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Syncing a video with sensor data collection requires Graphical Analysis Pro.

If you are using a third party data logger, like an accelerometer, you may be able to synchronize a video of the collected data to the logged data using Logger Pro or Graphical Analysis Pro.

Preparing the Data for Import

It is simplest if the data is in CSV format. Download the data from the data logger onto a computer and open the data in a spreadsheet program that allows you to save the data in CSV format. Adjust the data as noted below:

  1. Use the first row to give each column of data a name (column heading). Don’t use underscores in the column headings. (Omit this step if your only option for saving is a TXT file and not CSV.)
  2. Remove any blank columns between your data columns.
  3. If the time column is using time of day (or similar) for the time column, create a column of data that gives the true elapsed time of your experiment (in seconds).^ Name this column Time.
  4. Make sure the Time column is the first column in your CSV file.
  5. Save the file in CSV format.
  6. Put the CSV file and the video file in the same folder on your computer.

^ You can easily create the elapsed time column if you know the sampling rate used by the data logger. For example, if a data logging accelerometer collected data at 100 samples/second, you could easily create a column from the beginning of the data set that increments in 0.01s steps.

Using Logger Pro

  1. Launch Logger Pro.
  2. From the File menu select Import From â–¶ CSV….
  3. Navigate to your CSV file, then click Open. The data should be imported into Logger Pro and the column headings you entered in row 1 of your file should be the column names used in Logger Pro.
  4. If desired, double click a column heading to add units, change the displayed precision, and adjust the column color.
  5. Make sure that the column for elapsed time has the name Time and that the units are s (seconds). This is required for the video sync to work.
  6. Now set up your graph(s) in Logger Pro so you have your column of interest plotted on the Y-axis and Time plotted on the X-Axis. This can be done by clicking on the default graph and selecting the Axes Options Tab from the Graph Options dialog.
  7. From the Insert menu, select Movie, navigate to your movie, then click Open. Your video should now be inserted into Logger Pro.
  8. From the Page menu, select Auto Arrange to quickly arrange the video, graph(s), and data table on the page.
  9. Click on the synchronize button,, then follow the instructions in the dialog box to synchronize your video to the data. Click OK to save the settings.
  10. Save the Logger Pro file in the same Folder that includes the original video and CSV file. Note: the video and the Logger Pro file always need to be in the same folder.
  11. From the Analyze menu, select Replay to display the replay control. Adjust the replay settings as desired.
  12. Click Start on the replay dialog to replay the video synced with the data collection.

Using Graphical Analysis Pro

Syncing a video with collected data requires Graphical Analysis Pro.
This cannot be done using Vernier Video Analysis or the free version of Graphical Analysis.

  1. Launch the Graphical Analysis app and make sure the Pro features are activated.
  2. Connect a sensor to Graphical Analysis. You will need to collect some data in order to create the time column required for syncing the data to the video. It does not matter what sensor you use.
  3. Click or tap View Options, , and select to show both the graph and data table.
  4. From your CSV Time column, identify the data-collection rate and duration for the CSV data.
  5. Click or tap Mode and adjust the rate and duration to match what you found in step 4.
  6. Without interacting with the sensor, click or tap Collect and wait for data collection to complete.
  7. Verify that the Graphical Analysis app Time column matches the data from the CSV file Time data. If necessary, start over, adjusting the rate and duration until you can match the CSV file Time data.
  8. Click or tap Column Options, , next to the Graphical Analysis Time column header in the data table, then choose Add Manual Column.
  9. Repeat Step 7 until you have added a column for each data column in your CSV file you want to transfer to Graphical Analysis. (Note: You will not need a column for the CSV Time data since you already have that column from the sensor data collection.)
  10. Enter the desired name, units, and displayed precision, to match the data columns from your CSV file. You will want the columns to be in the same order they are in the CSV file to make adding the data easier.
  11. From the CSV file highlight the data you want to transfer to the Graphical Analysis file. Do not highlight the column headers. Copy the data, then paste them into the Graphical Analysis file. Verify the data has transferred as desired before going on.
  12. On the graph, click or tap the y-axis label to display the plot manager. Change the selection so that your column of interest is plotted on the graph.
  13. Click or tap View Options, , and turn on Video.
  14. Click or tap Import Video, navigate to the video file, then click or tap Open. Your video should now be inserted into Graphical Analysis Pro.
  15. Click or tap Enable Replay, , to access the replay data-collection tools. Click or tap Start Replay, , from the replay data toolbar to replay the data collection so you can again see all of the data.
  16. Click or tap Sync Video to Data, , to access the sync video tools.
  17. Advance the video to a frame that you can easily correlate to one of the data points. Click or tap the graph at the point that corresponds to the video frame you have selected.
  18. Click or tap Sync data with video, , to turn on the sync tool.
  19. Enter the time associated with the examine line as the Data Set Time.
  20. Enter the time associated with the current video frame as the Video Time.
  21. Click or tap Sync Video to Data, , to close the sync video tool. Click or tap Restart Replay, .
  22. Save the Graphical Analysis file in the same Folder that includes the original video and CSV file.
  23. Adjust the Playback Speed as desired then click or tap Start Replay, , to replay the video synced to the data.
Published: December 20, 2012. Updated: February 18, 2025.