I've made contact with a sim coach, who recommends I start by sending him an export of one of my laps for analysis. He recommends that this lap include onboard telemetry, so they can see my throttle position, brake pressure, steering angle, etc. Is there a way to do that in RF2? I looked through the Display menu in Settings, and didn't see anything that looked obviously like telemetry display. Also, how exactly could I export a lap? I would have thought it's under the Replay menu, but again, I'm not seeing anything obvious. Here are my current Replay settings: Record Replays: On Replay Fidelity: Medium Record Hot Laps: On Instant Replay: 20 If exporting a copy of a lap isn't possible, I could always record a copy of my desired lap on my phone, assuming I can figure out how to replay my laps from a session (definitely not a given in my case!). Thanks.
Using MoTeC I2pro and the DAM plugin https://forum.studio-397.com/index.php?threads/damplugin-for-rf2.49363/ https://www.motec.com.au/software/latestreleases/
Lazza, Thanks very much, but right off the bat, I have a question. In your very first bullet, it says, "Download the DAMPlugin Handler.zip file attached", but I don't see an attachment in your post. Please understand, this stuff is WAY over my head (sometimes it feels like a PhD in software engineering should be a requirement for playing a sim!), so I may be back asking lots of questions. Thanks.
Try the link below but it is at the bottom of his post I linked above if you want to mention Lanza put @ in front of his name https://forum.studio-397.com/index.php?attachments/rf2_damplugin_handler_v0_922-zip.31647/
@Scoopscat7, Thanks - Sorry - even though as I read through Lazza's post this really doesn't look all that complicated, at first reading, it looked a little overwhelming, so my eyes glazed over by the time I got to the bottom of the post where the plug-in is located. I do see it now, but there are slight differences between the file at your link, and the two at the bottom of Lazza's post. The three versions are: rF2_DAMPlugin_Handler_v0_810.zip rF2_DAMPlugin_Handler_v0_992.zip (the two at the bottom of Lazza's post), and simply rF2_DAMPlugin_Handler at the link in your post But when I select any of them, they all point to the one in your post, so it doesn't appear to make any difference. Sorry for sounding so paranoid - just want to make sure I don't select the wrong item and careen toward some non-recoverable error. Thanks for your patience.
That first post really is a bit of a monster, I need to simplify that at some point 0922 is what you want, and if it works for you the Handler version would be the easiest to install. (the manual version is for people who can't install the Handler version - sometimes antivirus programs get a bit paranoid) So try the handler, just need to download it, open it, run it, and it'll hopefully work from there. Otherwise we'll need to get you to put all the files in the right place to run the plugin.
OK, I went through the steps to install the plug-in, and it seemed to work (after a warning from Microsoft not to proceed, which I was able to bypass, and agreeing not to contact MoTec for support). But I don't understand what you mean in your original thread by "Now start rFactor 2 (single- or multi-player) and the plugin will be active with default options." Do I have to do anything on the Assign screen to activate the telemetry display? I looked through all the menu's on the Assign screen, and didn't see anything related to telemetry. Thanks; hopefully I'm getting close...
No, now that you've run the game with the plugin active, you should go to your UserData\player folder and open up DAMPlugin.ini (the plugin creates it when you run the game), and adjust anything you think you need to. I'm pretty sure by default it has this: Active on startup = 1 // Sets whether logging is active by default; 1=yes, 2=no Which means you don't need to do anything; when you drive your car, it will log. The 'channel config' sections further down you may want to adjust later, but for now just check that it does put logs into the LOG folder and you can open them with i2Pro. PS Well done getting through the question about contacting Motec, you'd be surprised how many fail that one
@Lazza (or anybody else knowledgeable on the subject), First of all, thanks for the kind words about my maneuvering through the questions when downloading the plug-in - I need all the confidence boosters I can get at this very humbling point in my sim journey! As I said in my last post on my triple monitor setup thread, it appears that my install of the plug-in was successful. So, my next obvious question is, how to I replay my laps, with (hopefully) the information about my speed, g-forces, throttle position, brake pressure, steering wheel angle, etc. (assuming this is what the plug-in provides) on display? My goal is to export a lap to my coach as a starting point for critiquing my technique, followed by private coaching sessions. But he suggested we start with a single-lap evaluation. I saw in davidporeilly's recent video he posted that he uses a software called Replay Office. Is this required/recommended? Thanks, and thanks for creating the plug-in.
@Andrew Nagy my plugin creates data log files that i2Pro can open. That lets you view data from your session (actually each stint, outlap to inlap) with graphs of pedal traces, wheel position, suspension positions, etc. It can be useful for driving coaching, and for setup, but if a coach wants to actually see a lap it's probably sufficient to send a replay file the game has generated. These days your inputs aren't shown in the replay (should change again soon) so the data log will probably also be useful. The plugin has nothing to do with the game replays, or the replay office that deals with those.
As Lazza mentions we have temporarily lost the feature in game that showed all pedal traces on the replay file. Its expected back soon. So the way your coach can analyse your lap is to; a) Look at the lap from the vcr file, (I think the file location is RFactor2/user/replays) this is where all your replays are automatically stored in RF2. You can send him that file, he needs RF2 to view it. Its much more flexible to do it in-game as he can change camera angles etc. b) Send him the motec file, he can then have the lap open in RF2 and in motec and get accurate data. A lot of basic "absolute" info can be gleaned from that such as brake and throttle application, steering. Comparison? for "comparative" In my experience its very helpful to have a good lap from a fast driver in same car with same real road (rubber on racing line) to compare. This is where Replay Office comes in but also Motec. You can overlay both laps in Motec. If the coach is experienced enough to set up a server with AMP you can both do laps and work together, then the comparative tools will be relevant.
Thanks, but as usual, I'm stuck. God, how I wish I could just hire someone to come over and walk me through how to maneuver through all this completely unfamiliar material, but I digress. I found the folder that contains my replays (.Vcr files), but I can't open any of them. When I double-click on one of the files, it asks me how I want to open this file, and when I select "Look for an App in the Microsoft store", it brings us something called "Media Importer", with a hefty price tag of $1.49 (I would gladly tack several zeroes onto that price if it would get enable me to send files to my coach). Will this work? I've never heard of it before. I suppose I could send him an entire file, assuming he has the application to open it. If all else fails, I could ask him. Could you please direct me to where the Motec files are located? Also, could you please explain what they are? I know Motec makes engine management software, so I assume it's the same company, but I'm not clear on what role they play in the retrieval of RF2 files. For the hundredth time, I'm sorry to be so ignorant, but in my defense, all appearances to the contrary, I'm not actually an idiot. I'm a senior process engineer at a large semiconductor manufacturing company, and I believe I've won more technical excellence awards (I'm at least in the top three) than anyone else in our very large, highly technical organization. It's just that I've never had to delve into the bowels of computer software/firmware before, so I'm completely unfamiliar with the subject matter that one appears to have be an expert in to fully exploit the features of rFactor2. I can't be the only person in the history of sim racing who doesn't have a strong background in computer architecture, though, so I'm sure there's hope, but I have to confess to getting extremely frustrated at times, which I'm sure comes across. Please understand that my frustration is never directed at you guys - you've all been incredibly helpful and patient, and for those of you who've actually worked on developing RF2, you have an incredible product that you should be very proud of. But it would sure be nice if there was some kind of users' manual or operating guide to refer to so I don't have to keep throwing up mayday flags every time I try to do something new.
Replays are watched from inside the game. In the new UI I think they are found under watch, where you can select the replay you want to watch and press watch. The telemetry files are normally found in rfactor2/telemetrylog/ folder. The files contain basically all telemetry rf2 spits out (thx to the damplugin) of your driving session, which you can graph and postprocess with motec i2pro. Motec itself doesnt have anything to do with rF2, but the plugin by Lazza saves the files in a format motec can read. Some examples of this telemetry: pedal and steering input, tyre temps, suspension travel and forces, ground speed, and whatnot.
Thanks, Kevin, much appreciated. I will send my coach the replay file from yesterday, as my laps were all startlingly consistent, I think partly thanks to having my triple monitors enabled. As far as the telemetry files, I didn't find anything named telemetrylog in the rfactor2 folder, but there is a file simple called LOG, and it only has files from 2/14, which coincidentally is right after I installed the data acquisition plug-in, so I suspect this folder contains the telemetry files. There are three file types in the list: SVM, LD, and LDX. For the session I want to send my coach, there are two files, one of type LD, and one of type LDX. Should I send him these two files, along with the session replay file? I know he (or someone on his team) has a copy of RF2. Will he be able to open these files, or is there anything else I'd have to send him?
I don't seem to have that one @Andrew Nagy As above, and another thread recently, to view the logs you need to get and install i2Pro. It's at the motec website, software, latest releases. "i2Pro" is the correct one. When that's installed you can run it, hit the open icon, then browse to your rF2\LOG folder and select whichever log you want to open. *For sending, note the files are named based on the content and time, so matching .ld and .ldx files should be sent together. He only needs i2Pro to open them, and probably already has it.
Thanks, Lazza. I was under the impression that i2Pro and Replay Office do essentially the same thing, and I had already downloaded Replay Office. What is the difference between these two applications?
I haven't used replay office, I gather in addition to combining/slicing/stitching together replay files (to view inside rF2) it also allows some comparison between laps - position data, maybe inputs. i2Pro and its log files are for more detailed data analysis and comparison, and it can do a simple lap plot as well. You know when you hear a stat like "68% of the laptime is at full throttle"? i2Pro is the sort of software they pull figures like that from. More than that, you'd have to play with both to find out. But for now just concentrate on confirming the logs work (sounds like that's done already) and whether your coach will want them to refer to.
The vcr files are viewed in RF2. It's the file the Sim uses when you click "watch" and select a session.
OK, next stupid question: How exactly do I watch a previous session? When I go into Race, "Watch" is inactive. So I assume I must have to somehow select the session I want to watch before going into Race. "Record replay" and "Record hot laps" are both set to "On" on the Replay menu within Settings. Could one of the seasoned RF2 users please walk me through the steps to select a particular previous session and play it back? Thanks. I'm sure I will have more questions about how to access the telemetry data, the finer points of Motec i2Pro (I haven't downloaded it yet), but for now, one step at a time. Also, I noticed that files appear to only be stored for about a day in the UserData/Replays folder. Is there a way to increase the storage period by, say a few days?
