How Pitch, Roll, and G-Force Work
The pitch, roll, and G-force readings you see on VelocityCam's Classic and Adventure HUDs come from a securely mounted phone's motion sensors. This guide explains what each reading represents, how record-start calibration works, and where the limits are.
Pitch and roll are vehicle-relative
Pitch is the nose-up / nose-down angle of the vehicle. Roll is the side-to-side lean. VelocityCam reports both relative to the mount's orientation at record start, so a windshield mount that isn't perfectly vertical still produces gauges that make sense.
G-force is stabilized for a mounted phone
The G-force ball reflects acceleration in the horizontal plane. Raw motion-sensor data is noisy, especially on rough surfaces, so VelocityCam filters and stabilizes it before displaying — the goal is a reading that stays honest without jittering unusably.
Record-start calibration
When you start recording, VelocityCam captures the phone's orientation and treats it as level. That reference stays with the session for the whole run, playback, and export. If you re-mount the phone mid-day, the next session will re-calibrate to the new orientation.
Manual live calibration
If a bump or reposition throws the gauges off, VelocityCam supports manual live calibration — resetting the current 'level' reference without stopping the session. Use it sparingly; a stable mount is the better fix.
What the sensors are not
Phone GPS and motion sensors are consumer-grade. They are excellent for capturing the shape of a ride, but they are not professional measurement instruments and should not be treated as such. Do not rely on the readings for legal, competitive, or safety-critical decisions.
Handheld recording is different
Everything above describes a securely mounted phone reporting pitch, roll, and G-force relative to the vehicle. The Handheld HUD does not use vehicle-relative orientation at all — it shows GPS-based performance metrics such as speed, distance, and duration for recording without mounting the phone. Handheld never displays pitch, roll, or G-force gauges.
FAQs
Do I have to level the phone before recording?
No. Record-start calibration handles that. Just make sure the mount stays in place.
Why does G-force not spike as much as I expected?
Because the reading is stabilized to stay readable under normal driving vibration. Genuine hard acceleration, braking, and cornering still register clearly.