Calibration

Go to Menu > Layout > Calibrate to see all necessary calibration tools.

Calibration Layout

Preparation

Check in the Devices pane that all cameras are set to Enabled and LED are On.

Switch cameras to video mode by selecting all cameras in the Device pane and then pressing the crosshair symbol to identify reflections in an area.

Devices Pane in Object Mode Video Mode of a Camera

Make sure no reflective objects are visible to the system. Remove all all reflective objects from the space or cover them. Many shoes have actually reflective surfaces, so make sure to either tape them or take them off for the following processes.

Reflections can be seen in the Camera Preview pane, which can be zoomed with the mouse wheel. Some small reflections on the floor can not be avoided and should not influence the tracking.

Switch back cameras to object mode by selecting all cameras in the Device pane and pressing the grayscale symbol to continue calibration.

Devices Pane in Video Mode Object Mode of a Camera

Ideally, the space should look like this (minor reflections):

Object Mode reduced reflections

Camera Settings

Place a marker inside the tracking space as a reference.

Camera Settings

Select all cameras in the Devices Pane and adjust the following camera settings only if the reference is not clearly visible and/or there are a lot of false marker detections caused by reflections.

Gain

Set Gain to the highest valueif you use the whole motion capture space.

Recommended Gain Value: 8 High (Long Range)

Exposure

Longer (high) exposure values makes small markers more visible, but high values can introduce false markers. It is best to minimize the exposure setting as much as the markers are clearly visible in the captured images and that there are as less false markes as possible. Set the exposure to the lowest possible value that the marker is still visible and false markers are reduced to a minimum.

Recommended Exposure Value: 100

Threshold

Keep the threshold as high as possible to remove false reflection but keeping markers still visible.

Recommended Threshold Value: 220

Calibration with Passive Wand

Make sure that the Tracking Mode is set to Passive. Otherwise, press Passive, Active Symbol in 3D View.

Passive Tracking Mode

Masking

Once all the reflections are removed, Clear the previously set masks by pressing Clear Mask in the Calibration pane. Then set the masks again by pressing Mask visible. it is important that nobody is inside the space at this moment.

Wand configuration & Masking

Wanding

Select OptiWand CW-500 (500mm) in the Calibration pane as wand type and press Start Wanding.

Take the passive wand (with grey reflectors), walk trough the tracking space and swing the wand continuously in front of all cameras and also in the middle of the space.

The cameras will indicate with a blue LED light, when they detecting the markers of the wand (also indicating the direction by the position of the blue light in the circle). The LED light will turn into green when the wanding was successful. Do not wand to close to the cameras, keep at least 3m distance from the cameras.

Keep on wanding util each cameras LED circle is fully green and you have reached at least 5000 samples on each camera.

Camera indicating wanding with blue LED Camera indicating wanding with blue LED Camera indicating completed wanding with green LED

Wanding Samples per Camera Wanding Visualization

After wanding, press Calculate to solve the camera positions. Solving takes some time. Only if the result is Exceptional, you will get good tracking results. Otherwise, repeat the calibration process and check for reflections.

Ground Plane

If you plan to use the tracking system with projections, take special care to position the groundplane as precise as possible over the markers.

Ground Plane

Place the L shaped ground plane in the middle of the room, facing the long side to the large door.

Press Set Ground Plane in the Ground Plane tab in the Camera Calibration pane.

If you get an error message, that no Ground Plane can be found, try to find the 3 Markers in the 3D view, select them and press Set Ground Plane again

If setting Ground Plane is successful, you will be promted to save the calibration. Choose your session folder and create a subfolder Calibration.

The calibration is now finished.

Calibration with Active Wand

Make sure that the Tracking Mode is set to Active. Otherwise, press Passive, Active Symbol in 3D View.

Active Tracking Mode

Masking

Once all the reflections are removed, Clear the previously set masks by pressing Clear Mask in the Calibration pane. Then set the masks again by pressing Mask visible. it is important that nobody is inside the space at this moment.

Wand configuration & Masking

Wanding

Select Micron Series (500mm) in the Calibration pane as wand type and press Start Wanding.

Take the active wand (with battery) and turn it on on the back, walk trough the tracking space and swing the wand continuously in front of all cameras and also in the middle of the space.

The cameras will indicate with a blue LED light, when they detecting the markers of the wand (also indicating the direction by the position of the blue light in the circle). The LED light will turn into green when the wanding was successful. Do not wand to close to the cameras, keep at least 3m distance from the cameras.

Keep on wanding util each cameras LED circle is fully green and you have reached at least 5000 samples on each camera.

Camera indicating wanding with blue LED Camera indicating wanding with blue LED Camera indicating completed wanding with green LED

Wanding Samples per Camera Wanding Visualization

After wanding, press Calculate to solve the camera positions. Solving takes some time. Only if the result is Exceptional, you will get good tracking results. Otherwise, repeat the calibration process and check for reflections.

Ground Plane

Make sure that the Tracking Mode is set to back to Passive. Otherwise, press Passive, Active Symbol in 3D View.

Passive Tracking Mode

If you plan to use the tracking system with projections, take special care to position the groundplane as precise as possible over the markers.

Ground Plane

Place the L shaped ground plane in the middle of the room, facing the long side to the large door.

Press Set Ground Plane in the Ground Plane tab in the Camera Calibration pane.

If you get an error message, that no Ground Plane can be found, try to find the 3 Markers in the 3D view, select them and press Set Ground Plane again

If setting Ground Plane is successful, you will be promted to save the calibration. Choose your session folder and create a subfolder Calibration.

The calibration is now finished.