On-board Video [Archive] - FSAE.com Forums

10-31-2005, 09:54 AM

I was wondering what teams use for on-board video

10-31-2005, 09:54 AM

I was wondering what teams use for on-board video

RagingGrandpa

10-31-2005, 11:55 AM

Camera from Helmet Camera (http://www.helmetcamera.com), using a MiniDV camcorder to record the video. The small lipstick cameras are sold by many vendors (besides helmetcamera), just make sure you get a "Lanc" remote control for the camcorder so you can turn it on and off without having to unmount it.

Dan G

10-31-2005, 11:57 AM

I'm waiting till I've blown a few hundred bucks on track fees before I get a system like this one...

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/showthread.php?t=235134

The Mustek PVRs are supposed to be pretty darn good bang for the buck. Quality is good enough, price is great, and solid state recording is perfect for use in car, no tapes or hard drives to go bad.

Dave Cook

10-31-2005, 03:27 PM

A guy on the Waterford Hills forum came up with a good low cost system, here is the link.

http://www.waterfordhills.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4672

I'll be testing mine at an autocross this weekend.

Dave Cook

10-31-2005, 06:53 PM

Our team has used that 530 res. bullet cam hooked to a Canon camcorder. Of note, not every camcorder has the analog input capability for such a setup. The consumer level Canons and Sonys have it, some Sharps, but no JVC or Panasonics iirc. Gives nice 720x480 DV footage.

The Mustek unit looks perfect. However, what is the max resolution? is it 640x480 or 320x240? I didn't really see that stated anywhere. I suppose which resolution doesn't matter for most purposes. Only exception I can think of is for promo videos.

10-31-2005, 08:42 PM

Thanks for your input, it was very helpful... Considering we just bought a NEUROS MPEG-4 recorder, it sounded like a great solution but it is not practical for racing applications. There is no way to tell if the recorder is recording, unless you have a screen that you can plug the recorder into. (going to have to return that http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_frown.gif)It sounds like the Mustek is essentially the same thing but has a built in screen (and for about the same price http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif), but I do have the same question as DY... what is the resolution???

Dan G

10-31-2005, 09:35 PM

Unfortunately, I think the Mustek is only 320x240, 30fps. Certainly good enough to learn from, but not something you want to make a 2hr feature out of.

RagingGrandpa

11-01-2005, 03:35 PM

The Mustek PVR is pretty interesting, but I'm not getting a good feeling when I can't find video capture quality listed anywhere. Even more, the specifically list their $330-model PVR-H140 as having "Up to VGA 30 fps AV recording," implying the PVRA1 doesn't.

http://www.stackltd.com will get you solid-state high quality recording... but that isn't cheap either.

95M3Racer

11-02-2005, 09:00 PM

http://www.jonescam.tv

We were sponsored by them. The company was developed and run on campus grouns for a while, and has not become the premiere high end company to go to for video needs.

Some amazing stuff, and great to do business with. Highly suggest them!

11-03-2005, 10:24 AM

The Mustek PVR is a RECORDING device. It will simply record the input. So you should take a look at your CAMERA resolution. As long this isn't a high end (very expensive) camera, the Mustek PVR-A1 should record this with 24 fps just fine...

MH

RagingGrandpa

11-03-2005, 12:15 PM

Please back that up.

By that logic I could send digitial 5.1 to an 8-track recorder and it should "record just fine"

11-03-2005, 02:12 PM

What I meant: most FSAE teams use a camera with about 512x480 (or something like that) resolution. Recording THAT with a Mustek PVR-A1 is no problem.
Ever wonder WHY you don't find a resolution mentioned at the recorders?

Marshall Grice

11-03-2005, 02:50 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by MH:
The Mustek PVR is a RECORDING device. It will simply record the input. So you should take a look at your CAMERA resolution. As long this isn't a high end (very expensive) camera, the Mustek PVR-A1 should record this with 24 fps just fine...

MH </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

in addition to being a "recording device" it is also a media converter. i mean unless this device just eats your video tapes and calls it "recording". So at some point this things is doing a digital conversion and i'd bet it is at a signifcantly reduced resolution/frame rate. Do they mention those specs anywhere?

11-03-2005, 03:15 PM

Specs say MPEG4 video capturing. Which means max 640x480 at 30fps.

Andrew Del Donno

11-03-2005, 03:24 PM

We're going out driving this weekend, and we'll be running with my digital camera (640x480)x30fps strapped into the top of the main roll hoop, I'll post afterwards with a description of how it turned out...

Marshall Grice

11-03-2005, 05:40 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by MH:
Specs say MPEG4 video capturing. Which means max 640x480 at 30fps. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

could also mean 160x120 10fps. Seems like a cool little piece, it would just be nice to see what it's really doing.