Odd Track Spin Video -- I'd like to see if it's working

[Jack Olsen]

This is a clip I just encoded from a spin I had at Willow Springs last week. What's odd about this footage is that one of the cables in my video setup had come unplugged, so the normal picture-in-picture I get (from my View-2.com box) wasn't working. Instead of seeing the video from the perspective of my rear wing, I got a full-screen look over my shoulder -- which actually makes for an interesting perspective in a spin. All you can see is my reaction and attempts to get the car back under control.

The other part of this is that I'm trying to find a good codec for making these videos small enough to download on the web. This one is compressed with Divx, which you can update your browser for at this link. It's free for Windows and Mac machines. I'm curious how it works in real-world use, though.

Here's the link for the video.

It's 3 megs, and in AVI format, with the Divx codec).

Let me know if you're getting audio, too. It's no fun without the sound.

[84porsche]

Wow Jack, that's insane. The audio came through perfect. Nice video footage. What happened on the 360°?

[niner11]

That's good stuff. I was trying to watch the spin using the reflection from your helmet. The good thing is there was no earth sky earth sky finish through the windshield view!

[mjw]

Jack,

Video and audio came through fine. Exciting sequence! ... thanks for the look into your world.

[TerryH]

Yeah, it worked fine. Too bad you didn't provide us with the off road visual. We'd like to see why you were panicking.

[K. Roman]

I'm on a Mac, OS 10 and using Safari browser. It doesn't work. I get some video, but when it finishes downloading the black screen dissapears. There is also no audio.

[Shuie]

audio only for me on the work laptop that I cant load anything on. Sounds cool up until the tires started screeching. I cringed from there to the end of the clip.

[bigrubberjeep]

Originally posted by TerryH
Yeah, it worked fine. Too bad you didn't provide us with the off road visual. We'd like to see why you were panicking.

I don't think he panicked at all, I think what he did might have saved his thumb from being broken off. (Good work Jack) It's amazing how fast the steering wheel spins and the force it spins with under those circumstances. I was there about 50 yards away and let me tell you, it made my heart skip a few beats.

[MuffinMan]

There's nothing like a bit of drama to spice up a track day! I'm glad to hear the spin didn't end with an unpleasant introduction to an inanimate object. It looked like BBII was doing all she could to recover herself, with the wheel snapping back and forth. Alas, you both prevailed!

I also heard excellent audio, and the overall quality of the compressed video with the codec worked great on my computer.

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks, guys. On my browser, I get video but no audio. But if I open the file with Quicktime, it works fine. Hopefully, Divx and the broswer/media player makers will get all the bugs smoothed out so we can use one format.



(In the graphic, the white line is the normal driving line. The yellow version is the way I ended up going.)

Here's what happened in the spin. I had just mounted the rear diffuser that I made, and the car was pushing a little at high speeds. The spin took place in Turn 9 of Willow Springs, which is a decreasing radius turn that I enter at about 90 mph and exit at about 100 mph. On this particular lap, my line wasn't ideal and the push from the diffuser probably widened the circumference of my drift, slightly, so that I put two wheels off on the left side of the track. There's about a 7-inch drop-off there -- it's where you see the dust enter the cabin. I turn left to straighten the car out, but the rear has lost it's grip by that point, and is continuing around to the left as the car oversteers rapidly. This leads to a full 360 degree spin as I come back onto the track, crossing over and exiting the right side. You can hear a 'bang' sound from the aluminum skirts and splitter both when I exit the left side of the track and when I exit the right side.

By the time I've gone off the right side, the car has spun completely around and I'm facing the right direction. I put the car in gear, check my mirrors, and re-enter the track. (It's a little funny to me that I blip the throttle for the 'downshift' to first -- automatic behavior.) At the end, you can see me waving (contrite) acknowledgment to the corner workers at start-finish.

I panic plenty at the track, on and off, but this was a fairly routine spin. The danger with turn 9 is that you can over-correct and end up tumbling end-over-end in the infield. I was never close to that. You can see me put the clutch in when the spin's become inevitable, and the brake pedal goes down a moment later. I let go of the wheel frequently in spins because the car has so much caster that it self-centers much more quickly than I could do it with my hands. Not everyone endorses this method, but it's not uncommon.

The spin was pretty smooth. You can watch the Isaac shock on the right side of my helmet and see that there wasn't much lateral force on my head at all.

Still, it gets your attention when it's happening.

[Vintage911Racer]

Jack,

What part of the track was that... Turn 8 or 9???? It seems as if there was no counter steer (attempt to save it) until the car was already off the edge of the track and in the dirt. What happened??

[Vintage911Racer]

I was posting my response as you were posting the pictures... That explains it.

[Vintage911Racer]

Questions for you Jack. I know you are at the track A LOT... and I know you are always pushing it.... (most of the time) Why not wear a driving suit and gloves??? Does your car have a fuel cell and a Fire system? Even if it does have those two items, driving suit and gloves and full face helmet should be standard operating Procedure. You never know what can happen out there.

Just my 02.

Glad to here the car was not damged.

So did the side skirts and diffuser worK???

You should come out to Willow next weekend at watch us race. We go out at 10:00 and 4:00 on Saturday and 10: and 3:30 on Sunday..

[ted]

No Audio or Video Jack, I downloaded the info you suggested and it made no improvement. Everyone learns when you share.

[Fishcop]

No audio on Quicktime, but perfect with Media Player 9...

And what is an Issac Shock?

[mskala]

Jack,
That looks a lot more hairy than when I spin at the
autocross. Good thing it turned out okay in the end.

[North Coast Cab]

No video but audio on the Windows 200 pro at home.
Can you explain a little more about Divx?
I got my new Canon DV camcorder working at the last track event. I'm using a IEEE1394 card and firewire to capture using Windows Movie Maker. From there I add audio, captions etc. I bought the lipstick camera you recommended but I can't get any signal and need to investigate some more. I need the BNC connection on the camera to go to a 3.5mm port on the camcorder.

John

[jmarenas]

No Helicopter Footage????? You may want to change the Foam in the Seat now John

[das908kind]

For me it didn't work in Quicktime, so I played it in Windows Media and it was great. Save, then right-click on the file, select "open with".

[Todd Simpson]

I get the first five seconds then the screen goes still while the sound continues.

It may be because I first opened a new window, then halfway through cancelled that and right clicked and "saved as" instead.

I've deleted the file, deleted my history, downloaded several times...still no joy. Grrr....