How to download dashcam footage from a comma device

Need to get video off a comma device? The usual paths are comma connect, Openpilot Toolkit, or direct SSH/SFTP access.

The part that trips people up is the file layout. comma devices record openpilot routes in short segments, not one giant dashcam clip. Each segment can include raw camera files, preview video, and route logs. Once that clicks, exporting footage gets a lot less mysterious.

One important note up front: a comma device can be useful for road footage, debugging, and route review, but it is not a drop-in replacement for a dedicated dashcam.

comma devices are useful cameras, not perfect dashcams

A dedicated dashcam is built around evidence capture: fast boot, crash resilience, parking mode, simple file export, rear-camera options, and removable storage.

A comma device is built to run openpilot. It records route data because that is useful for driving models, debugging, connect previews, and development. That footage can be valuable, but it comes with tradeoffs:

footage can be harder to retrieve than pulling an SD card
a crash or sudden power loss can cost recent footage
parking-mode recording is not the main design goal
rear-facing dashcam coverage is not included
old local data is deleted when the device needs space

If the goal is dependable crash footage, run a real dashcam. If the goal is openpilot route footage, development review, or local video export, the comma workflow is worth learning.

What files does openpilot record?

Official openpilot logging docs describe routes as one-minute segments. For each segment, modern openpilot records these file types:

File	What it contains
`fcamera.hevc`	road camera video, H.265/HEVC
`ecamera.hevc`	wide road camera video, H.265/HEVC
`dcamera.hevc`	driver/cabin camera video, H.265/HEVC
`qcamera.ts`	lower-resolution H.264 preview from the road camera
`rlog.zst`	full route logs
`qlog.zst`	smaller/decimated route logs

The video shown in comma connect is the lower-resolution qcamera.ts. Full-resolution camera footage lives in the HEVC files and may need to be uploaded manually through connect or copied directly from the device.

Older routes, older forks, or older docs may show rlog/qlog without .zst, or older .bz2 log names. For current openpilot, use the names above.

comma 3, comma 3X, and comma four: what changes?

There are two separate things people mix together: camera hardware and file layout.

The camera hardware is different by generation:

Device	Camera/storage notes
comma 3	Three 1080p cameras with 120 dB HDR. Community docs list several storage variants: 1TB, 250GB, late 64GB, and early 32GB.
comma 3X	Same triple-camera arrangement as comma 3, upgraded OX03C10 image sensors, 140 dB HDR, and commonly listed as 128GB storage.
comma four	comma describes it as having the same compute, sensor suite, and functionality as comma 3X, but in a much smaller physical package. The triple-camera system fits inside the 1.9-inch display footprint, with two road-facing cameras and a night-vision cabin camera. comma lists 128GB storage and 10 hours of footage.

For current openpilot, the practical file layout is shared across comma hardware. The modern segment files are fcamera.hevc, ecamera.hevc, dcamera.hevc, qcamera.ts, rlog.zst, and qlog.zst.

That means the cameras can change physically while the export names stay familiar. fcamera.hevc is the road camera. ecamera.hevc is the wide road camera. dcamera.hevc is the driver/cabin camera.

If you are running a custom fork, verify on-device before assuming every file is present. Forks can change recording settings, and driver/cabin recording can depend on device settings.

Where are the files stored locally?

On comma hardware, openpilot’s current log root is:

/data/media/0/realdata

Inside that folder, each route segment gets its own timestamped folder, for example:

/data/media/0/realdata/2026-05-14--12-30-05--3/

That folder is where you look for files like:

fcamera.hevc
ecamera.hevc
dcamera.hevc
qcamera.ts
rlog.zst
qlog.zst

For direct SSH/SFTP workflows, this is the folder to start from. The official docs explain how to connect to a comma 3X or comma four over SSH, and openpilot uses /data/media/0/realdata as the on-device log root.

Option 1: Use comma connect

For recent drives, comma connect is usually the easiest place to start.

Use connect when:

the route is recent
the device uploaded the route successfully
preview video is enough
you want a web UI instead of SSH
you only need a few clips or files

connect is also where many users first identify the route and segment numbers they need. The catch is retention: connect may stop showing a route before the local device has deleted it. If connect no longer exposes a route but the files still exist on-device, SSH/SFTP may still recover them.

Also remember that connect previews are based on qcamera.ts. If you need full-resolution camera footage, make sure the full video files are uploaded or pull the raw HEVC files directly.

Option 2: Use Openpilot Toolkit

Openpilot Toolkit is a community tool that can make local export less painful. It includes workflows for SSH setup, file browsing, drive video preview, and raw export.

Use Openpilot Toolkit when:

you want a GUI
you do not want to hand-roll SSH commands
you need help setting up keys
you are on Windows or Android
you want to browse and export route footage more directly

For many users, this is the best middle ground: more control than connect, less friction than manual terminal work.

Option 3: Use SSH or SFTP directly

Direct SSH/SFTP gives the most control and the least hand-holding.

At a high level, SSH access usually means:

Create or use a GitHub account with SSH keys.
Enable SSH in the comma device settings.
Enter your GitHub username on the comma device so it can fetch your public keys.
Connect as user comma on port 22.

Once connected, browse or copy from:

/data/media/0/realdata

Use direct access when:

you need raw fcamera.hevc, ecamera.hevc, or dcamera.hevc files
connect does not expose the file you need
you want to archive a whole route
you are comfortable with SFTP clients like FileZilla or WinSCP
you are comfortable with ssh, scp, or rsync

Raw .hevc files often play in VLC. If another app needs MP4, remux with ffmpeg instead of re-encoding when possible.

Which method should you use?

Use comma connect if the drive is recent and normal route review is enough.

Use Openpilot Toolkit if you want a friendlier local workflow without doing every SSH/SFTP step manually.

Use SSH or SFTP if you need raw files, older local files, complete route archives, or direct control over what gets copied.

Where CommaView fits

CommaView is a local-first Android app for comma-device camera streaming, overlays, runtime setup, recordings, and replay workflows.

That overlaps with the same world of local camera access, but it is not comma connect, not Openpilot Toolkit, and not a traditional dashcam. It should not be used as a driving aid or as the only evidence-capture system in a vehicle.

Right now, CommaView runtime work is comma four-targeted. The app installer uses the comma4/install.sh runtime path, release assets are built for comma four, and the app checks for the runtime under /data/commaview. comma 3X validation is not complete yet, so comma 3X users should treat CommaView as unvalidated until compatibility is published.

If you want Android-first local comma camera tooling as CommaView matures, join the early access list and include your comma hardware setup. That helps prioritize compatibility testing without pretending untested devices are already supported.