Beep & draw
Know your true draw time. Automatically detects the start beep and your first shot to calculate accurate draw times for every string.
Blackwatch Analytics presents
Steel Challenge Analysis
Every split. Every plate. Every match.
Steel Challenge Analysis is an AI-powered performance analysis platform that transforms match results and stage footage into actionable insights.
By combining your official match results with advanced video analysis, the platform goes beyond traditional score sheets to reveal what's actually happening during every string. Measure draw times, shot splits, plate engagement sequences, and impact locations to uncover exactly where you're gaining or losing time.
An AI-generated coaching report brings everything together, identifying performance trends, pinpointing inefficiencies, and recommending targeted practice drills designed to improve your scores.
Built for shooters who want more than just another match result. Whether you're chasing your next classification or shaving tenths of a second off your personal best, Steel Challenge Analysis helps you train with purpose.
No more guessing why a stage was slow. No more wasting practice time on skills that aren't holding you back. Just measurable performance, meaningful feedback, and a clear path to improvement.
Train smarter. Shoot faster. Let the data show you how.
- Import
- USPSA & PractiScore results
- Analyze
- draw, splits & plate hits
- Improve
- AI coaching report
LIVE OVERLAY // SMOKE & HOPESTRING 3 · 2.26 S
Works on your PC and phone
Steel Challenge Analysis runs in your web browser on a computer, tablet or phone. Nothing to install.
What Steel Challenge Analysis gives you
Every shot tells a story
Every split
Find where the time goes. Measures the time between every shot, exposing slow transitions, inconsistent pacing, and the cost of make-up shots.
Annotated video
See the numbers as you shoot. Watch your stage footage with draw times, splits, shot counts, and string totals displayed directly on the video.
Plate accuracy
See where your shots are landing. Detects visible impact marks on each plate to reveal shot-placement patterns, consistency, and potential accuracy issues.
AI coaching report
Turn your performance into a practice plan. Get a detailed breakdown of where you're losing time, the confidence behind each finding, and specific drills for the areas costing you the most time.
Performance history
Track improvement across matches. Bring your match results together to follow stage times, identify trends, and see where your training is paying off.
How Steel Challenge Analysis works
From stage video to better performance
- 1
Import your results
Start with your match history. Import your USPSA and PractiScore results to build a performance history across stages, matches, and divisions.
- 2
Upload your video
Record your stage. We'll handle the analysis. Upload your stage footage with all five strings in one video. A tripod, head-cam, or chest-cam can work when the audio and targets are captured clearly.
- 3
Analyze every string
Computer vision meets shot detection. AI models analyze your footage to identify the start beep, individual shots, split times, steel impacts, and visible plate marks.
- 4
Review & improve
Know exactly what to practice. Review your results, correct any uncertain detections, and get an AI coaching report that turns your performance into targeted training priorities.
Steel Challenge Analysis // under the hood
See how the analysis works
Every string contains more information than a score sheet can capture. Steel Challenge Analysis combines computer vision and audio processing to reconstruct what happened during your stage: the vision model identifies and tracks steel targets while the audio system detects the start beep, isolates gunshots, and analyzes steel impact sounds. Together, they build a detailed timeline of your performance. The clip shows one string at half speed.
- Plate detection
A computer vision model trained on Steel Challenge targets identifies the plates, tracks their positions, and distinguishes regular targets from the stop plate.
- Start beep detection
The audio system locates the actual timer beep in your recording, establishing a precise reference for draw time and shot timing.
- Shot detection
Audio analysis identifies individual gunshots while filtering background noise, echoes, voices, and other sounds that can interfere with timing.
- Steel impact detection
The system analyzes the distinctive sound of a bullet striking steel to help identify and confirm plate hits.
Steel Challenge Analysis // before you film
Better footage. Better analysis.
You don't need expensive camera equipment. A phone, action camera, or head-cam can provide useful footage. These six guidelines help the system produce more reliable results with fewer manual corrections.
Keep the plates visible
For the most complete analysis, position a camera behind the shooting box with all five plates visible. The stage is recognized from the plate layout, and a fixed camera angle generally provides the most reliable plate tracking and impact analysis.
Record one stage at a time
Capture all five strings of a single stage in one video. Start recording before the first beep and stop after the final shot. Full-match videos aren't automatically divided into individual stages.
Capture the start beep
Make sure your microphone can clearly hear the shot timer. The beep establishes the starting point for accurate draw and shot timing.
Use original video
Upload the original video from your camera or phone. Recordings in 1080p or 4K, up to 4 GB, are supported. Avoid videos downloaded from social media, where compression can reduce audio quality.
Match the audio level
Choose Auto for most recordings, Quiet for distant or faint gunshots, or Loud for cameras positioned close to the firearm.
Review the timeline
AI detection isn't perfect. You can adjust beep and shot timestamps, add or remove detections, and correct hit or miss calls. Timing calculations update as you make corrections.
Steel Challenge Analysis // example output
See every tenth of a second
Steel Challenge Analysis // coaching report
Your data. Your report. Your practice plan.
BLACKWATCH // PERFORMANCE BRIEFREPORT READY
Overall
Primary diagnosis
Findings
Practice priorities
Strengths
History
PLATE ACCURACYEND-OF-STAGE MARKS
Shot placement
Steel Challenge Analysis // progress
Watch the times drop
STAGE TIME BY MATCH
Steel Challenge Analysis // questions
Frequently asked questions
Which stages and divisions are supported?
The eight official Steel Challenge stages, in every division with official peak times: CO, OPN, PCCO, LO, PROD, RFRO and RFPO. Rimfire and centerfire, pistol and carbine.
Which shot timers work?
Standard shot-timer beeps are found automatically; in our tests about 97% of beeps were found on their own. A few timers with an unusual tone can be missed. If yours is, place the beep by hand on the timeline once and the strings are timed from it.
What cameras and video formats can I use?
Phones, action cameras and head-cams. Any common video file (MP4 or MOV) at 1080p or 4K, up to 4 GB per stage.
Is my performance grade the same as my official classification?
No. It's an estimate: official peak times divided by your best time on each stage, averaged. Enter your official USPSA classification in Setup to show it alongside.
How many videos can I analyze?
Each account gets 2 video runs per stage of a match and 50 runs a month. Runs that fail don't count.
Who can see my uploaded videos?
Your videos and results are private to your account and never shown to other users. Your videos and the corrections you make on the timeline may be used to train and improve the detection models. You can download all of your data from Setup, and deleting your account removes your videos and results.
Steel Challenge Analysis
Know what to practice next
Stop relying on stage times alone. Discover what's happening behind the numbers and turn your next match into an opportunity to improve. Every split. Every plate. Every match.