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keckcaves:video_setup

Video Set-up

See also filming in the CAVE for more details and links.

Overview of Steps

  1. Change the renering mode to mono
  2. Set the camera in a static position or tracked
    1. For the static position mode, run the calibration file and set the camera position in the configuration file. Make sure tracking is off.
    2. For tracking the camera, tape the wired tracker to the camera, change tracking to true in the configuration file, and set the relative position of the tracker and the lens.
  3. Adjust the background color so that the images show nicely and/or the menus do not cause blooming.

Detailed Steps

Make an appropriate patch configuration file if you do not already have one. (The following notes assume you are using this template.) Within this file, set the rendering to mono (rather than stereo):

#viewerNames (Viewer, ConsoleViewer)  # default settings
viewerNames (MonoViewer, ConsoleViewer)

Static Camera

If you want to leave the video camera at one spot, make sure tracking is false within the section MonoCAVEViewer:

headTracked false  # true or false, use false for fixed view rendering

and run the calibration program:

/share/keckcaves/Demos/VruiCalibrator

Set the camera up and align the grid in the cave so that the lines are horizontal and parallel across the boundaries between the back and side walls and vertical and parallel across the back wall and the floor. Change the settings by changing the numbers in this line within section MonoCAVESViewer. Pay particular attention to whether or not the lines are converging or diverging.

          
# The following line sets the fixed view stero location if headTracked false
headDeviceTransformation translate (0.0, -96.0, 48.0)

The numbers are in inches relative to the center of the floor of the cave. +x is to the right when facing the back wall, +y is toward the back wall, and +z is up. The edge of the floor away from the back wall is a y=-36.

Check the alignment by seeing if the 3 color axes are exactly at the tip of the wand. (The second 3 color axes are for the wired headtracking device.)

Once the camera is aligned, you are ready to tape.

Tracked Camera

To place the tracker on the camera, use double sided sticky tape and regular tape. In section MonoCAVESViewer, set headtracking to true and check that the head device is set to Head2 (the wired head tracker).

headTracked true  # true or false, use false for fixed view rendering
headDevice Head2

Helpful Notes

A gray background can keep the camera from blooming when a menu comes up. To change the background color, see Example Patch Configuration Files.

A fixed exposure time also helps substantially.

The system doesn't track well beyond 1 foot from the cave floor, so if you are tracking the camera, stay within the cave area.

keckcaves/video_setup.txt · Last modified: 2011/10/03 22:29 by sumner