CamTrak

Track camera positions on the your camera's audio track

On the camera, a small device (pictured above) is required to interface the GPS to the camera. This device will constantly store the GPS positions on one of the audio tracks of the camera. Our device plugs into almost any GPS receiver, and has an audio output that can be plugged into one of the audio channels of a Video camera.

What sets our system apart from others is that we do not place the position information on the screen, but store it on one of the audio tracks. Whilst most video cameras have two or four channels, there is rarely any use for more than one channel.

OziExplorer	Video Image

FAQs

Wireless
Can I use CamTrak with a wireless video transmitter?	In most cases there is no problem with this. This is actually the type of application that CamTrak was designed for. All you need to do is to plug the output of the CamTrak into one of the audio inputs of the the video transmitter, and then plug the output of the receiver into the computer at the receiving end.
Technology
When I play the video I recorded back, I hear a horrible noise on one of the channels	This is normal. This is the computerised recording of the GPS positions and needs to be there for the system to work. You may be able to get around this problem my playing back only the other channel through your sound system.
Mapping
What maps do can I use with this system? What maps do you supply?	Almost any raster format of maps can be used with the system. We do not supply any maps. It is up to the user to buy the maps, and also the OziExplorer mapping software
OziExplorer
Do you supply the OziExplorer software?	Not normally
Where can I buy a copy of OziExplorer? How much does it cost?	There are a number of suppliers of OziExplorer. We normally suggest purchasing through GPS Oz.
Where can I get a copy of OziExplorer for evaluation?	You can download a copy from OziExplorer.com

CamTrak Software

CamTrak Basic contains software to allow stations to be tracked using OziExplorer whilst a video is being played back. CamTrak Basic Player is free.

CamTrak Live contains software to allow stations to be tracked using OziExplorer whilst a video is being played back. The audio output containing the CamTrak position information gets plugged into the Line Input of your computers sound card, and the software sends the information to your copy of OziExplorer.

CamTrak Pro is similar to CamTrak Basic, except it also contains hardware to decode CamTrak position information without the issues involved with using the sound card. The extra hardware plugs into the serial port, and then into the video recorder.

Downloads

camtrak-inst.exe	CamTrak Install Program
camtrak.exe	CamTrak Executable Program
test.wmv	Test WMV file - To be used with CTP file (10 mBytes)
test.ctp	Test CTP file - To be used with WMV file

System Overview

CamTrak Encoder

The CamTrak encoder is connects between the GPS receiever and the video camera. It requires at least 5V power. The output of the CamTrak Encoder plugs into the audio input of the video camera. The serial output of the GPS plugs into the CamTrak Encoder

CamTrak Decoding

There are a number of ways to decode the CamTrak signal. In order to decode the CamTrak data, we need to get the video and audio signals off tape. This can be done through Firewire, video digitizing hardware or the sound card in the case of the audio signal.

Live Mode is where the tape is played back on a normal VCR unit (or video camera) with the video being sent to a video screen. The Audio Track is sent to the decoding computer, either in to the Sound Card or Hardware Decoder. In live mode image is displayed on the TV and the map on the PC.

Recording Mode. The first step is to digitise video from the video tape using the normal video digitising tools. Care must be taken to preserve the video levels. Once the file is digitized to a WMV file, the file can then be loaded into CamTrak. When the file is loaded in, the file can then be encoded in CamTrak either using the Sound Card or the CamTrak Decoder.

The decoding process involves playing back the video on the computer in real time, and decoding the signals recorded on the audio track. Using the hardware solution, the decoder is plugged into the serial port and the audio output of the PC, and the data is saved with the WMV file.

CamTrak Editing

Video Tapes that have been recorded with CamTrak can be edited together with on any video editing system. Care must be taken to ensure that the audio tracks are not edited out during the process. Following editing the video tape can be digitized like normal.

CamTrak Digital

Other OziExplorer Utilities

There are many other utilities available for OziExplorer. For more details of these utilities you can have a look at http://members.shaw.ca/davepatton/software.html