Dashware Wish List

[Dmitriy]

I figured I would start one and maybe other people would be able to chime in on this:

Map:I would love to be able to rotate the map around so it fits better on the screen. I would also like to be able to put a square box/map so the middle of the box is the current location and it doesn't move but the map moves around it. If you zoom in on the sync map, same idea. So if you are out on a rally or TT course and it can't all fit on screen you can still get a good res on the current position.

Timeline: I would like to have a time bar just like we have for video right now for every gauge we add so we can turn it on and off during the video duration. I would like to do this so say someone bags in a HOT lap I would like to display that at that moment and then turn that off so we can enjoy the lap.

Video: I would like to be able to add more then 1 video files somehow to the project so whether thats a rear/front camera views or Vehicle 1/Vehicle 2 views etc....

[Rolf]

Thanks for the great feedback Dmitriy!

Map:
-We should allow for simple rotation in the current map component. Great idea.
-We are actually planning on adding a "Zoom Map" like the one you described in some future release.
-We think it would be cool to optionally show when you are braking / accelerating in the map. We can show acceleration in green, deceleration in red. This could apply to the regular map or zoom map.

Timeline:
-I had also thought that it would be nice to have gauges only show up for set time periods, but I wasn't sure how I was going to pull it off in the UI. Maybe when you have a gauge selected in the project the trim handles switch from trimming the video time to trimming when the gauge is visible. Hmm... I like that.

Video:
-Support for multiple input videos has been in our plans since day one, however it is a pretty big undertaking. There is a major bug in the Microsoft "Media Element" control that we use to preview video. If you quickly seek around in the video a lot, the control will eventually stop updating. On faster systems it can take a lot of seeking for this to show up, but on slower systems it seems to happen fairly regularly. A workaround in DashWare is to delete the video from the project then undo the deletion. This reloads the video and brings the media element back to life. We fear that if we load up multiple video files in the preview area then this bug will show up quickly, even on faster machines. Microsoft doesn't seem to be planning on fixing this bug which means we probably have to write our own media control... which I could see taking a lot of time to get right.
-Long story short: We are planning on doing this, but no promise on a release date yet ;)

Thanks,
Rolf

[Dmitriy]

Timeline:
-I had also thought that it would be nice to have gauges only show up for set time periods, but I wasn't sure how I was going to pull it off in the UI. Maybe when you have a gauge selected in the project the trim handles switch from trimming the video time to trimming when the gauge is visible. Hmm... I like that.


EXACTLY what I was thinking. Like this:
http://dima.brandtshaft.com/Dashware/DashwareWishList1.jpg

[Dmitriy]

Gauge Designer:
It would be nice if multiple item properties were able to edit at the same time, for example color, so when you select more then 1 item common properties for ALL of them are editable.

Animated Pie - it would be nice if it was possible for it to have a gradient from one color to the other just like animated bar.

I would be REALLY nice to have check boxes in ALL the animated item to have that ITEM go to MIN or MAX state if the value is under of over. What I mean by that is let say you have an animated bar that goes from 0 to 100 well when the value goes to 101 then the bar stays full, it would be nice if there was a way to bring it back to 0 when the value is too much, however also have the option of keeping it at 100 too.

Test Value - It would be nice if there was a centralized place to set a test value for ALL the animated objects (I would like it if it was in Gauge inputs). This way if one input controls multiple objects on the gauge you don't have to go to the individual objects to test them. But also keep the option of testing them when you make them individually.

I made a gauge test file for myself, kinda like those news cars/bikes you see when you turn on the ignition the gauges go to full value and then back to check them all. here is the result...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV8DAfIOaIA

[RandallNoll]

Dmitriy,
Very cool gauge in the video! It's always so much fun to see what our customers come up with. DashWare is so flexible that it really allows your creativity to shine through.

Keep the feedback coming!

Thanks!

[Rolf]

Yes, very cool gauges!

Coincidentally, I have been Google searching recently to find examples of the various overlays they have used for MotoGP races... and my searches have come up completely blank. I can't seem to find a single online video or image showing their on-screen telemetry.

The next time I see them use one during a race I will have to pause and take a photo or something. I have seen them use a few different styles, and I think that is where you got yours from? Sometimes they show brake and throttle pressure comparisons between racers too. I'd love to create clones of them for DashWare.

I know this was a test video, but do you actually have a lean angle sensor on your SV now?

And again, great feedback.

I have also thought a bit about the ability to edit multiple component properties at the same time. Using the same color for several components can get a little tedious, copy/pasting the hex color value around. The hard part is... the properties for many components are quite different, and color can show up multiple times in a single component for its various parts. So if you select a bunch of components then what color property should I show? Line color, fill color, ...? How do I know which ones you want to apply the color changes to, and which you don't...? If all selected components are the same type it is easier, but when they are different types sometimes you still want to share color values.

As for the gradient.. I want to eventually have multiple fill styles (solid + the various gradient styles) for all gauge components that fill anything. Filled Ellipses, Animated Pies, bars, arcs, etc.

The checkboxes for what to do when you are under/over the value range is easy and a great idea.

Again you are reading my mind! :) It is nice to have the individual test values when editing specific components but yeah I want to have a way to tweak the gauge's input test values that can act on all components together. That would be nice for testing how a whole gauge works. I was thinking of throwing another toolbar button in the gauge input area called something like "Test Gauge Inputs" which would give you a dialog with a text box for each input's value.

Thanks,
Rolf

[Dmitriy]

I was trying to make some quick video + data assemblies at the track for some friends and just ran into a quick problem:

Video Screen Size VS. Gauge/Template Size:
Seems that templates and gauges work well for the preset size of video. If you are using a video of a smaller size say from GoPro Hero (WIDE/STD) its 512 x 384 so all those gauges need to be modified to fit the video. I have made some templates/gauges now that work to make production quicker but I don't know if I covered all the video sizes. Also Analysis HUD Gauges aren't very easy to re size quickly... for reasons of having to edit size on ALL the text separately :rolleyes:


Track Map:
I am trying to solve a small problem with the track map. If I export the whole route then the map shows in and out of the pits. Even if I set a start the first lap still includes the pit out. If I export just my completed laps then the video/data get cut off on the in and out laps. I have tried exporting 1 LAP and setting that one to DRAW the map and then having the ROUTE be the position of the MAP DOT. But since there is a size difference between the 2 (ROUTE takes more room the the LAP inside the box), the dot doesn't quite follow the map does that make sense?

P.S. 1.6 works well from me. Thank you.

[Rolf]

Hi Dmitriy,

You can resize all components in a gauge together in one shot. It should take all of about 2 minutes to get a gauge to the size you want:
-Bring up the gauge designer on the gauge in question
-Set the width of the gauge (in the gauge tab on the right) to the width of your video, so that you can eyeball it
-Select all components
-Use the resize handles to resize everything to the desired size

I know exactly what you are talking about with the track map. I have been overhauling our data importing code and at the same time fixing some of these issues. Currently you can select which laps you want visible in the sync map but it wasn't being applied to the map components in gauges. I have fixed that. Also, I am adding a couple of check boxes so you can ignore your first and/or last laps.

Glad to hear 1.0.6 works for you!

[Dmitriy]

Sorry if I sound like I keep bitching, I love the software and will continue using it regardless of these extra feature I want. Here comes some more feedback though... ;)

Sectors on Track:
I'd like instead of 'even pen' and 'odd pen' colors on track map to have a color selectable for every sector. So say you have 3 sectors well they can be all different colors. :D

[Rolf]

Hey, please don't feel like you are bitching. We love getting feedback from you guys and we track all of it and try and incorporate whatever we can when we have time.

Keep 'em coming!

[ganesht]

Map:
-We should allow for simple rotation in the current map component. Great idea.
-We are actually planning on adding a "Zoom Map" like the one you described in some future release.
-We think it would be cool to optionally show when you are braking / accelerating in the map. We can show acceleration in green, deceleration in red. This could apply to the regular map or zoom map.

Thanks,
Rolf

Any updates on this? or a projected release date?