Video VBOX first sample footage

[jools360]

Development of the Video VBOX has nearly finished. Video VBOX combines two cameras with GPS data in real time to an SD card in DVD quality video. A short sample of the actual output can be downloaded here:

http://www.racelogic.co.uk/_downloads/Cadwell_short.zip : 5.8Mbyte .avi file, you may need to download the free codec here:

http://www.xvid.org/

http://www.racelogic.co.uk/_downloads/cadwell.jpg


Longer footage (in much lower quality) is here on YouTube:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=OS2nXb1VqGE

[jimlau]

I'll add my Video VBOX test footage to this thread as well:

http://vboxusa.com/files/porschevid-thumb.jpg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQWiaH8NlYg&fmt=18)

Low-def YouTube version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQWiaH8NlYg&fmt=18

I can post the hi-res somewhere if people are interested.

[Mike Broadbent]

I put another one on the website yesterday, this time from Oulton Park (NW England) which was recorded on a bike trackday. It's not the quickest riding - by all accounts the track was lethal all day:

http://www.videovbox.co.uk/images/popups/oulton.jpg (http://www.mediafire.com/file/me32ymztwhj)


Love the 911 drifting, Jim :D

[Kickstart]

Hi

So I can plan which bank to rob, what is the final cost of the VBox video?

Or will you be doing a rental scheme for them? Not sure I could justify a large cost for a few uses a year, but a reasonable renting cost could be possible.

Oh, and just thought. Can it support VBox interfaces for normal inputs, such as rpm on a non CAN wired vehicle.

All the best

Keith

[jimlau]

I have posted another, much longer, video from my testing in Mexico. This one came out with a bit better quality on YouTube, although still not as good as the original files look.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkFMQ4kc6TM&fmt=18

[jools360]

I used the Video VBOX myself on a track for the first time last week, and even though I am biased, it was awesome! I did the Silverstone GP circuit with a friend of mine, one we have done countless of times before, and comparing our two laps together side by side was eye opening, especially seeing the speed and G-force on the displays at the same time. We have spent hours going through the data, as it is fascinating seeing the video and data on the screen at the same time, I spotted many areas where I can go faster which I wouldn't normally see just looking at the data.

http://www.racelogic.co.uk/_downloads/silverstone2.jpg

Video here:

http://www.vimeo.com/2343428

Click on the link on the bottom right hand side to download it in full res (assuming you have a Vimeo account.)

[rs38]

is that really interlaced? :confused: :(
why that? we live in the year 2008, PAL is 40 years old, not a single TV is being sold in the last years that take advantage of interlace!!

[jools360]

Yes it is interlaced as we are completely limited by the technology of the existing cameras out there. The only mass produced bullet cameras are interlaced, so we have sourced the best version available, and then had it tweaked to get the absolute best resolution and performance. You can get a progressive bullet camera (ICONIX), but it is ~£10,000, which would make for a very expensive setup! This is the exact reason why we are in process of developing our own 720p bullet camera. By the way, when you playback the footage on a LCD HD TV, you cannot see the interlacing, it is just PC's which show this effect.

[rs38]

I cannot speak about the market of finger cams, but there are for sure very nice solutions that do progressive recordings in ~NTSC/PAL resolution for a fraction of the price of the vbox video!

e.g. "POV.1" Cam.

[Mike Broadbent]

I cannot speak about the market of finger cams, but there are for sure very nice solutions that do progressive recordings in ~NTSC/PAL resolution for a fraction of the price of the vbox video!

e.g. "POV.1" Cam.

The POV.1 is a nice system, no doubt. However there appears to be a distinct lack of GPS data logger, software thereof, vehicle CAN interface, and graphics overlay engine. I don't think that these products can really be compared ;)

[rs38]

no, of course the system is not comparable, but it was meant as an argument that it should be possible to record nice non-interlace video without spending 10.000 bucks like jools said. the cam included in the pov.1 will be likely under 200 euros.
So I still do not understand the interlace limitation, especially for such a high-priced product as the video vbox.

[jools360]

Interesting, I didn't realise the POV.1 is a progressive camera (it is less resolution than our cameras). However, it is made by themselves, and the interface is proprietary (unlike ICONIX), so you can't connect it to any other recorder apart from their own. Hence the only answer at the moment is to make your own progressive camera head, which is not a trivial task.

[rs38]

of course the whole vbox is not a trivial task :D

But interlace is definitely a big disadvantage as it virtually cuts the resoultion to 50% and/or you have to postprocess the videos to get rid of the artifacts, which has of course only limited success and quality suffers.

Also postprocessing the video files contradicts the philosophy of the videobox, as a one shot solution.

[jools360]

Rest-assured we have been working on a progressive 720p bullet camera for a little while now, and we may have something to announce in Jan/Feb next year. The technology inside the Video VBOX is hugely complex, we have had up to 6 engineers working for two years(!) on the Video VBOX, and some of those have now been assigned to the new bullet camera.

It would be perfect to work on many new products at once, but even our sizeable R&D budget of £430,000 per annum won't stretch to that!

[Manus]

My mixture of outside and inside video:
2byK0oxMeOo

EDIT: fixed link