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Harry's Lap Timer Help

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Good morning. My name is Nick, I just joined this forum this morning after someone on SVTPerformance told me this would be a good place to ask for information.

I just got into tracking this year, and would like a little help understanding how Harry's Lap Timer works. My next track weekend is at the end of the month, and I'd much rather be worrying about shaving a few seconds off, rather than worrying if my camera and sensors are working.

My current setup:
Harry's Lap Timer GrandPrix
OBDLink MX
SkyPro XGPS160
GoPro 3+ Black



My SkyPro comes in today. I have linked my OBDII reader, and my GoPro to HLT, and that all seems to work. I will not be using the camera on my phone, but rather have the GoPro set up as an external camera (likewise for the SkyPro). I've inputted all the information about my vehicle into HLT. Once my SkyPro comes in, I will link that as well for the standalone GPS.

My end goal would be accurately record video and times, and when completed, be able to overlay my tachometer, speedometer, fuel gauge, a few temperature gaugues, a picture of the course map, and the throttle/brake bar onto the video.

My questions are as follows:

1.) Where would be the best way to mount the SkyPro?

2.) Say I run my 20 minute session, at the end of the session I will "cancel" the lap on HLT because it will be an incomplete lap. At that time I drive back to the "pits". Does anything need to be done at that point?

3.) Is there a program that I can use in order to overlay the data?

4.) Do I need anything else to ensure I can accomplish my goal?


Picture for attention:

dsc06057_zpsubeowzb2-jpg.59077


Thanks,

Nick
 
Hi Nick

Welcome! I have been using HLT with a similar setup for a few years. It's a great app, but does take some TLC to get it functioning correctly every time.

1) I put the SkyPro in the cup holder, attached to a USB power cable from the center console. Keep in mind the SkyPro will go into sleep-mode, so between sessions, you might want to turn it off. I make sure the SkyPro is synced up the day prior, since a IOS upgrade can throw off the sync between the devices. Also, check the bluetooth setup on the phone to make sure it is synced, since there is no easy way verify the External GPS is in use when you are sitting in the paddock, focused on driving.

2) Your last lap, might be a cool down, will need to be manually stopped. I do this after I pull off the track and park.

3) Using a GoPro as your only camera view is very tricky, unless something has been updated recently in the app. On the Hero 3+, it could only start and stop the recording process...syncing and transferring is a whole different story. I've tried several times to get the functionally to work, but I alway ended up overlaying my GoPro video in the iPhone video manually (using iMovie). Overlaying the gauge/telemetry data is very easy with video recorded from the phone camera. Harry does have great documentation, but manual video overlay is pretty complex. I'd recommend a good window mount for your phone (RAM Mounts are awesome), and play with the RAW GoPro and Phone video for a 'PiP look'.

4) You have everything you need. You will learn to 'dial in' your favorite setup over time. I usually change the position of my GoPro between session (inside car, outside car, at different views).

Enjoy your next track weekend!
 
Hi Nick

Welcome! I have been using HLT with a similar setup for a few years. It's a great app, but does take some TLC to get it functioning correctly every time.

1) I put the SkyPro in the cup holder, attached to a USB power cable from the center console. Keep in mind the SkyPro will go into sleep-mode, so between sessions, you might want to turn it off. I make sure the SkyPro is synced up the day prior, since a IOS upgrade can throw off the sync between the devices. Also, check the bluetooth setup on the phone to make sure it is synced, since there is no easy way verify the External GPS is in use when you are sitting in the paddock, focused on driving.

2) Your last lap, might be a cool down, will need to be manually stopped. I do this after I pull off the track and park.

3) Using a GoPro as your only camera view is very tricky, unless something has been updated recently in the app. On the Hero 3+, it could only start and stop the recording process...syncing and transferring is a whole different story. I've tried several times to get the functionally to work, but I alway ended up overlaying my GoPro video in the iPhone video manually (using iMovie). Overlaying the gauge/telemetry data is very easy with video recorded from the phone camera. Harry does have great documentation, but manual video overlay is pretty complex. I'd recommend a good window mount for your phone (RAM Mounts are awesome), and play with the RAW GoPro and Phone video for a 'PiP look'.

4) You have everything you need. You will learn to 'dial in' your favorite setup over time. I usually change the position of my GoPro between session (inside car, outside car, at different views).

Enjoy your next track weekend!

Very informative post.

I think I am going to hook everything up, and go to a parking lot and set the HLT to AutoX....and just see how it goes.

Thank you very much for the information!
 
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544
Like Barspen mentioned above, several TMO members, to include myself, have tried to sync / overlay the OBDII, lap time, and other data from Harry's with GoPro video without much success. Starting and stopping the GoPro recording via Harry's lap timer seems to work, but I have never been able to figure out how to overlay the lap data on the GoPro video.

If you figure it out, I know a lot of TMO members could use the procedure / configuration information.
 

yotah1

Ford Employee
386
598
Detroit
As an example, I've put this video together with HTL + GoPro Hero Session + iPhone6

HLT manages the recording on the GoPro, so you just hit Start at the beginning, and hit Stop at the end to have you data + video recordings starting and stopping at the same time.

What i did after is very simple : Copy your GoPro video file in a Dropbox folder or any other file sharing thing that you can access with your phone. Take the phone, download the video file onto your phone camera roll. Then go into HLT, go to your recorded laps, scroll down to where it shows "video"and you should be able to click on something like "fix broken link" or something like that (the naming might differ, but you get the idea). You then point it to your video file in your camera roll. It validates it, and then you just scroll all the way to the bottom of the HLT page for your track session, hit "Overlay data"and wait for it to do its job. It will save a new video in your camera roll with the overlaid data logging. Then I usually trim it in iMovie to remove any waiting time at the beginning of the video if necessary and that's it.
 
As an example, I've put this video together with HTL + GoPro Hero Session + iPhone6

HLT manages the recording on the GoPro, so you just hit Start at the beginning, and hit Stop at the end to have you data + video recordings starting and stopping at the same time.

What i did after is very simple : Copy your GoPro video file in a Dropbox folder or any other file sharing thing that you can access with your phone. Take the phone, download the video file onto your phone camera roll. Then go into HLT, go to your recorded laps, scroll down to where it shows "video"and you should be able to click on something like "fix broken link" or something like that (the naming might differ, but you get the idea). You then point it to your video file in your camera roll. It validates it, and then you just scroll all the way to the bottom of the HLT page for your track session, hit "Overlay data"and wait for it to do its job. It will save a new video in your camera roll with the overlaid data logging. Then I usually trim it in iMovie to remove any waiting time at the beginning of the video if necessary and that's it.

Seems easy ;)
 
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30
Yotah1

Excellent explanations. I do it almost exactly the same except I don't use Dropbox. I just put them in a specific folder on my computer and be sure to sync that folder to my phone. Other than that I do everything the same way.

One hint I have is do not hit cancel at the end of ur session hit stop. It will sometimes trash all of it in my experience. Also be sure the go pro is selected as the video source before each session because it's not always there and sometimes I have to reconnect the phone and the go pro. It's kind of a pain but when it works it works really well.

Jake


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I don't know how I overlooked this gem! Hopefully this helps a few of you guys out!


Nick, welcome to TMO and that's a great looking ACR. Do you currently have a Mustang? Everyone's welcome whether you do or not.

Thank you very much. I don't at the moment, my wife does if that counts lol

I own a Ford dealership a little North of Kansas City. I've had a 2008, 2013, and 2014 GT500, then a 2016 GT350. After the GT350, I picked up this ACR.
 

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