So there it was. At last, first, full fledged, springtime Kaja track day, opened for everybody.
MX-5s came in the number of 5 or 6, which surprisingly constituted majority of one make/model this time. Usually typical trackday cars such as Civics are at least equally represented, but not this time. There was a wide array of cars – WRXs, EVOs, BMWs, Benz, 2 Porsches 911, Cabrio included (and it even raced top down for some time during the day) but none of them came in such a number.
Well, good for us, especially since this time the track layout was very much Miata oriented. Lots of barrels, making up for a quite a curvy ride, instead of just flatfoot, full throttle, pedal to the metal way that some time organiser sets up.
Despite the fact it was a classic time attack event, knowing each other for quite some time, we have managed not only to test the 360 video, but also to record 3 cars at the time – the get away car, the chase car, and the the one that tries to keep up (me ;))
And I must say, being a bit biased about all the 360 hype, that at such situation – 360 video really makes a lot of sense. You can not only see what the driver is doing, but also choose between watching the line, or gear handling, or just look around 🙂
See for yourself…
Here you can see a pumped-up NC 2.0, chased by NBfl 1.8 Turbo (it had some boost problem), chased by regular NB 1.8.
And it also helps to analyze the path, steering, gear work in order to get some knowledge from the better then you drivers, like this (it’s a stripped down NA 1.6 with rollcage)…
Or just look at yourself trying to catch the Benz V8 BiTurbo…
I just have to figure out a way to connect it with RaceChrono info.
As for Samsung Gear 360 itself, I still have to learn few things about it.
Apparently there is a difference between facing front camera forward, not backward (it’s not so easy to figure out which is which just from the glance), as can be heard in those videos. First one is ok (well, at least in terms of hearing the wind), the other two have messed up audio, due to overpeaking.
You can’t connect external microphone, so the use of some external audio recorder seems to be the way…
360 video workflow is very simple, thanks to Gear 360 Action Director application, however the application itself is crude and not too responsive, when operating on 4K files.
The good thing about Gear 360 is, that after some recent price drops, it looks like an interesting alternative to all GoPros, Xiaomis I and other Action Cameras, giving you the ability to analyze and learn, without the hassle of placing two or more cameras in the car. Of course that goes for the MX-5s modified with rollbar, or rollcage, as it gives ease of installing the camera about 30 centimeters above the “roof”.
