-
-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 4
Getting Started
Cole Gentry edited this page Jan 2, 2026
·
3 revisions
This guide will walk you through the basics of using UltraLog v2.0 in 5 minutes.
UltraLog v2.0 features a redesigned VS Code-style interface with an activity bar on the far left side:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [Tab 1] [Tab 2] [Tab 3] [Tab Bar] │
├─┬────────┬──────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────┤
│A│ │ │ │
│C│ PANEL │ │ │
│T│ │ │ │
│I│ FILES │ CHART AREA │ │
│V│ OR │ │ │
│I│CHANNELS│ │ │
│T│ OR │ │ │
│Y│ TOOLS │ │ │
│ │ OR │ │ │
│B│SETTINGS│ │ │
│A│ │ │ │
│R│ │ │ │
├─┴────────┴──────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────┤
│ [▶] [⏸] [⏹] [1.0x ▼] ═══════○═══════════ 00:15.234 / 02:30 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[Timeline Controls]
Activity Bar Icons:
- 📁 Files - File list, drop zone, loaded files management
- 📋 Channels - Channel selection, search, selected channel cards
- 🔧 Tools - Scatter plot, histogram, and analysis tools
- ⚙️ Settings - All application settings
There are two ways to load a log file:
- Click the Files icon (📁) in the activity bar on the left
- Click "Select a file" in the Files panel
- Navigate to your log file
- Click Open
- Open your file manager
- Drag a log file onto the UltraLog window
- Drop it anywhere on the application
Supported file extensions: .csv, .log, .txt, .mlg, .xrk, .drk, .llg, .lg1, .lg2
UltraLog automatically detects the ECU format based on file contents.
Once a file is loaded:
- Click the Channels icon (📋) in the activity bar
- Look at the Channels panel that opens
- Use the search box to filter channels (e.g., type "rpm" or "afr")
- Click on a channel name to add it to the chart
- The channel turns blue and appears in "Selected Channels"
- Click the channel again to remove it from the chart
Tip: You can display up to 10 channels simultaneously.
- Click anywhere on the timeline scrubber at the bottom to jump to that time
- Drag the scrubber handle to seek through the data
- Click directly on the chart to move the cursor to that position
- Scroll up/down to zoom in/out on the time axis
- Click and drag to pan left/right
- Double-click to reset zoom to full view
Located at the bottom of the window:
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| ▶ Play | Start playing through the data |
| ⏸ Pause | Pause playback |
| ⏹ Stop | Stop and return to beginning |
Speed selector: Choose from 0.25x, 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x, or 8x playback speed.
Keyboard shortcut: Press Space to Play/Pause
- All channels are normalized to 0-1 range for easy comparison
- This means channels with different scales (RPM: 0-8000, AFR: 10-18) can be compared visually
The legend (on the chart area) shows three pieces of information for each channel:
■ Engine RPM Min: 850 Max: 7200 Current: 3450 rpm
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Color square | Identifies the line on the chart |
| Channel name | The data channel |
| Min/Max | Peak values across the entire log |
| Current | Value at the cursor position with units |
- Click the Settings icon (⚙️) in the activity bar
- Scroll to the Units section
- Select your preferred units for each category (Temperature, Pressure, Speed, etc.)
- Click the Settings icon (⚙️) in the activity bar
- In the Display section, find Font Size
- Choose from: S (Small), M (Medium), L (Large), or XL (Extra Large)
Keep the cursor centered while scrubbing:
- Click the Settings icon (⚙️) in the activity bar
- In the Display section, toggle Cursor Tracking ON
For better color distinction:
- Click the Settings icon (⚙️) in the activity bar
- In the Display section, toggle Colorblind Mode ON
Select your preferred language:
- Click the Settings icon (⚙️) in the activity bar
- In the Language section, select your language from the dropdown
- Available languages: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil & Portugal), Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Urdu, and Indonesian
- The interface updates immediately
- Click the Tools icon (🔧) in the activity bar
- Select "Scatter Plot" from the tool selector
- Choose X-axis and Y-axis channels
- View the correlation between the two channels
- Click the Tools icon (🔧) in the activity bar
- Select "Histogram" from the tool selector
- Choose X-axis and Y-axis channels
- Optionally select a Z-axis channel for color coding
- Select grid size (10x10, 16x16, 20x20, or 25x25)
- Toggle between "Hit Count" and "Average Z-Value" modes
- Click the Tools icon (🔧) in the activity bar
- Select "Analysis" from the tool selector
- Choose a category: Filters, Statistics, AFR, or Derived
- Select an analysis tool
- Configure parameters and run analysis
- Optionally save results as computed channels
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl/Cmd + O |
Open file |
Ctrl/Cmd + W |
Close current tab |
Ctrl/Cmd + E |
Export PNG |
Space |
Play/Pause |
Escape |
Stop playback |
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Click on chart | Move cursor to that position |
| Scroll on chart | Zoom in/out |
| Drag on chart | Pan view |
| Double-click chart | Reset zoom |
UltraLog supports opening multiple log files:
- Load additional files using any method above
- Each file opens in its own tab at the top
- Click tabs to switch between files
- Each tab maintains its own channel selections and view settings
Note: The same file cannot be loaded twice.
Here's a typical workflow for analyzing a dyno run:
- Load the log file - Click Files icon → Select a file
- Select key channels - Click Channels icon → Select RPM, AFR, MAP, Ignition Timing
- Use playback at 1x speed to watch the run
- Pause when you see something interesting
- Zoom in on the chart to examine details
- Check the legend for exact values at that point
- Use histogram - Click Tools icon → Histogram → Select RPM vs TPS to see operating range
- Export the chart as PNG for your records (Ctrl/Cmd + E)
Now that you know the basics:
- User-Guide - Complete reference for all features
- Supported-ECU-Formats - Details on each ECU system
- Unit-Conversion - All available unit options
- Field-Normalization - Understanding channel name mapping
Links