Hi guys, first time poster here, so apologies if I sound rather noob-like. But I've downloaded the latest trial version of iPi Mocap, and while it is awesome, I've come across some issues with it and the provided documentation is sadly outdated. I was hoping to get some feedback from anyone with the know-how. Anyways...


1) How do you set up a new Calibration project?

Everytime I load an ipi recording into Mocap, it always sets up an Action scene by default. It did let me select a Calibration scene, but that was only when I booted the software up for the first time. Every time since then, the menu to choose my preferred scene never pops up, and only Action scenes are doable. If ipi Mocap only ever has to do the calibration thing once, that's ok. But I assume people need to re-calibrate, and while there is a calibration tab in the Action scene (http://wiki.ipisoft.com/index.php?title=Calibration), that very tab is not there for some reason, in my own action scenes. Does anyone know how get the Calibrate scenes back?


2) How to set the Kinect Cameras to 180-degree setup in ipi Mocap?

When I load a 2-camera recording into mocap (while recorded in 180), it is set at the 90-degree angled setup by default in Mocap. There used to be an option in the 'calibrate' tab to choose whether you wanted 90 or 180-degree setups. But even if I manually move the cameras to the right position, they seem to still behave like they are 90-degree setups. they even revert to their 90-degree positions if I close and re-open the saved scene file. Does anyone know how to select 180-degree setups in ipi Mocap?


Any help with those 2 questions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys. This is very cool software!

Hi
We try to maintain wiki documentation up-to-date. However, some info like screenshots is outdated eventually. Sorry for that.
Now, the answers.

1) When you open the multi-camera iPiVideo file, the program first asks you about the kind of the project you want to create - Calibration or Action. For single-camera videos there is no need for calibration, and project kind is always Action.
Calibration tab is only relevant for calibration projects, so it is not shown in action projects. The Scene tab is used to load a scene file, obtained after the calibration process, into an action project. The scene file is also asked in creation wizard for a new multi-camera action project.

2) In current versions of Mocap Studio, the 90/180 degrees setups are determined automatically during the calibration. You just create a project and hit the "Calibrate based on 3D plane" button. This autodetection may occasionally fail if you were moving the board in a too short range while recording the calibration video.

Ah ok. Thanks for getting back about this. Yes it makes sense that single-camera recordings will not require calibration. One more question I have....

How do you move the camera in an action scene? I understand that it is pretty straight-forward in a calibration scene. But in an action scene I can only ever seem to select the actor.
Usually I won't need to move the camera if I am using two of them, since camera placement is taken care of while calibrating. But if single-camera recordings go direct to action scenes, how do you select the camera if it is in the wrong place?

Thanks again for the reply, and for any continued help. It is much appreciated.

With a single Kinect setup, you shouldn't ever have to move the device because it calibrates the floor and camera position automatically. If the calibration looks incorrect, there may be an issue with your environment or equipment.

The two most common environmental issues are:

1. Reflective floor. If the floor is shiny, the Kinect cannot get a proper read of the floor because it will bounce the IR away from the device. Solution: throw a carpet or rug on the floor, or shoot in a more suitable room.

2. IR pollution. This can be caused by too much sunlight entering the room. You can tell if this is a problem by evaluating how much of your data is seen as 'yellow' (unreadable.) Solution: Close your blinds or curtains if you have them, or shoot in the evening. This is an issue I have at home since we have many windows in our living room. I can get passable results by closing our blinds, but I get much better results shooting after sunset.

These tips apply to any configuration using IR sensitive devices.

If the problem is with your Kinect device, there's not much you can do about it except check the warranty. However, chances are good that it's one or both of the issues described above.

Hope info this helps.

G.

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To add, another possible issue is
3. Narrow capture area. Floor pixels should occupy at least 1/6 of the image area for stable work of the ground-detection algorithm.