Dashcam Viewer for Mac and Windows

[Michael23]

An update for JOHN/traveler...

Hello John,
After doing a little re-search & reading the DCV User Manual in full,
I came across an item that mentioned & linked to the latest version of the K-Lite Basic Codec that was required.
(I was only running v15.)

So, I went to the site & D/L'd & installed > Version 18.4.0 Basic.
I wasn't sure if DCV would "pick it up" but it did.
I can now report that all appears to be fine 'n' dandy again.

Plays all my May 2023 (7) & June 2024 (10), so far... videos with just a few that display the "Spanner" icon.

So John, Many thanks once again for a great program.

Regs, L....errr Mike..

 

[traveler]

Hello John,

I appear to have struck a small problem re; my AZDOME dashcam & the new DCV, v 3.9.8,
in that it will not display the videos which worked fine in v3.8.1 & 3.9.6.

This is on my new WIN10 Pro desktop PC 64 bit.

Error message reads as >
"Timeout occurred when trying to load or play the videos...... incompatible video codec & will not be able to see the video but will see the navigation....."
As stated, no video but none of the functions work either.
Got the usual "spanner" in the video box.
I have the K-Lite codec (basic version) as well.

Anyway, I've emailed you a selection of 2023 videos & the AZDOME camera details.
Hope you can fix my small problem.......once again. (They aren't THAT frequent though.)


Many thank you's for a great product.

Regs, L errr Mike.


ps. As I mentioned, the videos all played fine in the old versions & on my spare WIN 7 Pro laptop.

@Michael23 That's strange...not much has changed 'under the hood' since DCV v3.9.6. Mainly just added additional dashcam model supports. The error you're reporting is most likely due to K-Lite Codec Pack not being installed, or as @TheSpanishInq has reported, possibly an issue with the version of K-Lite Codec Pack itself.

Here's another possibility: I've seen the warning message occur if reading the SD card from a slow SD card reader attached to your PC. The workaround is to copy the videos to your hard drive and try loading them from there.

Edit: Ah, I just saw your follow-up message. Glad you sorted it out!

 

[traveler]

Does anyone know if it is possible to tweak the 'Audio Event Detection' capability? It seems too sensitive as it even picks up doors closing off other cars on the parking lot. Even on 10 it returns too many 'false positives'.

The Audio Event Detection feature is designed to detect sudden sounds so a car door closing does qualify. I've never run into a case where I've had to raise the sound level discriminator above 10 but I can investigate. Thanks!

 

[TheSpanishInq]

@traveler : If there is anything I can do to help to fine tune the Auto Event Detection capability, please let me know. For example, execute a certain ffprobe command over a number of files. I'm reasonably skilled in working with PowerShell for example.
And please note that there is, as far as I'm concerned, no time pressure on this. There was no damage to our car during the 12 hour on the parking lot. Just a lot of files with doors closing .

Edit: example and typo...

 

[traveler]

Dashcam Viewer v4.0.0 Released

Dashcam Viewer v4.0.0 was released today for both Mac and Windows. Version 4 is a free update for all Dashcam Viewer users.

New!

• First release of Dashcam Viewer built specifically for Apple Silicon CPUs (M1, M2, M3, etc). Previously, DCV ran on these Macs in an emulated mode. The new version will boot up faster and improve performance.

New Camera Supports:

• Added support for NextBase 380GWX
• Added support for NextBase 412GW
• Added 2nd channel support for Innovv K6 (note: this dashcam does not have GPS)

Bug Fixes:

• Added fuzzy search for 2nd channel of DOD GS980 dashcam. This makes 2nd channel detection more accurate.
• Fixed issue with Audio Detection. In some cases, the Audio Detection process was not invoked properly.
• [Mac] Restored Google Maps functionality. Still a work in progress for Windows version.
• [Mac] Fixed issue with JPG/PNG image capture area being shifted when selecting Export Image from toolbar.
• [Mac] General GUI improvements and tweaks due to updated GUI framework

Dashcam Viewer v4.0.0 running natively on MacBook Air M1

Dashcam Viewer and Dashcam Viewer PRO are PC/Mac applications that allow you to play your dashcam’s videos while simultaneously viewing your vehicle’s location on a map. There are many other features in the software which are detailed on our website (http://dashcamviewer.com). The free version is fully-functional and allows the loading of up to 2 videos at a time.

 

[Kremmen]

FYI, Norton blocks the install (the old plain setup.exe was fine)

When Norton throws the error press the 'Exclude Process' and then 'Try Again' and it installs OK

 

[DT MI]

FYI, Norton blocks the install (the old plain setup.exe was fine)

When Norton throws the error press the 'Exclude Process' and then 'Try Again' and it installs OK

I ran into the same thing. Uninstalled the previous version then installed the new one. I tried the method you did and ended up with the help files for the previous version instead of the new ones.

 

[Gary D]

@traveler

Thanks for the awesome program. Registered today. (and thank you for sending the key to my gmail account instead of hotmail.) I also sent you a reply to the registration email with a bug report concerning GPS data in Viofo A229 Pro files. If you have any questions or need more info, please feel free to reply to the email or here.. or wherevever.

 

[traveler]

FYI, Norton blocks the install (the old plain setup.exe was fine)

When Norton throws the error press the 'Exclude Process' and then 'Try Again' and it installs OK

The latest installer-maker program I have explicitly recommended to NOT use the generic name "setup.exe" for the installer because "setup.exe" is often blocked from running. So I changed it to "dcvSetup.exe" thinking it would make life easier.

I ran into the same thing. Uninstalled the previous version then installed the new one. I tried the method you did and ended up with the help files for the previous version instead of the new ones.

On Windows, the title page of the Dashcam Viewer User's Manual will have the date "July 7, 2024" but the online version is "July 21, 2024". Not to worry--the content is the same, just updated the date for the online version.

Thanks for the awesome program. Registered today. (and thank you for sending the key to my gmail account instead of hotmail.) I also sent you a reply to the registration email with a bug report concerning GPS data in Viofo A229 Pro files. If you have any questions or need more info, please feel free to reply to the email or here.. or wherevever.

Gary, I got your bug report when loading a set of videos in which the FIRST video has no GPS data (likely, due to lack of GPS lock). This situation can confound DCV if the dashcam doesn't write legitimate GPS data in the expected location. When this happens, DCV can't determine the dashcam model using the series of tests it performs. Since it only performs this expensive test on the first video, it can't determine how to process the subsequent videos. DCV either misidentifies or simply assumes the videos contains no GPS data. As you surmised, the workaround is to first clear the cache (Advanced Settings-> Clear Cache) then reload the set of videos making sure not to include the problematic video.

One of my future ToDos is to perform a more thorough (though time-consuming) process which would test the 2nd video in the batch and look for GPS data there if the first video fails. Currently this is not performed, but it's worth considering for a future release.

Thanks!

 

[LateralNW]

I have explicitly recommended to NOT use the generic name "setup.exe" for the installer because "setup.exe" is often blocked from running. So I changed it to "dcvSetup.exe" thinking it would make life easier.

Thanks for continuing to do updates.

With the install method consider.....

Try " Runme1st.exe " lol
Who reads how to install a program that is already installed?

Could You make your old version prompt the user to point to the new download and then get your program to do the work?
That would make it seamless to the user.

Any luck getting google back? I miss it.

With the map could you make the car location be in front of the location markers. Red is a good colour while traveling along the road but if you happen to stop the video under a maker you won't see it.


And while I'm here I noticed that North pointing option is greyed out.


And option to "Clean Up" brings up this message. The program is running on a 4K monitor and it is set to
doesn't seem to fix it.

What does the message really mean? Oh and I have tried various size windows, that's for the peanut gallery.

 

[Gary D]

When this happens, DCV can't determine the dashcam model using the series of tests it performs. Since it only performs this expensive test on the first video, it can't determine how to process the subsequent videos. DCV either misidentifies or simply assumes the videos contains no GPS data. As you surmised, the workaround is to first clear the cache (Advanced Settings-> Clear Cache) then reload the set of videos making sure not to include the problematic video.

Perhaps a simple config item?

Default dashcam model. (dashcam model assumed if DCV is unable to determine the model)

(Just a suggestion.)

 

[mlapaglia]

just purchased a license, ty this software is pretty awesome!
i have a VIOFO A229 Plus. Is the time being off an issue with the software or with my dashcam? it can drift as much as 2 seconds during playback. i read through the documentation and faq but couldn't find anything.

 

[Nedla]

Hello traveler,
since the update to version 4.0, every time I start the program I get an error/warning message from AVAST Anti Virus that there is a danger and the program will not start. What can I do to solve this problem?

 

[Kremmen]

Can you whitelist Dashcam Viewer.exe in Avast ?

 

[Nedla]

As far as I read correctly, only the program developer can do this, unfortunately I as a user at AVAST cannot

 

[Kremmen]

Excluding certain files or websites from scanning in Avast Antivirus | Official Avast Support

Learn how to exclude items from scanning in Avast Antivirus.

support.avast.com

May help

 

[Nedla]

@Kremmen

Your tip was very helpful.
Thank you for that, because my problem is solved!
I would still be interested to know how this problem came about, because I never had it before the update to version 4.0 (not even with AVAST).

 

[Kremmen]

Recent ransomware programs rename and or process many files very rapidly. AV programs now look for this behaviour and will block them from installing unless you let them through

I have a similar program I supply that converts Garmin CSV files to GPX for greater control and can change dozens of files in seconds. As a result it does often have to be whitelisted even though I've digitally signed it

 

[traveler]

Any luck getting google back? I miss it.

The Google Map option is now back for the macOS versions (Intel and Apple Silicon). Still working on it for Windows version. The problem is that Google changed their API version such that it was no longer compatible with the web browser built into DCV GUI framework. The new GUI framework I'm using was supposed to be compatible but unfortunately added bugs that make DCV unstable. Still looking into it but in the meantime the MapQuest option works well.

With the map could you make the car location be in front of the location markers. Red is a good colour while traveling along the road but if you happen to stop the video under a maker you won't see it.
View attachment 73420

I'll add this to my ToDo list.

And while I'm here I noticed that North pointing option is greyed out.

Thanks for pointing this out. The "North Up" map checkbox only applies to the Google Map so it should be hidden when MapQuest is selected. I've fixed this.

And option to "Clean Up" brings up this message. The program is running on a 4K monitor and it is set to
doesn't seem to fix it.

What does the message really mean? Oh and I have tried various size windows, that's for the peanut gallery.

View attachment 73423

Great question. Regarding the "Clean Up" window option: Sometimes it’s useful to gather the ancillary windows around the Main window, without the Main window changing position. This is where the Clean Up function steps in.

To control whether the Dashboard and Graph windows appear above or below the Main Window, simply move the Dashboard window anywhere above or below the Main Window before selecting "Clean Up". Similarly, place the Dashboard window to the left or right of the Main Window to make the Dashboard clean up to the left or right.

The Control Center and Map windows will clean up to the left or right of the Main Window depending on where the Control Center window was before the Clean Up command was issued. Similarly, the Control Center window will clean up to the top or bottom depending on where it was relative to the Main Window before the Clean Up command was issued.

Here are some before and after examples of the Clean Up function.

The error message you observed was due to the Main Window being so wide or tall that the ancillary windows could not be "cleaned up" around it neatly. The fix is to shrink the width/height of the Main Window and then try the Clean Up command again.

 

[LateralNW]

Thanks traveler for the reply.

The problem is that Google changed their API version such that it was no longer compatible with

I have seen other programs getting damaged due to Google changing things. My TV stopped using Youtube because they either changed the licence agreement or just updated something that my brand of TV didn't and wouldn't fix. (Hisense TV)
A website I used to use often for GPS info also had his maps break due to Google.

The Control Center and Map windows will clean up to the left or right of the Main Window depending on where the Control Center window was before the Clean Up command was issued. Similarly, the Control Center window will clean up to the top or bottom depending on where it was relative to the Main Window before the Clean Up command was issued.

Here are some before and after examples of the Clean Up function.

Thanks for the examples it helps me better understand what the function is supposed to do. I thought it was to clean up the cache!
So below is just some things you may consider addressing to prevent user error and then submitting a problem/error.

The error message you observed was due to the Main Window being so wide or tall that the ancillary windows could not be "cleaned up" around it neatly. The fix is to shrink the width/height of the Main Window and then try the Clean Up command again.

I might be missing something or you may need to have another look at your program. Here is an example of the main window being smaller but it still happened.
Note the "white space" (actually black) around the main window so it is smaller similar to your examples above. What I am saying here is the message doesn't reflect what is the real problem eg the outer windows are consider by the program as at their max res.

Are you able to make the main window the reference window and resize the other windows based on a percentage of the screen resolution? eg they all get a % of screen space when first set allowing for resizing later?



It also happens AFTER I do a and then a Cleanup


I think is doesn't know that the windows are in the correct place or at least close to the correct place - note the GPS map is below and on top of the Task Bar and needs to be manually resized to fit in the desktop frame.

Thanks for continually improving the program.

Cheers.