe how fast you got that to work.

[TGriffith]

What do you mean: "IF we make videos for others".  That's going to be our hobby for 2007!  I'll make 3 new videos with lap times, and show them on my laptop at the track for interested customers.  We'll even let them pick a few songs from my library of music.

[oneal]

What do you mean: "IF we make videos for others".  That's going to be our hobby for 2007!  I'll make 3 new videos with lap times, and show them on my laptop at the track for interested customers.  We'll even let them pick a few songs from my library of music.

Yeah, yeah... that's what I meant.  Have you tested out all your video gear?  I still need to get this spare mic over to you.

I like your idea with showing every lap time and the current lap would be on top.

[TGriffith]

OK, I updated the video again - this time we display all lap times all the time, with the current highlited in yellow.  Let me know what you like best...
http://www.trackdayriders.com/vids/TDR_2006_TomFront_Timer2.wmv