Hi! I'm trying to use 6 pseyes cameras but I can only do it if I drop to the 640x480 at 25 Hz.
Does that mean I'm getting 25 frames per second? Higher hertz means higher quality?
If I try to go higher (even in the 320x 240) I get a lot of bad frames...

Which hardware should I upgrade to get a better result?

Yes, 25Hz in video mode means 25fps. Higher frame rate means you get more precision in time, ability to track quicker motions.
Most probably your issues are related to USB bandwidth. Did you follow the rule to have at most 2 cameras for a single USB controller? What PC do you use - desktop or laptop? If desktop - it is very easy to get additional USB controllers via PCIe extension cards.

Try streaming to a ram disk, its free:
http://www.softperfect.com/products/ramdisk/

That utility is free and may solve your issue. We have 8 ps3 cameras streaming to ram at 60hz without issue. The only caveat is that filling the ram disk while recording crashes the software. Be sure to keep an eye on remaining drive space.

Thanks for your answers, vmaslov and foy.
The issue I'm facing is exactly concerning the usb controlers. I have 6 ports and only 2 controlers. So PCI expansion is the way to go. Does it need to be USB 3.0? Is there any diference between PCIe and PCI?

Foy, I'm downloading right now the ramdisk. But will this solve the usb controllers issue?
(And how do you even work with 8 pseyes?! Your animations must be 100% accurate =D)

USB 2.0 is sufficient. Usually PCIe cards are USB 3.0, PCI cards are USB 2.0.
PCI is an old extension format, PCIe is modern. PCI cards do not fit into PCIe slots and vice versa.


RAM disk eliminates disk write speed problem, but does not solve USB bandwidth issues.

When buying additional USB controller, consult with compatibility table:
http://wiki.ipisoft.com/USB_controllers#Known_compatibility_issues
You should avoid USB chipsets that have known compatibility issues with PS Eye.

Thank you again for you detailed and comprehensive answers, vmaslov.

I'll buy tomorrow a PCI card (becuase it is cheaper than the PCIe). I'll definetly avoid the VIA VL800 chip.

My PC is a intel i7 with 8 GB of RAM and a 40G Corsair SSD card exclusively for Ipi.
Should I bump up the memory or 8GB will handle it well?

A little off topic, but 2 questions came up during the cameras test:
-Should my actor be in frame in all cameras every single time?
I mean, if he is visible in 5 cameras, but the actor's fit is cut from the sixth camera, will I have any trouble with that?

-Can I record now with 2 actors and process it later on, when the function is available on Ipi DMC? Or IPI Recorder will have to be upgraded to support it?

Best Regards

RAM upgrade is not needed.

It's better to have the actor fully visible in all the cameras. However, cutting the feet in a single camera should not give much trouble.

For 95% - yes, you can record two actors video with current version of iPi Recorder and later process it with future version of iPi Mocap Studio. We do not plan to add any changes to Recorder for mutiple persons recordings. However, 5% of "no" are reserved for unforseen difficulties which can lead to changes in recording process.
Anyway, it can be said in advance that actors should wear clothes of different colors for better accuracy.

Thanks!

A new issue has appeared: I've installed the PCI card and all 6 cameras are detected.
However, the cameras from the newly instaled USB ports appear black. What could it be?
(I couldn't properly screencapture the error, but I took some -low res-pictures with my mobile phone.)






The PCI chipset is VIA VT6220.