Axon Signal (Bodycam and Dashcam Plugin) 1.2.437.10095

READ THE FOLLOWING BELOW BEFORE PROCEEDING TO DOWNLOAD
 

(NEW) APRIL 19, 2024 (Grand Theft Auto V Update v3179)

Rockstar Games has released an update for Grand Theft Auto V (build 3179.0). While no issues or any incompatibilities are expected, I have NOT tested this plugin with the new update yet. This section will be updated as soon as I get a chance to test the new plugin with the new update and if any reports from users come in. No guarantees that the plugin will work flawlessly with the new update just yet.

: Compatible
: Not compatible
: Currently testing

Compatibility status with Grand Theft Auto V Update v3179.0: 

NOTE # 1: I am NOT affiliated with Axon Enterprise, Inc. or TASER International, Inc.

NOTE #2: Please READ EVERYTHING outlined in the description below, the included README file and the INI file, it will save you time before reporting a bug or asking a question that's already been answered. Reported bugs and issues are outlined in the description below.
NOTE #3: Exercise caution to anyone blindly telling you (especially on Discord) to remove callout X or plugin Y or to disable antivirus without a proper reason why, there's a 99% chance they don't know what they are doing. If you are having a specific issue with my plugin, please do NOT seek support from third-party discord servers as they will not be of any useful assistance and I will NEVER have any clue that you're having an issue to begin with.

NOTE #4: While I appreciate suggestions and feedback, I will not accept all of them especially if it is not grounded in realism. Understand that I try to do research on this project with the limited available material online, if you have any credible sources as to the operations of these things, please provide them alongside your suggestions.

NOTE #5: Keep this in mind before using any kind of colorful language to describe any frustrations you may have with this plugin, and this can apply to any developer here on this website: I am alone, I do this in my free time voluntarily, Maintaining and updating a plugin can be stressful
NOTE #6: This plugin does not record any videos. This plugin only simulates the operation of an Axon Body and Axon Fleet with Axon Signal functionality. Any inquiries about this on Discord or the comments section below will be disregarded or closed as this has been addressed multiple times previously.

FEATURE UPDATE v1.2

COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME FORMAT (UTC)

Want to use the legacy overlay format from older generation body-worn cameras? You can configure the body camera and dash cam overlay to display the time in UTC format as well as selecting a desired offset from your local time of choice.

DASHCAM PANORAMIC LETTERBOX (includes 4:3 aspect ratio letterbox for interior camera)

courtesy of Ohio State Highway Patrol, reference photo for comparison

Get more immersed into an already unique patrol perspective. Starting with the AXON FLEET 3 generation of dashcams, depending on an agency's configuration on video resolution and aspect ratio, panoramic aspect ratios were introduced to compensate for the wide field-of-view on the newest generation dashcam. 

BODY CAMERA ACTIVATION ANIMATION

New animation when activating or deactivating the body camera.

THE AXON FLEET DASHCAM UPDATE

Get a unique perspective of your patrols with the new Axon Fleet Dashcam System, featuring both a front and interior camera, whether you want to keep an eye on the action upfront or keep an eye on the cuffed offender behind your back.

REAL-TIME DASHCAM OFFSET, POSITION, and FOV EDITOR (type AxonSignalOffsetMenu in the RAGE console to access this menu)

REAL-TIME OVERLAY EDITOR (type AxonSignalOverlayConfigMenu in the RAGE console to access this menu)

BODY CAMERA TIMESTAMP OVERLAY *(requires font installation, font included)

Axon Signal is a standalone RagePluginHook plugin that simulates the operation of an Axon body worn camera and in-car dash camera. Alongside that is the ability for the body camera to automatically start recording if you unholster your weapon (list of weapons that will trigger the body camera can be defined in the AxonSignal.ini file) or activate your emergency lights (stage 3 ELS lighting or activating lights on a NON-ELS vehicle). 
 

The following parameters can be changed in the plugin's ini file:

• The key to start/stop the recording of the body camera.
• If the body camera will start recording if you unholster your weapon
• List of weapons that will trigger the body camera recording function (WEAPON_PISTOL, WEAPON_STUNGUN, etc.)
• If the body camera will start recording if you activate your emergency lights (supports both ELS and NON-ELS vehicles, must be a valid police vehicle)
• If the plugin will display notifications on the bottom-left of your screen regarding the operation and activity of the plugin
• The amount of time in seconds between reminder beeps on the body camera (Default: 120 seconds)
• Body camera timestamp overlay parameters such as the model number, serial number, UTC offset, and if visible in third person or not
• Rockstar Editor integration (disabled by default, keep in mind of the following limitations)
  • Recording time: this is dependent on the number of entities around you and how many polygons those entities have (e.g. if you and 20 backup officers are in a shootout with 20 gang members with 10 addon cars exploding in the background, you will not have a lot of recording time)
  • Addendum to the above, recordings are in clips, assuming you run out of recording time, rockstar editor will record another seperate clip, they may not be fused together perfectly, and this will be more apparent the shorter your recording time
  • Rockstar editor usage is restricted in some areas (e.g. Fort Zancudo and the surrounding area, due to GTA Online protections)
  • Your own storage space and hardware
• Speed threshold parameter to trigger the Axon Signal Vehicle while emergency lights are activated
• Delay between the trigger and the activation of the body camera
• Body camera overlay real-time editor to customize text and logo size, spacing, and position (accessible by RAGE console command AxonSignalOverlayConfigMenu)
• Several dashcam parameters, whether it is accessible on foot, overlay, toggling the dashcam effect, the serial of both the dashcam and the interior camera, and the dashcam model that appears on the timestamp, offset, position, and FOV (configurable in the real-time editor accessible by RAGE console command AxonSignalOffsetMenu)
• Hide minimap when viewing dashcam (enabling letterboxing of either the dashcam or interior camera will hide the minimap, regardless of the setting)
• Whether dashcam or bodycam overlay displays local time with offset or UTC time
• Enable or disable bodycam animations
• Enable or disable body camera button sounds
• Enable or disable dashcam or interior camera letterboxing
• NEW Enable or disable overlay help messages

You may also change the supplied body camera sounds and logo inside the provided AxonSignalSound folder, provided the filenames match and file size is within a reasonable level.

REQUIREMENTS

• A legal copy of Grand Theft Auto V
• An up-to-date version of RagePluginHook
• RAGENativeUI (minimum v.1.9.2)

INSTALLATION

1. Unzip the files using WinZip, WinRAR, 7-zip, or any other archive utility.

2. Drag the files inside the AxonSignal/Grand Theft Auto V/Plugins/ folder to the Grand Theft Auto V/Plugins folder and replace when prompted.
    - FOR ADVANCED USERS: If you're upgrading from an older version, check to make sure all new assets, files and parameters in
    the ini are included so you don't have to replace files such as the ini and reconfigure settings, otherwise just replace everything.
    
3. Read the README.text and configure the AxonSignal.ini settings to your preferences before seeking support or complaining of a 
missing feature (SERIOUSLY), I have put my best effort in including all details.

4. You can load the plugin in two different ways:
    - When in-game and RPH is running, open the console pressing F4 and type "LoadPlugin AxonSignal.dll" without the quotes
    
    OR
    
    - Go the Grand Theft Auto V root folder and edit your startup.rphs file and add AxonSignal.dll
    
5. RECOMMENDED BUT OPTIONAL: Install the font included in the zip file by simply double clicking it. This will make your bodycam overlay look closer to the real thing.

USER OPERATION

DOUBLE PRESS  your assigned keybinding (Default: O key) to start the recording operation of the bodycam.

While the recording is in progress, a reminder tone will play at a specified interval (Default: 120 seconds). 

The recording operation of the bodycam can also automatically start by either unholstering any of your selected weapons or activating emergency lights. (parameters customizable in the .ini file)

To stop the recording operation, regardless of how the body camera started recording,  HOLD DOWN  your assigned keybinding for approximately 3 seconds until a prolonged tone sounds signifying that the recording operation of the body camera has stopped.

If you want to toggle the plugin functionality, type 'AxonSignalToggleSystems' in the RAGE console.

To customize the size and position of the text and logo of the overlay, type 'AxonSignalOverlayConfigMenu' in the RAGE console.

To access the dash camera and interior camera, simply cycle through your player views (Default: V key). To view the interior camera, press your look back key (Default: C key) while in dashcam view

The dash camera and interior camera are accessible regardless if you are in a police vehicle or on foot (configurable in the INI).

To customize the positioning, direction, and offset of these cameras, type 'AxonSignalOffsetMenu' in the RAGE console.

AXON SIGNAL OVERLAY STUCK ON SCREEN?

Type 'AxonSignalResetScreen' to clear any stubborn elements that may be stuck on screen. 

These plugins may potentially conflict or cause side effects with Axon Signal:

• Automatic Siren Cutout by Rich*

You may still use these plugins, however, it is highly recommended to disable or alter some of the parameters of the plugin.

Automatic Siren Cutout cycles through ELS Stage lighting to turn off the siren upon getting out of the car which may cause an inadvertent activation of the body camera.

*this can be mitigated by utilizing the new speed threshold feature to prevent inadvertent body camera activation while getting out of the car (assuming the car is not moving at speed while getting out)

KNOWN AND REPORTED ISSUES

• While browsing through the LSPDFR garage vehicle selection menu, switching vehicles will cause the camera angle set by LSPDFR when viewing vehicles to be reset, allowing camera mouse movement while in the garage which is not intended. Root cause unknown and currently under investigation. Fairly difficult to reproduce. This is a minor bug since it is neither game-breaking nor causing major issues or side effects. No emergency patch release needed. (thanks to @unitedOrange66 for reporting, thanks to @Godalph Games for testing)
• On rare instances, hiding the minimap when switching to dashcam view may fail or minimap may render on screen anytime while in dashcam view even if enabled, attempting to investigate and reproduce the bug. Minor bug, no emergency patch release needed. (thanks to @Godalph Games for reporting)
• Emergency lights or other bright light sources in-game can cause the screen to significantly darken, or in the case of rapidly flashing emergency lights: "flickering occurs". Cause and frequency of occurrence unknown. Investigating.
• Some graphics mods (reportedly NaturalVision Evolved or NVE) can cause the dashcam effect even if enabled not to render. It is suspected that some graphics mods disable some or all timecycle effects. Considering an alternate solution of rendering a transparent image file on screen instead to replace dashcam effect. Not tested as I personally do not use or have NaturalVision Evolved.

FIXED ISSUES

If you are having issues with this plugin specifically, please do NOT seek support in your usual LSPDFR support Discord servers as they do not know anything and will not be able to effectively help you. I highly encourage you to join my Discord below or post your issue in the comments section. I need feedback and bug reports to continually improve this plugin.

If you need support, you may do so in the comments or join my Discord: https://discord.gg/e2qX6aW. Please do NOT seek for support in the reviews or give it a 1-star rating simply because something doesn't work.

Feedback is also appreciated as to what I can do to improve this plugin. This initial version of this plugin, as hinted by the build number, was programmed in the span of only 2 days. There may be issues or bugs that I may not be aware of although I can assure you this plugin has been tested fairly thoroughly.

INSTALLATION AND SHOWCASE VIDEO BY @Gameboyeg, @OfficerBenzo, and yours truly. THANK YOU!