This project facilitates taking dashcam video from compatible dashcams and producing timelapse summary videos from the source content, with a GPS map overlay.
This project leverages VapourSynth for much of the video processing, and as such, has a somewhat complicated setup process. The only supported usage method is Docker-based, which ensures that all necessary dependencies are available.
Please see the Dockerfile for a list of current dependencies.
In addition, access to an OpenStreetMap tile server is required to generate the GPS overlay map. Information about potential providers or instructions to run your own tile server can be found at https://switch2osm.org/.
I currently own and test the following two dashcams:
Other cameras from VanTop (or perhaps cameras from other brands that use similar electronics) may also be compatible, but I am unable to test those. This particular camera obfuscates its GPS data, so deobfuscation is performed before generating the final output.
This camera is based on a standard Novatek image processor. Other cameras also using Novatek processors may be compatible, but again, I am unable to test this. From my research, some cameras based on Novatek processors obfuscate their GPS data, but my model does not, so the script currently performs no deobfuscation.
First, build the docker image:
docker build -t dashcam .
Assuming the image built correctly, use the application as follows:
docker run -v "<video directory>:/work" -it dashcam -c <Camera Type> <OpenStreetMap URL>
Replace <video directory> with the path to a directory containing the raw
video files. Replace <OpenStreetMap URL> with the URL to an OpenStreetMap tile
server. The default is http://localhost/hot but this is unlikely to work
unless you happen to already be running a tile server. Replace <Camera Type>
with either novatek or vantop as appropriate.
While this software is primarily intended for my own personal use, I am not opposed to third-party contributions to either fix bugs, add support for additional camera models, or to add additional features.
I'm particularly unhappy with the way I've currently added support for the Novatek camera, so the entire GPS module is a strong candidate for refactoring. As the software works as-is for my use case, I am personally unlikely to do much development work.
- Jason Lynch (Aexoden) jason@aexoden.com