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I'm trying to activate a GPS Tracking Map on saved PDR files but have failed so far despite Homeric efforts to do so. The only mention that I see in my 2017 manual (p. 152) says "GPS Tracking Map: Shows the vehicle’s current position relative to a known route," but I can't find any further mention of how to do it. YouTube videos that I watched did not mention it even though some show the map, and searching here didn't come up with anything.
I've tried to define a finish line both in the menu and during a recording event, but it never shows the map on playback. Do you need to create a map in Nav before using the PDR? If so, how does the PDR link up with it? Also, once it works on a given file can the route be saved for use again or must the route be defined each time?
Are you selecting "Track" for your video overlay? That enables the GPS and any predefined finish line.
Have a look at this video. It is explained here better than I can and you can see it for yourself. You'll be good to go!
Are you selecting "Track" for your video overlay? That enables the GPS and any predefined finish line.
Yes, track. On the top left corner it says "GPS tracking Map" but there's no map.
Have a look at this video. It is explained here better than I can and you can see it for yourself. You'll be good to go!
Thanks for the link, but that was one of the videos I looked at earlier, and I don't see any reference to how to enable the GPS tracking map. I took the car out again today and did some tests on a 1-mile loop in a nearby subdivision. After several tries defining the finish line at the starting point, finishing point, and both, I got one tracking map showing a straight line for about 1/2 block, not the full loop. Once I start the recording I did not touch anything on the screen until I hit the finishing line, which is the same as the start.
If you're talking about on track, you need to touch "Define Finish Line" on your infotainment screen when you cross the S/F line - or, you can actually do it anywhere on the track, but it's probably best to define the actual S/F line so that you can more easily compare your videos to your buddys' runs in Cosworth Toolbox.
When you touch "Define Finish Line" it starts to create a .map.gpx file on your SD card, and that map and the file is only complete when you cross the S/F line the second time around.
After that second lap the track map will be displayed on the video of your track session for subsequent laps.
If you haven't defined the finish line and then driven over that point a second time, them it won't have all the data it needs to complete that .map.gpx file and you won't have a map on your PDR video.
Once you define the finish line for that track, and you keep that .map.gpx file on your SD card, you don't need to do it again for that track. I save the .map.gpx files for different tracks on my computer so that before I go to a different track I just download the .map.gpx file for the map I'm going to onto my SD card and don't need to define the finish line because I already have the file on my SD card.
Another way to get the map on your video is to get the .map.gpx file for the track you'll be driving from somebody who already has it on their SD card - then you only need to copy it onto your SD card and you won't need to do anything except start recording a session. Here's a thread that Poor-sha started for us to start a library of .map.gpx files so that before you go to a track you can just download the file onto your SD card so you won't need to define the S/F line, which can be hard to do when at speed. And we'll all have the same S/F line so when you compare some other driver's .mp4 file for that track in Cosworth Toolbox, you'll both have exactly the same S/F lines:
Here's what is put onto your SD card when you run a track session. You can see the .map.gpx file of the track map, a .png which is just a small thumbnail picture of somewhere during the session, and a .mp4 file which is the actual video:
If you haven't defined a finish line at the beginning of your track session, you won't have a map depicted on your PDR video. However, if you review the video of your track session using Cosworth Toolbox, you can see a map. Below is a screenshot of a Cosworth Toolbox showing almost 13 minutes into a session at VIR. I thought I had touched the "define finish line" to start the .map.gpx file, but you can see that there's no map depicted on the PDR video so I never did start the data lap and cross the S/F line a second time. But there is a map displayed by Cosworth Toolbox, but it's only one looong lap, not individual laps - so it's not nearly as good for analyzing your track sessions as when you have a bunch of individual laps if you had a .map.gpx file and a bunch of individual lap times and data.
None of the overlays except the Track overlay will develop a map that is depicted on the PDR video, however you can do the same as above to display a map with Cosworth Toolbox, like in the picture below when I took my brother-in-law out for a ride a couple years ago and started the PDR in Sport mode. You can see there's no map on the PDR video, but Cosworth Toolbox will generate one when you open the .mp4 file of your ride in that app:
Bottom line - if you want a map on your PDR video, you need to be recording in Track overlay mode, you need to be going around a closed course where you'll cross the S/F line time and time again, you need to "Define Finish Line" on your out lap and pass it again to have the .map.gpx file generated, or you need to put a .map.gpx file for the track you'll be visiting copied onto your SD card before you head to the track.
If you want to see a map of your driving while recording using a different overlay (No Overlay, Sport, Performance), the only way I know to see a map is to open the video in Cosworth Toolbox.
When you touch "Define Finish Line" it starts to create a .map.gpx file on your SD card, and that map and the file is only complete when you cross the S/F line the second time around. After that second lap the track map will be displayed on the video of your track session for subsequent laps.
First, thanks for that excellent in-depth explanation. I just made a test run and it's working now. In past runs I was assuming it could write the map file while recording--i.e., doing both in only one pass. Had I not hit "Define Finishing Line" before each run the map would've shown since the GPX file would've been written on the last run.
Questions: If I make another video of the same route, will it pick up the same GPS route defined earlier? What happens if I go to another location with the same Maps.GPX file on the SD card but don't re-define that finishing line? Will the map show up anyway on the video without tracking?
...Questions: If I make another video of the same route, will it pick up the same GPS route defined earlier?
I'm not quite sure what you're asking.
Do you mean if you have a .map.gpx file for a certain track, if you leave that file on your SD card and go to the same track the following weekend, will the PDR video display a map in the upper left???
If that's your question - YES!! As long as you have a .map.gpx file for the track you're driving on, you'll get a map on your PDR recordings.
HOWEVER - take a look at the video below. It's GM engineer Jim Mero driving a very fast lap around the VIR Grand Course. Watch the video and see what happens at 1:30 - the car goes off the track!!!
That's because he had a .map.gpx file for VIR Full, but was driving an additional part of the race track that makes it the VIR Grand Course.
The PDR shows a map of VIR Full in yellow, and as you drive it puts down a green line as you progress around the track. In Jim's case, when he drove into the infield to add additional track, the green line keeps going, but it doesn't add any additional yellow. Watch at the very end when he goes across the S/F line and you'll see the green line disappears as he begins a new lap, and there's no yellow line on the Grand Course portion:
Here's a video of forum member Poor-sha driving the VIR Grand Course. He has a .map.gpx file that he recorded when he drove the Grand Course - he touched "Define Finish Line" when going across the S/F line and drove the entire Grand Course, and when he crossed the S/F line again a .map.gpx file was generated that included data points for that portion that didn't exist on the PDR display Jim Mero's PDR video:
Bottom line - if you have a .map.gpx file for a particular track on your SD card, you can drive that track as many times as you want and you'll get the map on your PDR videos. When you remove the SD card from your car and put it in your computer to download your track videos to your computer, after copying the .mp4 video files to your computer you can delete them from your SD card, but leave the .map.gpx file on your card if you'll be going to that track again.
Like the VIR Full/Grand Course videos, if you run the same track but different configurations, you really should create a new .map.gpx file for each configuration or you won't have the proper track map on your PDR video.
I copy my .map.gpx files for tracks I run onto my computer. You can't rename the file, so put it in a folder with the name of the particular track/configuration it's for. If I drive Sebring one weekend I'll put the Sebring .map.gpx file onto my SD card before going. When I drive the Rolex 24 roadcourse at Daytona a few weeks later I'll stick the SD card into my computer and copy the Daytona .map.gpx file onto the card and stick it back into the car. That way I never need to remember to "Define Finish Line" on my first lap when I go over the S/F line.
What happens if I go to another location with the same Maps.GPX file on the SD card but don't re-define that finishing line? Will the map show up anyway on the video without tracking?
I don't think so! You'll never be crossing the S/F line, so you won't be getting any lap times. When you hit "Define Finish Line" the .map.gpx file starts recording lat/long, time, elevation, and magnetic heading five times per second until you cross the S/F line a second time. I looked at my files for several tracks I drive, and when creating a .map.gpx file for three tracks I regularly visit, each of which I run a maybe 2-1/2 minute out-lap when warming up, that's 150 seconds. 150 seconds times 5 data points per second is 750 data points in a .map.gpx file (actually most are 800+).
So, if you aren't in the vicinity of those coordinates, you won't get a map.
You do have Cosworth Toolbox, right??? You'll see in Toolbox how much info you get with each session divided into individual laps.
So....create a .map.gpx file for each track you run. Put the file for the track you'll be running onto your SD card before heading off to the track and you won't need to do the "Define Finish Line" routine. If you're going to a track you've never run, see if a buddy has a .map.gpx file for that track, or check the library in the thread I mentioned in a previous post - there aren't many tracks in there yet, but I hope more track hounds add files from other tracks.
Question on this: The pits at the Pitt Race track is right beside the start finish line. Could I define the S/F line on the pits out or does it have to be on the track itself?
Not sure how I could set the start / finish line on a live track.
Question on this: The pits at the Pitt Race track is right beside the start finish line. Could I define the S/F line on the pits out or does it have to be on the track itself?
Not sure how I could set the start / finish line on a live track.
Agreed I would like to know also. Except for me, I am in the garage area next to pit road and then you go out on to the track. Not sure if I can press the start/define starting line will going past it at 140mph. Would rather be able to sit in garage area, hit it, then go out and have it mark me each time I pass by it.
I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Do you mean if you have a .map.gpx file for a certain track, if you leave that file on your SD card and go to the same track the following weekend, will the PDR video display a map in the upper left???
Yes, and question answered.
You do have Cosworth Toolbox, right??? You'll see in Toolbox how much info you get with each session divided into individual laps.
No, but I've been meaning to DL and play with it. I don't track the car so that would only be a novelty, just as the PDR itself is one for me. Thanks again!
At my age I can use all the bonus points I can muster.
Shouldn't you be driving an Odyssey? Just sayin' : )
Never had an SUV, minivan, or station wagon and never will. In my past life as a commercial photographer I needed room to haul my equipment, so for the last 25 years I drove Saab turbos (900 and 9000 hatchbacks). Lots of room, good handling and performance, and good mileage. "Homeric" was in my head after watching a movie the other day where it was used in a humorous context (The Quiet Man).
At my age I can use all the bonus points I can muster.
Never had an SUV, minivan, or station wagon and never will. In my past life as a commercial photographer I needed room to haul my equipment, so for the last 25 years I drove Saab turbos (900 and 9000 hatchbacks). Lots of room, good handling and performance, and good mileage. "Homeric" was in my head after watching a movie the other day where it was used in a humorous context (The Quiet Man).
...No, but I've been meaning to DL and play with it. I don't track the car so that would only be a novelty, just as the PDR itself is one for me. Thanks again!
Here's a link to where you download Cosworth Toolbox. It's a quick installation and easy to use:
Question on this: The pits at the Pitt Race track is right beside the start finish line. Could I define the S/F line on the pits out or does it have to be on the track itself?
Not sure how I could set the start / finish line on a live track.
Originally Posted by nikeair042
Agreed I would like to know also. Except for me, I am in the garage area next to pit road and then you go out on to the track. Not sure if I can press the start/define starting line will going past it at 140mph. Would rather be able to sit in garage area, hit it, then go out and have it mark me each time I pass by it.
Depending on how close the pit-out lane or garage area is to the S/F line, it may work. I think it needs to be within something like 20 meters (not much more than 60 feet) for it to work properly. Forum member Bill Dearborn did that for VIR in his 2015 Z06, and I think it worked okay until he had an update to the PDR flashed in, and then the pit lane was too far away.
Another thing that may be a problem (I'm not sure), but you may need to be going in the same direction as you'll be going when you cross the S/F line. Take a look at the first 2 seconds of the .map.gpx file for the Daytona Int'l Speedway Rolex 24 roadcourse below - you can see that "course" is one of the pieces of data that is collected 5 times per second during your first lap after touching "Define Finish Line".
Yes - it can be a problem to mark the S/F line when the track is hot. You may be able to do it on an out-lap while going more slowly as you warm things up, or if the organization does touring laps over the lunch break you could get an accurate fix on the S/F line.
You can touch "Define Finish Line" anywhere on the track, so you could do it as soon as you pull out onto the actual track.
However - it's best to set the S/F line for the .map.gpx file to the actual S/F line of the track. That way, if you do compare your laps to a buddy's laps, if you don't have the same S/F line it can be confusing to try to compare them in Cosworth Toolbox.
If you do have a .map.gpx file with a good mark right near the track's actual S/F line, you can save it and copy it onto other drivers' SD cards so you all have the exact same .map.gpx file and the same S/F line. That's why Poor-sha started that thread where we're trying to develop a library of .map.gpx files so everyone can download one for a track they are getting ready to drive, and everybody that drives that track can have the same S/F line for comparing reference laps on Toolbox.
If you get a good .map.gpx file with a good S/F line mark for a track that's not already there, add it to that thread:
I opened a .map.gpx file for Daytona with the "Notepad" app on my Windows laptop, and here's what the first 2 seconds of a .map.gpx file looks like. I highlighted the "mark point" (where I touched the "Define Finish Line), and also "point 1", which has the same lat/long and course as the mark point:
Great indeed--a real sleeper and my favorite John Ford movie. Of course having Maureen O'Hara in it doesn't hurt at all. Those who haven't seen it, rent it. See if you can spot "Homeric" in the script. Hint: "Impetuous! Homeric!" Trivia: It was originally "Impetuous. Homeric. The power of the man!," but the last sentence was cut out by the censors. This was, after all, 1952.
Just makin' a joke, iclick, Homeric=The Odyssey, part 2 of his epic poems of ancient Greece. Honda just happens to have stolen his title for a minivan!
(My forum name ElGreco pays homage to my Greek heritage although I never got all the way through the Iliad or Odyssey...)
Just makin' a joke, iclick, Homeric=The Odyssey, part 2 of his epic poems of ancient Greece. Honda just happens to have stolen his title for a minivan! (My forum name ElGreco pays homage to my Greek heritage although I never got all the way through the Iliad or Odyssey...)
You caught me clueless on that one, Jeff. I stayed away from literature courses in college and haven't read either, although I should've caught the allusion. Glad I used it, though, as it led to referencing Maureen O'Hara.
02-26-2018, 01:54 PM
GPS Tracking Map on PDR
You'll never be crossing the S/F line, so you won't be getting any lap times. When you hit "Define Finish Line" the .map.gpx file starts recording lat/long, time, elevation, and magnetic heading five times per second until you cross the S/F line a second time. I looked at my files for several tracks I drive, and when creating a .map.gpx file for three tracks I regularly visit, each of which I run a maybe 2-1/2 minute out-lap when warming up, that's 150 seconds. 150 seconds times 5 data points per second is 750 data points in a .map.gpx file (actually most are 800+).
