Motec ip2 data acquisition

[Andrew Ford]

My post of the day:

Apologies as no doubt this has been asked 1 000 000 times by newbies (somewhere)...
Ive installed motec ip 2 AGAIN.

However, for such an amazing piece of software, sadly there seems no simplistic guide that i can find. it's such a complex tool that i think having simple instructions would be great - unless i've missed them?

So i have some questions and would be eternally grateful MORE help

1. Should i install motec in an rfactor subfolder or not? if so, which folder?
2. does it require a data acquisition plug in? if so, where can this be found?
3. Where is the plr file in which i have to change the values? motec? rfactor?
4. How do I begin data logging/acquisition? is there a button i press with ctrl? some commands somewhere which i have missed?

5. how do i access my logged data?
6. Is there a way to obtain telemetry from more succesful drivers e.g through videos/onboard?
7. alternatively, is there a simple guide somewhere which tells me how to install and use motec ip2 pro WITH RFACTOR?

Apologies. Sometimes genius is simplicity.lol

thanks for any help AGAIN

p.s by all means refer me to archived thread...IF IT ANSWERS ALL THESE KEY QUESTIONS AND NOT JUST 1 OR 2. I need complete clarification or i won't sleep tonight
p.p.s bullet point answers welcomed by all means (not that i'm being picky!)

 

[Knut Omdal Tveito]

@Andrew Ford

1. Should i install motec in an rfactor subfolder or not? if so, which folder?
You can install it anywhere you like. You will specify the location in the plugin->

2. does it require a data acquisition plug in? if so, where can this be found?
Yes. You can find it here
http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.php/2917-rFactor-Motec-Plugin
Just follow the installation instructions. In the MotecPlugin.ini file you specify the location of you MoTeC install

3. Where is the plr file in which i have to change the values? motec? rfactor?
I used to do it, but I don't think it is necessary actually. Try first without changing the PLR file.

4. How do I begin data logging/acquisition? is there a button i press with ctrl? some commands somewhere which i have missed?
CTRL+M


5. how do i access my logged data?
In the MotecPlugin.ini you specify where you store the logged data. After you have made a log in rFactor, launch MoTeC, open/create a project and then click "open log file" and navigate to that folder.

6. Is there a way to obtain telemetry from more succesful drivers e.g through videos/onboard?
I haven't seen many around, but you could make a thread and ask

 

[Andrew Ford]

@Andrew Ford

1. Should i install motec in an rfactor subfolder or not? if so, which folder?
You can install it anywhere you like. You will specify the location in the plugin->

2. does it require a data acquisition plug in? if so, where can this be found?
Yes. You can find it here
http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.php/2917-rFactor-Motec-Plugin
Just follow the installation instructions. In the MotecPlugin.ini file you specify the location of you MoTeC install

3. Where is the plr file in which i have to change the values? motec? rfactor?
I used to do it, but I don't think it is necessary actually. Try first without changing the PLR file.

4. How do I begin data logging/acquisition? is there a button i press with ctrl? some commands somewhere which i have missed?
CTRL+M


5. how do i access my logged data?
In the MotecPlugin.ini you specify where you store the logged data. After you have made a log in rFactor, launch MoTeC, open/create a project and then click "open log file" and navigate to that folder.

6. Is there a way to obtain telemetry from more succesful drivers e.g through videos/onboard?
I haven't seen many around, but you could make a thread and ask

thank you . this is extremely useful.

I downloaded a symsync file for a mod which is great. however, there is now no config.ini file so it won't let me store the plugin.

i'm going to ask but i suspect this is because the mod is for a weekly/bi weekly competition and the config.ini allows you to change the game to your advantage? so i'm guessing the modders delivberately hid/removed the ini file? i'm just trying to be rational there but no sure.

i will ask them altho i do have a copy of the config.ini file from my old install so i may re use this.

by the way, thank you so very much!

 

[Knut Omdal Tveito]

I dont know about simsync stuff unfortunately. Don't think I've used it

 

[Gary Jibb]

Not to take away from the original question but, is it possible to change the 'ctrl + m' to, let's say a button on a button box? I've hear of the joy2key or whatever, but I've never got around to downloading it. Maybe someone can give me a quicker answer. Thanks.

 

[Andrew Ford]

Not to take away from the original question but, is it possible to change the 'ctrl + m' to, let's say a button on a button box? I've hear of the joy2key or whatever, but I've never got around to downloading it. Maybe someone can give me a quicker answer. Thanks.

it's ok mate. i gave up in the end. hopefully someone will make a simplified version or at least provide a simple guide for something so complex next time.lol

 

[Knut Omdal Tveito]

Not to take away from the original question but, is it possible to change the 'ctrl + m' to, let's say a button on a button box? I've hear of the joy2key or whatever, but I've never got around to downloading it. Maybe someone can give me a quicker answer. Thanks.

If you look at the MotecPlugin.ini you have these lines to play with:
Activation key = M // Key to press to (de)activate logging; single character (0-9, A-Z) or key code (eg 0x4D)
Key modifier = 2 // Modifier to be pressed with activation key; specify ONE of: 0=none, 1=shift, 2=ctrl, 3=alt

So if you put Key modifier to 0 you only have to press M to activate the logging. That should make it easier for joy2key. I'm not familiar with "key-codes" but maybe you can actually write the code for the button box directly, like the example (eg 0x4D)

 

[Gary Jibb]

^ I saw that "key code" part too and that's what I was hoping you knew. Anyways, I'll keep looking deeper into getting it to work.

@ Andrew - Seriously don't give up. I was .001 of a second away from giving up and Knut totally got me to keep trying and the very next try everything worked. Won't look back either, the data is beyond useful and has taken alot of time off my laps. If you need help reading the data or how to get it to load up into motec, I can help.
Maybe this thread can help

http://www.racedepartment.com/forum/threads/motec-wont-read-ld-files.53351/

It's what got everything working for me. Just keep trying and you'll be thankful you didn't give up. As for the simsync, I've never heard of it so I can't help much.

 

[Andrew Ford]

Hi Gary, that's really useful motivation. Thanks!

I had a good day on rfactor yesterday. i did a re-install of rfactor (2 copies) 1 with the symsinc mod. in both installations the config.ini and multiplayer.ini files remained.

i found a great mod i've been looking for and...i'm now only 3.5-4 seconds slower than some of the very best sim racers - learning a lot about setup lol

so, if i can get this motec thing working, who knows where i'll end up lol

i will try again. i'm pretty good at reading data, it was i didn't know the answers to the above questions and then was missing certain files. i will let you know how i get on.

what would you say has been the most useful peace of learning you have gained from the motec mod? thanks again!

p.s. is it possible, if i do get this working, to send you my telemetry for data analysis?

Edit:12.18pm 26/08/12

Got it sorted and it was a lot easier than I thought. Apologies and thanks!

 

[Andrew Ford]

Update:
I've been looking at some videos on youtube showing telemetry with vdieo overlays.
is it possible to get the motec to create telemetry from videos ? or else, how else are videos inserted into motec please?

 

[Knut Omdal Tveito]

Update:
I've been looking at some videos on youtube showing telemetry with vdieo overlays.
is it possible to get the motec to create telemetry from videos ? or else, how else are videos inserted into motec please?

I haven't tried it yet but I think you can just click the "Add" tab and click "video".

 

[Andrew Ford]

no that doesn't work for me. i suspect it only works from an external camera or something? i've realised some guys on youtube did it by manually overlaying a video onto the telemetry and then used some video editing software to start both telem and vid at same time whilst capturing the screen. all a bit fiddly.

i believe motec does have software to allow telemetry to be obtained from camera recordings on track (real life) but not sure how that works or if there was a way for rfactor.

would be great either way, imagine comparing hamilton and alonso's telemetry via video?

 

[Gary Jibb]

I understood (not that I tried it) that you would use a replay file as if you were to overlay 2 different laps (if I explained that properly). As for the using the data to gain laptime part, I'll have to find the thread or website I read that explained it perfectly for me. I think I gained (on average) around 4-5 seconds on most laps, which puts me under alot of laptimes I've seen on http://rfactor.gplrank.info/. I'll try to find it and send the link, or whatnot.

 

[Gary Jibb]

http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32733 <-- is the telemetry tutorial I used. Hope it helps as much as it helped me!

 

[Andrew Ford]

Ok, so motec works to the point of logging everything (seemingly).
However, the suspension histogram measures damper velocity versus % rather than velocity versus time (like in the no grip thread). why is this? i also didn't change plr file as it's set to 8 which seems ok? help!