The folks at Kinomap have been pretty busy lately, adding a slew of new features to their existing Kinomap trainer app, as well as optimizing some of the existing functions in the app.
First up is expanded compatibility with the CycleOps PowerBeam Pro using ANT+. For those that have an existing PowerBeam Pro you can start leveraging the Kinomap for training videos. I’ve previously covered Kinomap functionality within the Wahoo KICKR review (so check that out for a more general overview).
Kinomap is currently using the existing ANT control options over the PowerBeam Pro to control the resistance, however, as the PowerBeam and other trainers shift to the standard ANT+ Bicycle Trainer control device profile, Kinomap will be adding that as well (meaning it’ll eventually be compatible with other units like the BKOOL).
Additionally, Kinomap is also going to be compatible with the new Bluetooth Smart PowerBeam trainers once those start shipping withen the next month or so. The advantage there is that unlike the ANT+ trainers which would require the ANT+ adapter for your iDevice, this can be handled fully within a Bluetooth 4.0 compatible iPhone/iPad (i.e., iPhone 4s and newer).
Additionally, these changes are also available on the iPhone platform in a scaled down version, as seen in their Bull Trainer App:
Next up on the Kinomap app side are some new settings that a number of folks have asked for. The two items of note are:
Rate of Resistance Change: This is a slider which allows you to minimize what are typically elevation false-positives and minimize the impact of elevation spikes and changes by setting a maximum percent of resistance change.
Maximum Slope: This acts as an overall failsafe for the maximum slope that it’ll transmit to the trainer, set in percentage.
You can see these below:
Now while the above settings are great, they are to some degree putting Band-Aids on the underlying problem of bad elevation data in course videos.
To solve that underlying problem there are two changes coming. First is a user-tool I’ll talk about later in this post. And second is that Kinomap has started going through its database of videos and applying elevation corrections and smoothing to try and ferret out elevation abnormalities.
In addition to all that though there’s a new tool that’s about to be released into beta that allows you to much more easily upload your own videos with GPS files. Best of all, the whole thing is written using HTML5, so it doesn’t require you to download anything to your computer (and also, will easily work across platforms).
First up is selecting your video file from your device. In most cases this will be coming from a GoPro or similar sports action camera.
The video can be previewed on the left side. Meanwhile, your next step is adding in the GPS file. You’ve got two options here. One is the more basic option of adding a standard GPX file (with GPS information). You can see this option at right on the upper half of the screen. The second option is to leverage the Garmin Communicator plug-in if you have that installed, to pull it directly from your device (or, the ANT Agent software). Below you can see it being pulled from Garmin FR910XT files.
Once that’s complete you’ll see the map of your file along with the video on the left. A few options worthy of note. First is that you can rotate the video in the event you forgot to do that on your device (for example, attached upsidedown). Second is that you can mute the sound – getting rid of an hour’s worth of wind. Then you’ve got a method to go ahead and make the snippet smaller than the actual video/file – if for example you wanted to remove your 2 minutes of extra footage at the start/end of a ride.
While the software has a simple button to sync the two files, I generally find that’s the most complex part of most of these software suites. Meaning that often times you may press ‘start’ on your GoPro and then 5 seconds later press start on your Garmin. Or, you’re riding with your Garmin for an hour before you start the video for a certain section.
Thankfully it’s a bit easier here. Instead of just playing the time guessing game, you can simply zoom in and find the spot on the map. That’s pretty easy since you can simply look at the video and match the two up quickly.
Then just go ahead and save the specified location.
Next, you’ll have noticed there’s an elevation chart plotted as well. The problem there is that depending on which GPS device you have you may have either GPS altimeter data (generally not so hot), or barometric altimeter data (generally more consistent/smooth).
In order to help alleviate issues there you can let the app plot a more stable elevation profile across some of these little variances. Below you can see a highly zoomed in section with the raw elevation data shown as the spikey line.
In this case the ability to override that original source with a more smoothed profile is available, which you can see above. You can simply drag up/down points (and create new points) to help mold any elevation changes you’d like.
As it stands today this will allow you to modify your own videos upon upload. Additionally, as noted above, Kinomap is working to start processing the most popular existing videos with better elevation data. Beyond that, they’re also looking at perhaps enabling some community members with the tool to help fix other videos, sorta like moderators on a forum.
With the announcement of Sony’s new HDR-AS30V action cam that includes GPS, Kinomap has been updated to automatically read in the correct files from them and allow you to literally make videos in a pretty streamlined fashion. I ordered one of these cameras and will be testing it out alongside the Garmin VIRB/VIRB Elite in the near future.
Lastly, to round up some final availability/pricing items:
Kinomap today costs $12US/month (prices converted automatically to other currencies) if you buy it one month at a time. But you can buy it up to 12 months at a time and the price drops to $75 for the year. This is handled via the App Store subscription functionality.
Additionally, they’re also working with other trainer companies to put in-box coupon codes that will give you a few months trial. That coupon code can be enabled via the same subscription setting with the app.
Going forward, Kinomap is working on an Android version of the app, and may have some early beta versions of the app starting in the January timeframe – potentially tied in with CES 2014 the first week of January. Additionally, as noted up above, they’re part of the ANT+ Bicycle Trainer Technical Working Group (TWG), and will be implementing the beta and then final device profiles here as soon as they’re available.
With that, thanks for reading!
–
Welcome to Interbike week! This week during Interbike 2013 I’ll be tweeting from the exhibition show floor quite a bit, as well as posting frequently. Here’s a quick and handy link to all Interbike-related posts.
FOUND THIS POST USEFUL? SUPPORT THE SITE!
Hopefully, you found this post useful. The website is really a labor of love, so please consider becoming a DC RAINMAKER Supporter. This gets you an ad-free experience, and access to our (mostly) bi-monthly behind-the-scenes video series of “Shed Talkin’”.
Support DCRainMaker - Shop on Amazon
Otherwise, perhaps consider using the below link if shopping on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. It could simply be buying toilet paper, or this pizza oven we use and love.
Will it work with Cycleops indoor cycles like the 400 Pro?
@Sam: It’s not the case yet but it should arrive soon. Do you have one? You could be a beta tester if you’d like : just open a ticket on support_at_kinomap.com so that we get in touch. Thanks!
Do I get it right that if we find some good people with the Sony camera riding IM courses across the globe, we can train on the actual bike courses indoor? I’d be willing to chip in for that!
Exactly Sven! The new Action Cam by Sony is the easiest because it has built-in GPS so it’s already in sync and you have one device that does it all. You can also use other cameras but then you need to record and sync the GPS data with it. See more here: link to kinomap.com
Any plans to move off of the mobile app and into a Win8 app?
Ray, do you know of anyone who’s building a package for the kickr that allows you to just plot a route using google maps and subsequently ride it?
I can’t find one and I’m surprised.
What about PowerTap/ANT+ power meter support? I noticed Power Beam and Speed/Cadence sensor was listed, but no power?
You can definitely use a Powertap as an input, selecting “Home Trainer” in the Add new equipment tab. In this case, it will not change the resistance of course but rather will use your precise power to have the video plays at the right pace.
Anybody knows about the Sony’s battery life? Not a single comment about it on the interwebs. Laurent, would this also work when taping a 180km IM course from the car’s dash? I assume yes, but just checking before buying :-)
Hi Sven. I was told by Sony that the battery life is around 3 hours, which is very good in the industry. You can record from your car but the video will then be always rendered at a lower speed which is not the best visual experience. But still, that’s interesting. Make sure that you record in 60fps to improve a little bit.
Isn´t it time or a recommendation of all app/applications now when it soon time for the trainer season (at least in Europe).
It would be great to see which app/application you recommend for different setups like a normal trainer such Tacx flow together with an powermeter on the bike, other setups can be just the Wahoo kickr.
Yup, it’s something I’m planning on doing as part of a post in the first 1-2 weeks of October.
Great, you are always one step before us ;)
The problem with all these solutions is that there are barely “training videos” available. Wahoo/Strava segments are ridiculously short and useless, and I haven’t found inspiring long training videos on Kinomap either. I don’t get why these companies don’t just go out, or pay folks to go and ride some FULL Ironman courses with a camera. I could be wrong, but I expect people to actually pay for these kind of training videos… then there is still the issue of barometric altimeter data equipped cameras…
The altimeter piece is sorta what’s being talked about here and the correction of the data being done by Kinomap.
@Frank: we’re actually starting a reflexion on a “premium content contributors” program in which we could in some ways sponsored folks to go and ride some nice training videos… Would you be interested yourself? If yes, just contact us on our support system so that we get your contact information: support_at_kinomap.com . Thanks
We filmed all the major well known roads & climbs of Europe this year, our software needs no installation , it even runs off a external hard drive! totally bug free. Profiles of the ride collection are grade perfect & the rides are all filmed with a top end cinema camera. Ant+ & virtual speed, power derived from your trainer power curve Heart rate etc, export to Garmin tcx, 4 seconds between clicking exe & riding. connects to all your Ant+ kit with zero fuss is our motto….it will be dirt cheap also!
Oops forgot the link to some pics! link to facebook.com
I downloaded this app based on the reviews on your website here and I must say I’m finding it difficult to see why you’re recommending it. It was unable to detect my BTLE Wahoo BlueHR even though the Wahoo app saw it and my Wahoo BlueSC just fine. The mirroring of the display through Airplay to an Apple TV seems to only work with the video and not show any of the map or stats views. The videos uploaded to the site are really difficult to do any searches through. I couldn’t find one ride in Colorado even with the search!
I could live with only having the video being displayed on my TV and having the rest of the info on a mounted iPad (like your music stand) but not being able to properly record the ride data from my two Wahoo devices and being unable to search effectively really makes the ‘community’ aspect of this app useless and I would say makes the value of their in app subscription not a good value at all.
I really wanted this to work as I am considering seriously buying a Kickr to use for training this winter and would love to display my usual routes on my TV as I train along with trying a few other recorded routes for variety. Seems like at least so far this app isn’t ready for my main use case.
Hi Chris,
I can understand your frustration on the search features of our app: that’s really something that became a challenge for us and we’re working till mid-October to release an update that will be a lot better on this. Especially by using the appreciation (Like/Not Like) left by others.
We also have a technical issue with our word based search engine that is working currently with exact correspondance only, in the title and description. It means that if you type “New Jersey Triathlon”, you won’t have any result even though there is a video called NJ 2012 Triathlon! Google used all of us to have a very powerful search engine and we’ll definitely fix that. In the meantime, I recommend that you use the Map Search and pinpoint the location you’d like: it will find the 25 closest. You can also use the website and add to the favorites from the website ( http://www.kinomap.com ) to retrieve them in the app directly when logged in.
As for BTLE, we use a discovery method to handle better rooms with many Kickrs or sensors but this method has a drawback: you need to at least connect the equipment once with the Wahoo app so that the iPad is aware of it (there is a little sentence explaining it in the Equipment search page).
Finally, you have to activate Apple TV mirroring directly by double-clicking the Home button and slide to the left in the Music controls menu from the iPad. Then, you can switch in the app, in the display menu while playing a video between 2 “external displays optimized modes” and 1 just pure mirroring like on the iPad. See this photo for example from Interbike: link to on.fb.me
Thanks for your feedback.
Laurent
I appreciate your reply Laurent. With your suggestions I was finally able to get the app to connect to my bluetooth devices and to the AppleTV! Progress!! It does indeed look much better now with the way you have optimized the display and split it between the TV and the iPad. If I could make a suggestion it would be to add the ability to control the app with the Wahoo RFLKT so you can start and stop using it.
I will try your suggestions about the search, hopefully I will be able to find some rides near me.
I wonder if the video slows down when you are slower then the guy who recorded the video. And when you get behind, does the video pass the slope to the KICKR that the video guy is riding? Or does it pass the slope to the KICKR that you are on at the moment, for example the road a kilometer behind?
Actually, there are several modes:
– slow down/speed up will actually change the framerate of the video to match closely your pace
– pause/catch-up will pause when you’re a few meters behind and seek to catch you up if you’re in front leading by a few meters
The slope passed to the KICKR is in all cases the one that you are on at the moment.
Hope that helps.
ok thank you , that helps a lot.
I own a non-ANT+ Cycleops Powerbeam Pro. I was just about to send it back to the factory to get it updated to broadcast ANT+. Should I hold off now until the standard ANT+ Bicycle Trainer control device profile comes out? If Kinomap and other programs switch to the new profile, will my trainer still work if it has the old version of ANT+? Or will some functionality be limited? Thanks!
Joe, I can answer for Kinomap: we do support the current non-ANT version of the Powerbeam as announced in this post and we will keep that in the future of course, even when we’ll have the new profile implemented.
Thanks.
A good way to get quality content on to Kinomap might be to credit users for uploading videos. Rather than having a flat rate for each video, you could give people credits any time a subscriber thumbs up their video. That way it would keep down the amount of crap put on there and you could let actual subscribers decide which videos are best.
I used Kinomap for the first time last night and loved it, I know I would be motived to get quality videos up if I were somehow credited for it, I’m paying for the subscription. It seems sort of strange to contribute content for free, but pay for the subscription.
One thing I didn’t like was that the workout file it produces has actual GPS coordinates in it. Uploading to Strava is actually looks like I rode Central Park, which is cool but I don’t want that. I also killed a bunch of segments, which riders who actually rode the course might not be happy about. In Strava I can mark it as a Stationary Trainer and it will remove the map, but other sites such as Garmin Connect and MMR don’t remove the info.
I recently subscribed to Kinomaps and have one question (well at the moment anyway.) is there a way to integrate music? Or do you suggest listening to a separate device. I wouldn’t have an issue just wearing an iPod or something but I kinda like the sound of video (shifting,wind, crowd) as well, wouldn’t want to mute it out completely. Doing a 1 hour climb would be a little nicer listening to some tunes. Thanks.
JJ: you defintely can launch music playback in the background using either the standard music application of Apple, or Deezer or whatever! And then go in Kinomap and launch your video: the 2 sounds will “overlap”.
Can the Kinomap iPad app control the resistance of a new ant+ Powerbeam Pro?
Yes.
I’ve looked through all the settings but can’t find a way to change the orientation from portrait to landscape, is this possible? If so how? Thanks.
JJ, I asked the same thing, it’s not. Bummer because that would be nicer.
I have iPhone 5s, iPad Air, two Kickrs each with Wahoo Bluetooth SC and HR sensors. Also a one-year subscription to Kinomap. I had no problems using Kinomap with my first Kickr, but when I tried to use the other Kickr it cannot pick up the sensors although they had been paired with Wahoo Utility.
Any guesses what my problem may be?
I have just purchased a kickr & I am having the same problem as Milos. Will connect to wahoo fitness & wahoo utiliity apps via bluetooth no problem, but will not connect to kinomap !!! Shame really, was really looking forward to using kinomap, especially in north east england this winter. Anybody got any ideas ?
Anyone know how to get the videos on kinomap and the wahoo kickr to work together? right now it appears i have finally figured out how to pair the device but i can not for the life of me figure out how to get the device to act as if though i am climbing the hills? is there a setting i am supposed to have in the app?
Please can someone answer JJ’s question above re how to show iPad display in landscape not portrait. How can this be done? If not yet when?
How can you get display on iPad in landscape not portrait?