dashcam viewer manual · dashcam viewer user’s manual v1.7.7 may 29, 2015 welcome to dashcam...

Dashcam Viewer USER’S MANUAL v1.7.7 May 29, 2015

Welcome to Dashcam Viewer! Dashcam Viewer (DCV) is a Mac OS X and Windows application for viewing movies, GPS data, and shock-sensor data recorded by dashboard cameras. With Dashcam Viewer you can play your videos on the main screen while watching your vehicle’s speed, distance, position, bearing, and shock-sensor data update on graphs, data displays, and maps. You can even export your GPS tracks to common file formats such as comma-separated value (CSV) and GPS-exchange (GPX) for further data analysis.

Dashcam Viewer on the Mac

Dashcam Viewer is compatible with the following popular dash cams:

• Mini 0801 Ambarella, • Mini 0803 Ambarella (1080p mode) • Mini 0805 Ambarella (1080p mode) • BlackVue DR400, DR500, and DR550GW-2CH • HP F210 • Vicovation Vico-Marcus1, Vico-Marcus3, Marcus4, and Marcus 5 • Powerucc Panorama II, Panorama S, Panorama X2 (2-channel) • Falcon Zero F170HD

• Street Guardian SGZC12SG SG9665GC (possibly other models as well) • Mio NAVMAN MiVue 388 • Visiondrive VD-9600 Dual Channel (Requires front/rear channel separation. Visit

dashcamviewer.com to download the free movie separator application for Mac) • GS1000 "Orange Menu" family of dashcams • E-prance 1296P Super HD dashcam (1080p mode) • DOD GS600 • Navicam NC1000W • Transcend DrivePro 220 • iSymDVR (iPhone-based DVR app) • DJI Phantom 3 Quadcopter • DJI Phantom 2 Quadcopter with Flytrex Core • Some earlier GuardTrak dashcams

With the BlackVue, HP F210, and Vicovation models, DCV supports the extended GPS data captured by these cameras, including vehicle altitude, HDOP, and Number of Satellites in View. With the DR550GW-2CH, Panorama X2, and VD-9600 both front and rear camera views can be displayed simultaneously in a picture-in-picture perspective. Support for these and other camera models will evolve with new releases of DCV. Even if your dashcam is not one of these models, you can still play your camera’s movies without the data. Features • Resizable main viewing screen • Zoomable and translatable movie view

• Heads-up display of current date, time, speed, distance, position, and bearing • Heads-up display of altitude, HDOP, and Satellites-in-View (BlackVue cameras) • Picture-in-picture front and rear camera displays for BlackVue DR550GW-2CH and PowerUcc Panorama X2 (Mac version only. See FAQ.)

• “Real time” display of vehicle’s location and route on a Bing/Google Map • Click on vehicle’s map route to jump to that position in movie (Mac version) • Graphical displays of speed, distance, bearing, altitude, HDOP, Satellites-in-View, and X, Y, Z shock sensor data • Compass display of vehicle’s direction • Weather display widget for retrieving weather conditions at the location and date of the currently-playing movie • Automatic transition between sequential movie files • Variable playback speed control • Slider controls for direct access to any movie file or any position in a movie file

• Navigation buttons to jump ahead or back by one or ten movie files • Display of current movie file name and file size • Drag and drop loading of movie directories • Export movie segments of user-selectable duration • GPS data export to CSV and GPX file formats • Export current movie window to PNG file • Support for per-movie display settings and graph units • Click to reveal currently-playing movie in Finder • Support for km/h or mph units • Support for 12/24 hour time display • Support for timezone biasing to sync movies and data • Keyboard and mouse shortcuts • Support for MP4, MOV, and AVI movies • Controls for movie brightness and contrast (Windows version only) • Support for internet connection via proxy server System Requirements • Mac version: Mac OS X 10.8.5 or later • Windows version: 64-bit Windows 7 or 8. Low-end PCs with low-res screens not recommended • Internet connection for Bing/Google Maps functionality • 15-in or larger screen recommended

Quick Start Guide Running Dashcam Viewer takes just a few simple steps:

1. Be sure your dashcam’s internal clock is set to the correct time zone for your area. DCV relies on the file creation timestamps to sync the movie to the GPS data so this setting is important. If your camera’s time zone has not been set correctly or if you are viewing videos and GPS data from someone outside your time zone, the time bias can be compensated for. See the Preferences and FAQ sections below on time zone biasing.

2. Insert your dashcam’s microSD card into a card reader attached to your Mac or PC. Alternatively you can connect your dashcam directly to your Mac via USB cable.

3. Run Dashcam Viewer and load your files. You load movies by either selecting

individual movie files or by selecting the movie files’ parent folder. You can load them in four ways:

a. Select the Open Movie Folder… option from the menu or toolbar.

Navigate to your microSD card’s movie folder. For the Mini 0801 this is called “100MEDIA” on the camera’s microSD card and houses all of the movie clips (see below). For BlackVue cameras this folder is called “Record”. Click the Choose button.

Choosing the media folder

b. [Mini 0801 dashcam, only on Mac] Drag and drop your SD card’s disk

image from the Finder on to a gray region of Dashcam Viewer’s main window. Dashcam Viewer knows the Mini 0801’s file structure and will load the movies and GPS data on the disk image.

c. Select the Open Movie Files... from the menu or toolbar. Navigate to your movie folder and select the movie files you want to play (you can choose either MP4, MOV, or AVI files).

d. [Other camera models] Drag and drop your SD card’s movie folder or individual movie files into a gray region of the Dashcam Viewer’s main window.

4. That’s it! Dashcam Viewer will begin playing the first movie in the folder or in the list of movies that was selected. By default files are loaded according to file modification date (this can be changed to name ordering in the Preferences). When Dashcam Viewer reaches the end of the movie it will jump to the next movie in the list and continue playing. It will do this until all movies have been played and then start over.

Dashcam Viewer running under Windows 7

Dashcam Viewer Features and Controls Main Window

1. Select movie folder 2. Select movie files 3. Export all GPS track data to CSV file 4. Export all GPS track data to GPX file 5. Export viewer window to PNG image file on Desktop 6. Sync window movement (moving one window moves all windows) 7. Re-center movie(s) in viewer frame (useful after zooming and translating movies

in the viewer) 8. Modify preferences (mph vs kph, graph min and max) 9. Export a portion of the current movie to a separate movie file (uses ffmpeg) 10. Current date/time and speed display 11. Picture-in-picture display (applies to dual-channel cameras only). Mac version

only. 12. Current movie scrubber

13. Movie file selector 14. Reveal movie in Finder 15. Current movie filename and file size 16. Save or delete settings on a per-movie basis. See below for detailed explanation. 17. Movie player controls: Skip forward/back one or ten movie files, pause/resume,

increase/decrease playback rate 18. Volume and mute controls

Save Settings feature explained in detail: If the Save Settings button is clicked, then whenever this movie is played the settings that were saved will be recalled and used. This is useful when playing a deck of movies that have widely varying speed ranges, altitude ranges, or time offsets and the user would like to sync and customize playback for each movie independently. For example, when using Dashcam Viewer to playback GoPro videos captured with a Phantom 2 and Flytrex Core GPS logger, the sync between the movie start and the GPS start will vary depending on when the pilot turned on the Phantom and GoPro. By using the m , . / keys (see Shortcuts), the timezone offset can be changed interactively so the Graph’s time cursor position matches exactly what’s playing in the movie viewer. Clicking the Save Settings will preserve this time offset so it need not be entered manually every time the movie is played. Settings remain in effect until the next settings file is detected. You can specify default settings for movies that do not have specific a settings file. To do this run Dashcam Viewer (but do not load any movies), adjust your settings via the Preferences or shortcuts, and then click the “Save Default Settings” button. If the “Save Settings” button text is green, then a settings file for this movie has been detected and is being used. If the “Save Settings” text is black, then there are no specific settings for this movie. In that case the current settings will be used unless a default settings file was created. Note that if using the Settings feature to adjust movie syncing with GPS data, you should deselect the Auto Fix checkbox in the Preferences window before saving the settings. Failure to do so will make Dashcam Viewer ignore your custom timezone offset values, which are used for movie/GPS syncing. Note: The Settings feature is an advanced capability and will generally not be

necessary for movies created with a dashcam. This is because dashcams automatically sync the movie file timestamp to the GPS data. Also, the altitude, speed, and other metrics do not vary much from movie to movie so having specific ranges for each movie is usually unnecessary. The settings are stored in a file located in the same folder as the movie being played. The settings values that are stored include timeZoneOffset, clockBias, timeFormat, tempUnits, altUnits, speedUnits, aspectMaintain, alwaysAutoFix, and the Y-axis ranges for all the graphs. The file can be hand-edited to remove settings the user does not want altered when the file is loaded.

Dashcam Viewer Features and Controls (continued)

Data Display Window

1. Computed speed, total elapsed distance, current date/time, mph/kph toggle 2. Current vehicle direction (bearing). Click the arrows to change this widget to

weather or calendar views.

If the “Get Weather” button is clicked, DCV will attempt to retrieve the historical weather conditions at the vehicle’s latitude/longitude (#3) for the given date displayed (#1). DCV uses http://wunderground.com for the weather data. 3. Current vehicle position (latitude/longitude). Also, vehicle altitude, number of GPS

satellites used in geolocation, and GPS accuracy (HDOP) meter (if data available). Note that bearing is only updated when vehicle speed is greater than 3 mph (or kph) to avoid jitter. Map View

Bing satellite map (left) and Google road map (right)

The Map view displays the current position of vehicle. Be default, the vehicle’s route and movie start markers are displayed. These can be toggled on or off using the checkboxes at the top of the window. Standard Map controls apply (zoom in/out, switch from map to satellite layers). You can choose between Google and Bing map APIs. If you change the map type, please reload your dashcam files to refresh the routes and markers.

When the Click To Go button is checked, clicking on map near vehicle’s route line will make Dashcam Viewer jump to that time in the movie sequence. This way you can quickly jump to any point in the movie sequence by simply clicking your position on the map. Deselect the Click To Go button to disable this feature. Currently this feature works on the Mac version of Dashcam Viewer only. Windows support in progress.


Graphical Data Display Windows

The Speed graph displays the combined time-history of the vehicle’s speed over all of the data in the movie folder.

The Distance graph displays the distance covered by integrating the vehicle’s speed over time.

The Bearing graph shows the history of direction for the vehicle. North is 0 or 360-deg, East is 90-deg, South is 180-deg, and West is 270-deg.


Graphical Data Display Windows

The G-Forces graph displays the X, Y, and Z components of acceleration from the

dashcam’s shock sensor. The G units vary from manufacturer to manufacturer so the plots

should be considered relative G-force. The X and Y components are horizontal force and the Z component is

vertical. The 1-g effect of gravity is subtracted from the Z component in the graph.

The Altitude graph displays the elevation of the vehicle above sea level. Not all dashcam capture this

parameter.

The HDOP, or Horizontal Dilution of Precision, is a measure of GPS accuracy at

the receiver. Lower numbers are better and indicate higher confidence in the positional fix. Higher values

indicate a poor dispersion of satellites in view and/or a low number of satellites in view. Not all dashcams save

this metric, the BlackVue being an exception.

The Sats In View graph shows the time history of available GPS satellites in used to make

the geolocation “fix”. In general, the more satellites in view the better the fix (and lower the HDOP). GPS satellites

are constantly in motion so the 7 satellites in view now may be a different 7 in an hour or so. Terrain and urban canyons will

block visibility to the weak GPS signals and worsen geolocation accuracy. Not all dashcams save this metric.

Dashcam Viewer Preferences

Time Preferences:

• Time Format – choose between 12 hr and 24 hr timestamps

• Clock Bias – bias used to synchronize the embedded movie timestamp with the displayed time. Use this setting to match the embedded movie timestamp to the timestamp displayed by DCV. This setting does not affect the time biasing between the movie and the GPS data. For that, use the Time Zone Offset.

• Time Zone Offset – optionally offset the timestamps by the indicated number of hours/mins/secs. This is useful if the dashcam’s timezone is incorrectly set for your timezone or if you are viewing movies creating by someone in a different timezone. It is recommended that you click the “Auto Fix” button to have DCV estimate the offset value before entering values in these fields.

• Timezone Auto-Fix – When this button is clicked DCV attempts to synchronize the GPS data to the video by applying time bias such that the first GPS time in the data segment matches the start time of the video. Use this button if the movie is playing and plots are seen in the Graph windows, but the graph cursor is not moving. The checkbox to the left of the button tells DCV to do an Auto-Fix each time a new movie is about to play. Note that if there is no GPS data associated with a movie the Auto-Fix button will have no effect.

General Preferences:

• Speed Units – select the units for the speed and distance displays.

• Altitude Units – select the units for the altitude graph and data display.

• Temperature Units – select the desired units for the temperature display in the historical weather widget.

• Movie Sequencing - This setting controls the play order of the movies. “By Date” is a better option for dashcams that write movie files in a continuous loop (i.e, new files overwrite older files as the SD card fills up). “By Name” is a better option for viewing a series of miscellaneous movies in a folder. Use the “By Date” setting with the BlackVue DR550GW-2CH.

• Aspect Ratio – You can choose to have the movie fill the viewer window or maintain its native aspect ratio. In the latter case you will see black bars filling the unused space.

• Invert Mouse Zoom – This checkbox inverts the direction of zoom when using the scroll wheel to zoom in/out of the video window.

• Network Proxy Settings – If you connect to the internet via a proxy server, you can enter the server settings here. Restart Dashcam Viewer after making changes for them to take effect.

• Check for Updates on Startup – If this button is checked, Dashcam Viewer will check its server to see if a newer version is available. You can also invoke this option manually via the Help menu.

Plot Settings:

• Min – choose the minimum value for the plot

• Max – choose the maximum value for the plot

• Ticks – select the number of gridlines/ticks for the plot Note: Settings are preserved from run to run of Dashcam Viewer. Check for New Version

Check for New Version (under the Help menu) will go online to check if a newer version of Dashcam Viewer is available. If so, clicking the bottom left button will download it to your computer. If you are up-to-date the features in the current version will be shown.

Register Dashcam Viewer

The Register option is located under the Help menu. After purchasing the “full” version of Dashcam Viewer from our website, you will be sent a registration code which will remove the 5-movie limit. Use Command-C to copy the code to the clipboard and the Paste button to enter it in the Register field. Registering will personalize Dashcam Viewer and your name will appear as the registered user under the About menu.

Shortcuts

Player Window:

• When the Main Window is selected, the spacebar will start/stop the video player and the arrow keys will jump 1 or 10 files forward or reverse as indicated above. The P key will take a snapshot of the viewer window and save it to the Desktop. The A,S,W,D (and 4,5,6,8) keys will translate the movie in the movie frame. The Q and E (and 7 and 9) keys will zoom out/in of the movie. The 0 key resets the

zoom and translation to default values.

Graph Window:

• When in a graph view, the “1” and “2” keyboard keys will decrease/increase the Max value of the plot. The “3” and “4” will decrease/increase the number of gridlines.

• The “m”, “,”, “.”, and “/” adjust the Timezone Offset by -10, -1, +1, and +10 seconds, respectively. This is useful for graphically synchronizing the video to the cursor in the graphs.

Exporting GPS Data Your vehicle’s latitude, longitude, speed, bearing, and XYZ shock sensor data for all the tracks can be exported to a text file. Two file formats are supported: comma-separated value (CSV) and GPS Exchange format (GPX). Exporting to CSV Select Export to CSV File from either the File menu or the toolbar button, give the file a name, and choose Save. A CSV file will be produced from the GPS data and include the following fields as columns:

• Movie filename • Date (Local) • Time (Local) • Date (UTC) • Time (UTC) • Latitude (Degrees) • Longitude (Degrees) • Speed (from Dashcam, in output units) • Distance (Computed from waypoints) • Bearing • Shock sensor X (horizontal) • Shock sensor Y (horizontal) • Shock sensor Z (vertical) • Altitude above Sea Level (BlackVue dashcam models) • GPS HDOP (BlackVue dashcam models) • Number of GPS satellites used in geolocation (BlackVue dashcam models)

CSV files can be imported into Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers, and other programs for further data analysis. Exporting to GPX Select Export to GPX File from either the File menu or the toolbar button, give the file a name, and choose Save. The GPX file format is widely supported in the commercial GPS receiver market. There

are a number of interesting websites that can analyze your data. One of my favorites is GPS Visualizer, which has a plethora of GPS data analysis tools, maps, and plots.

Vehicle’s track exported to GPX file and viewed into GPS Visualizer.

FAQ Q: I’m seeing the message “No GPS Data for this segment” on the Graph display. What does it mean?

A: The “No GPS Data” error message will be shown if Dashcam Viewer cannot find a corresponding GPS log file for the currently playing movie. If this happens the speed, latitude, longitude, etc, readouts will indicate 0. It can also happen if the first movie file loaded has no GPS data associated with it. Try removing the first movie file from the folder and reloading the folder. Although infrequent, this can happen under normal dashcam operation. Q: In the movie window the player shows my vehicle moving but my speed is indicated as 0 mph. Q: I see data plotted in the graphs but the cursor isn’t moving. A: Could be a couple of things. When the dashcam unit is first powered up after being off for a long period of time, it requires a minute or so to acquire signals from the GPS satellites. During this time the vehicle’s latitude, longitude, and speed are unknown and are displayed as “0” in Dashcam Viewer. This could also happen if the dashcam’s timezone is set incorrectly. DCV relies on the accuracy of the movie file’s timestamp to sync the movie with the GPS data. The

dashcam’s timezone should be set to the computer’s timezone. If not, the difference in timezones should be entered in the Preferences. Use the “Auto Fix” button to compensate for the difference. A third possibility is that the movie’s original timestamps have been altered. This can happen if the files were copied from the SD card to another location. In some cases the copy process changes the file modification date. If this happens, use the “Auto Fix” button in the Preferences window to compensate for the difference in time. To avoid this issue, it is recommended to open the original SD card’s movie folder in DCV rather than opening a copy of the folder on a hard drive. Q: [Windows version] I get an error when I run Dashcam Viewer, “The ordinal 4369 could not be located in the dynamic link library LIBEAY32.dll”. What is causing it? This problem seems to be related to multiple versions of LIBEAY32.dll on your system. Please see http://superuser.com/questions/272752/intelligence-server-configuration-and-libeay32-dll-registration-error-microstr for a solution. Q: [Windows] Movies appear to stutter during playback. A: This occurs on some Windows PCs, usually the lower-end models or older models. It is due a technical issue with the 3rd party video library used in Dashcam Viewer. Unfortunately there is currently no workaround other than using Dashcam Viewer on a different PC (or on a Macintosh). Q: The Map shows me driving on the sidewalk. What’s up with that? A: Could be a number of things. For starters, obscuration of the sky by buildings and terrain can block line of sight to the GPS satellites. Fewer GPS satellites translates to higher dilution of precision (DOP) and less positional accuracy at the dashcam. Also, the GPS receivers and antennas in these cameras are commercial units are not designed for high accuracy. Lastly, you may actually be driving on the sidewalk. Please watch out for pedestrians. Q: [Windows version] When I switch to Satellite Map the map displays an error “No imagery for this location”. Why? This problem has been reported by some Windows DCV users. My Windows 8.1 laptop does not manifest this problem. I am still trying to determine the root cause. Sorry for the inconvenience. Q: Dashcam Viewer is hanging on my MacBook Pro with Retina display running Yosemite (OS X 10.10). Any idea why? We have found that the Graphs display on Dashcam Viewer has an issue some Retina Macs. Try this tip from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202471. Open the Dashcam Viewer using Low Resolution mode:

1) Quit the application if it is currently open. 2) In the Finder, choose Applications from the Go menu.

3) In the Applications folder that opens, click the application's icon so it is highlighted. 4) Choose Get Info from the File menu. 5) Place a checkmark next to "Open in Low Resolution" to enable Low Resolution mode. Close the window and double click the Application to reopen it.

Q: How do I view both front and rear movies created on my Panorama X2 dashcam? To enable picture-in-picture mode for the Panorama X2, do the following. Note that picture-in-picture mode is only supported in the Mac version of Dashcam Viewer:

1) Insert both SD cards from the X2 into your computer using a memory card reader. 2) Rename the two SD card images on the desktop “HD2_F” and “HD2_R” for front

and rear respectively.

3) The two images should have the same folder/file structure, like so:

4) Drag the “NORMAL” folder from the HD2_F card onto the Dashcam Viewer main window. This will load the movies from both the HD2_F and HD_R NORMAL folders and display them in picture-in-picture mode. You could also drag the PARKING or EVENT folders, if desired. Below is an example showing picture-in-picture mode of the Panorama X2:

Version History Version 1.7.7 – May 29, 2015 New Features:

• Added support for Transcend DrivePro 220 • [Windows] Dashcam Viewer is now a 64-bit application for improved

performance. The improvements should reduce or eliminate video playback stuttering seen on some lower-end PCs. The 64-bit Dashcam Viewer now requires a 64-bit version of Win7 or Win8 to run.

Version 1.7.6 – May 22, 2015 New Features:

• Added new "Click To Go" mode in Map view. With this mode enabled clicking in the map will make the movie jump to the time when the vehicle was at that position. Currently this is a Mac-version only feature. Working on Windows implementation. Thanks to Thomas D. for this suggestion.

• Added support for DJI Phantom 3 (best performance with 1080p movies). Thanks to P3 pilot Evan P. for his assistance.

• Added support for Navicam NC1000W (works on Windows and some but not all Macs)

Bug Fixes:

• Google Map mode in Map window should now work properly. Some people reported the Map would be entirely black when “Google” was selected. Hopefully this is fixed.

• Fixed bug in which Altitude graph contents looked squished until window was resized.

Version 1.7.5 – May 4, 2015 Bug Fixes:

• Changed the default Map view to Bing until I diagnose why some folks are reporting issues with Google maps.

• Fixed bug in which Falcon Zero logo would not show up in splash screen. Version 1.7.4 – May 2, 2015 New Features:

• Added a "paste" button in the Registration window to make entering the registration code easier.

• G-Force and Extended GPS widgets in Data view and Graph view will now be hidden if the dashcam model does not support these features.

• Moved Google/Bing map preference to the Map window instead of the Preferences window.

Bug Fixes: • Fixed bug that would crash DCV when loading 500+MB files from the F170HD

dashcam.

• DCV will now process large movie files produced by Street Guardian SGZC12SG and Panorama 2 dashcams.

Version 1.7.3 – Apr 17, 2015 New Features:

• Added support for Falcon Zero F170HD dashcam • Added support for Street Guardian SGZC12SG, SG9665GC dashcams • Added option to check for updates upon startup (Preferences)

Version 1.7.2 – Mar 15, 2015 New Features:

• Mute and volume levels are now saved in the Settings File if “Save Settings” is clicked. Settings File’s are used to store Dashcam Viewer’s current settings whenever a particular movie is played.

• In the Graph windows, the green curve line alternates in brightness from movie to movie. This makes it easier to see the start points of movies in the Graphs.

• Welcome screen: Made the process for purchasing Dashcam Viewer and entering a registration code easier.

• When loading movies and GPS data taken by a DJI Phantom drone with GoPro and Flytrex logger, the car icon in the compass of the Data view changes to a quadcopter icon. J

• Dashcam Viewer is now compatible with the GPS data taken with a Flytrex Live 3G unit attached to a Phantom 2. Previously, DCV had only been tested with a Flytrex Core.

Bug fixes:

• Fixed typo in Preferences window. • Raised the max number of points allowable in a single GPS file to 5000. Some

Flytrex files store quite a bit of data and this may have caused a crash in earlier DCV versions.


• Added support for automatically changing preferences on a per-movie basis. Users can store settings (including units, timezone offset, graph Y-axis range, etc) for the currently-playing movie and Dashcam Viewer will use those settings the next time that movie is played. For movies that don’t have a specific settings file, a default settings file can be specified. Thanks to Mart Rogers for the idea.

• Improved support for Mini 0805 GPS data format. • Added support for E-prance 1296P Super HD dashcam

Bug fixes:

• [Windows version] Fixed bug that would prevent Google Maps mode from being displayed in Map view.

Version 1.7.0 – Feb 21, 2015 New Features:

• Added the ability to export a portion of the currently playing video to a separate movie file. This is useful for isolating key portions of a dashcam movie, say for providing to law enforcement or uploading to YouTube. When the Export Clip button is clicked you will be asked to enter the duration of the clip in seconds. You will then be able to select a folder for the output file. Dashcam Viewer will create the clip, starting at the current movie position, in the desired folder with an auto-generated filename derived from original movie name. No re-compression of the video is performed so that movie details are preserved.

Version 1.6.2 – Feb 3, 2015 New Features:

• Added preference to choose between Google Map or Bing Map for the Map view.

• Added keyboard shortcuts to the Graph view to shift the Timezone Offset by -10, -1, 1, or 10 seconds. This is useful for syncing the video to the GPS data. See Shortcuts for more info.

Bug Fixes:

• Null route points at lat/lon 0E/0N are no longer displayed on map. Version 1.6.1 – Jan 13, 2015 New Features:

• Added support for video captured by a GoPro Hero3 mounted in a DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter using GPS flight data logged by a Flytrex Core. The Phantom is the most popular quadcopter in the market and the Flytrex Core is one of the most popular accessories for the Phantom. Dashcam Viewer will read the comma-separated value (CSV) data files produced by the Flytrex Core and animate the position of the quadcopter on a map as movie of the flight is shown in the Player window, simultaneously. Note that the GoPro movie and the CSV file must have the same base name. For example, beach_flyover.MP4 and beach_flyover.CSV. Please see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slR6GD81eKA for a demo of how this works. I guess you could call this aerial dashcam support. ;-)

Version 1.6.0 – Jan 1, 2015 New Features:

• Switched to using Bing Maps instead of Google Maps due to technical issues introduced into Google Maps API in mid-December 2014. Coincidently(?), at the same time, Google announced it was going to deprecate the Maps API in Dec 2015 so switching to Bing Maps provides continuity.

• Added preliminary support for MINI 0805 GPS data format. This is in beta. Change the 0805 capture resolution to no higher than 1080p mode for movies to play in DCV.

• Better support for dashcams that store their altitude in nmea format, like the Vicovation Marcus series.

• Added support for the iSymDVR app, which turns the iPhone into a dashcam. • Export of GPX now includes vehicle speed (in km/h) • For dashcams that record vehicle altitude, altitude in meters will be exported in

the GPX file. Bug Fixes:

• Vehicle speed reported in GPX file is now meters/sec instead of km/hr as per GPX v1.0 specification.

• Movie start markers are more accurately placed on map.

Version 1.5.0 – Nov 23, 2014 New Features:

• Added support for MINI 0803 firmware version: FW20141031 V1.0. Previously, DCV would not be able to parse the GPS data produced by this firmware version. Thanks to Peter B. for pointing this out.

Version 1.4.9 – Nov 16, 2014 New Features:

• Users can now load and play individual movie files in Dashcam Viewer. Individual movie files can be selected from the File menu, toolbar, or be dragged and dropped from the desktop onto the Main Window. The prior method of selecting the parent movie folder still works.

Version 1.4.8 – Oct 5, 2014 New Features:

• Renamed the "Arrange" option (Under the “Windows” menu and toolbar) to "Sync Window Movement". If this option is selected, windows will be linked such that moving one window moves all of the windows. This applies to the Main Window, Data Window, Map Window, and Graph Window. Thanks to R.R. for the suggestion.

• [Mac version] Due to Apple security policy changes, OS X 10.8.5 or higher is required to run Dashcam Viewer.

Bug Fixes:

• [Mac version] Fixed bug in which the Main Window was not restored to the same size it was when Dashcam Viewer was last quit.

Version 1.4.7 – Sep 15, 2014

New Features: • Added preference option to invert the direction of mouse zooming in the video

window, as per user request. • Added support for DOD GS600 dashcam • User-tested compatibility with VicoVation Marcus4

Bug Fixes:

• Graph cursor no longer disappears when graph window is resized • Temporarily disabled playback acceleration on Windows version due to some

reports it does not work correctly. Version 1.4.6 – Aug 24, 2014 New Features:

• GS1000 dashcam now displays the number of GPS satellites currently in view in Data window.

• Added support for Digitalk EI-640GSD GPS data • [Mac version] Successfully tested Rollei Car DVR-110

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug in BlackVue GPS data processing which caused incorrect latitude to be displayed for southern latitude users.

Version 1.4.5 – July 26, 2014 New Features:

• Added the ability to display the vehicle’s route on the Google Map. See the checkbox at the top of the Map view.

• Added the ability to turn on or off movie start markers on the Google Map. Version 1.4.4 – July 23, 2014 New Features:

• Greatly improved map placemark accuracy. Vehicle location will not jump around on the map.

• Added preliminary support for Novatek Street Guardian SG9665GM dashcam • Improved support for Mini 0803 GPS information display. Note that resolutions

higher than 1080p do not seem to work in DCV. If the Mini 0803 videos do not appear to play, try reducing the resolution of the recording in the Mini's settings to 1080p.

• Added support for Visiondrive VD-9600 dual-channel dashcam. Use the free Visiondrive Converter to extract the front and rear movie channels plus the GPS data. See http://dashcamviewer.com for more details.

• Changed movie timer string from minutes (e.g., 1.5) to minutes:seconds (e.g., 1:30)

Bug Fixes:

• Improved handling of second channel movie window of two channel movies. If some movies do not have a second channel then the second video window is now hidden.

• Second channel video now has the correct aspect ratio of the video. Previously, the second channel video aspect ratio was hard-coded 2:1.

Version 1.4.3 – July 6, 2014 New Features:

• Added support for GS1000 "Orange Menu" family of dashcams • Raised max speed limit to 300 (mph or km/h) on the Speed Plot at request of an

Autobahn driver. • Added G-force sensor support for MiVue 388

Version 1.4.2 – June 22, 2014 New Features:

• Added new background image to fill the empty movie window void upon startup • Changed the wording of "kph" to "km/h" throughout program based on user

recommendation Bug Fixes:

• Made internal improvements for dual-channel cameras (like the Blackvue DR550GW-2CH). If the rear camera movie’s file modification date was earlier than the front camera Dashcam Viewer would not play the rear channel.


• Added support for Powerucc Panorama S dashcam • Improved compatibility with Powerucc Panorama II with newer firmware

Bug Fixes:

• Improved PNG export-to-Desktop for some users. In some cases the PNG file was not written to the Desktop. Also, no error message was given if an export failed. Now an error message will be displayed if the PNG export fails.


• Added accelerated movie playback controls. Playback rate can now vary between 1/16x to 2x real-time.

• When using the Export to PNG function, the filename of the PNG will contain both the source movie name and the time into the movie when the image was captured. For example: [email protected]

• Tested compatibility with Mini 0803 dashcam • New application icon!


• Added support for Vicovation Vico-Marcus1 and Vico-Marcus3 dashcams • Right and left arrow keys provide frame-by-frame movie scrubbing • Up Arrow key skips to next movie, Down Arrow key plays previous movie • Page Up goes forward 10 movies, Page Down goes back 10 movies • Double-clicking in Player window resets movie zoom/translation • Export to PNG now saves PNG file to Desktop instead of Dashcam Viewer folder • Added retina display support (beta)

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed display issue in which the graph cursor would disappear when the user switched between graphs when the animation was paused.


• Added support for HP F210 dashcam


• Improved the experience of zooming into or out of a movie. Now the zoom

center point is whatever is in the middle of the movie window frame, which makes zeroing in on such things as license plates more intuitive. Previously the zoom center was the center of the movie (not the frame) which was not as intuitive.

• Added keyboard shortcuts for zooming and translation of the movie in the movie frame.

• Updated user manual Version 1.3.2 – Mar 23, 2014 New Features:

• Added support for connecting to the internet via a proxy server • Added option to "Auto-Fix" timezone every time a movie is played. This auto-

corrects for bias' due to timezone or DST differences between movie modification date and GPS data.

• Data View window is now resizeable. Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug that could hide the hundred's digit in the longitude displayed in the Data view.


• Added support for BlackVue DR550GW dual-camera dashcam. DCV will display

both front and rear camera views in the main window. The rear view display can be dragged anywhere on top of the front view window and can be resized using the mouse scroll wheel.

• You can now translate and zoom the movie within the movie frame using the the mouse scroll wheel

• Added Recenter Movie toolbar button. This will center the video in the in the player window. This is useful if you have zoomed and/or translated the movie in its frame and want to restore it.

• Added "Export to PNG" toolbar button. This will take a screenshot of the viewer window and save it to a file in your Dashcam Viewer folder.

• Added option to change aspect ratio to fill screen or preserve original aspect ratio.

• Added new Preference controls to independently set the speed, altitude, and temperature units.

• Master slider now jumps through the individual movies when scrubbing • Updated User Manual

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug that would crash DCV if the user attempted to scale the G-Forces graph using keyboard shortcuts

Version 1.2.0 - Feb 23, 2014 New Features:

• Dashcam Viewer now runs on Microsoft Windows 7 and 8! See the http://earthshinesw.com/dashcam-viewer/ website for more info.

• Added movie playback and GPS data support for Powerucc Panorama II dashcam. Dashcam Viewer now supports the Mini 0801, BlackVue DR400, DR500, and Powerucc Panorama II dashcams.

• Added graphical displays of shock-sensor data for Panorama II, Mini 0801, and Blackvue DR400/500 cameras.

• Preferences: Added "auto-fix" option for correcting biases between camera timezone setting and computer timezone setting. Try this is you see the movie but the graph cursor is not moving.

• Preferences: Timezone offset setting is no in hrs/min/sec instead of decimal hours.

• Added Bring All To Front option under Windows menu • Fixed sizing of splash window. • Updated URL to website • Updated User Manual

Bug Fixes:

• Assorted minor bug fixes

Version 1.1.0 - Feb 8, 2014 New Features:

• Data window: Click a button to retrieve the weather conditions at the location and time of the video capture!

• Data window: More GPS metrics are displayed for cameras that record them (like the BlackVue DR400 and DR500). These metrics include vehicle altitude, number of GPS satellites in used in geolocation, and GPS HDOP (horizontal dilution of precision), a measure of GPS position accuracy at the receiver.

• Data window: Added a new Calendar widget • Graph window: Added plot of vehicle altitude above sea level • Graph window: Added plot of HDOP • Graph window: Added plot of number of GPS satellites in view • Graph window: Removed graph of Computed Speed as it was redundant with

Dashcam Speed plot • DCV now remembers which windows were open and closed upon restart • Timezone correction and clock offset are now in units of hours (not seconds) • Registration codes are now understood even with carriage returns and spaces in

them (extra white space can be introduced when a user copies/pastes the registration code from an email).

Bug Fixes: • Improved "Arrange Windows" feature in cases where not all windows are visible.

There is still work to be done here.

Version 1.0.4 - Jan 26, 2014 New Features:

• Drag-and-drop support: Users can now drag their SD card's movie folder from the Finder on to the Viewer window and the movies will start playing immediately. Mini 0801 owners can drag and drop the SD card's disk icon from the Finder onto DCV to load the movies and GPS data (no need to hunt for your movies folder).

• Added button in Data View to toggle between kph/mph • Added preliminary support for BlackVue DR500 gps data files (let me how this

works for you. I don't have one of these cameras.) • DCV will close the data window, Graph Window, and Map Window, if a folder of

movies is loaded that has no associated GPS data • First public release

Contact For questions, suggestions and bug reports please email [email protected]. Thank you! John Coggi Earthshine Software

Disclaimer Dashcam Viewer is supplied “as is” and all use is at your own risk. This document is not intended to express or imply any warranty that the operation of the software will be uninterrupted, timely, or error-free. Under no circumstances shall Earthshine Software be liable to any user for direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or exemplary damages, arising from or relating to this agreement, the software, or userʹs use or misuse of the. Such limitation of liability shall apply whether the damages arise from the use or misuse of the software or any errors of the software, etc, etc. Special Thanks The author would like thank “mollydog”, “DaveP”, “BrazilianGuy”, “DashcamDave”, “kevinhill”, and “jokiin” (those are their DashCamTalk forum handles) and John Asson for their support and advice with this project. Appendix Note: The MINI 0801 produces a hierarchy of files on the microSD card. There should be a folder named “gps” on the card that contains log files with the same root filename as the movie files. If no gps folder is present, then Dashcam Viewer will not be able to geolocate your vehicle. Please insure that your Mini 0801 dashcam is GPS-enabled and that the dashcam has been configured to store GPS position data.

File Structure on the Mini 0801 Dashcam’s microSD card

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