Here are my questions about ipisoft:

1. Will a setup of 4 ps3 eye cameras be better than dual kinects?

2. Since i have 2 available ports on my pc, should i do this "4 ps3 eye cameras --> 4-way USB hub -->15m usb cable or 2 usb 15m cables --> 1 usb port or 2 usb ports" or would that mess it up?

3. How much bandwidth is needed for 4 ps3 eye cameras and dual kinects?

4. Is my bandwidth the speed of my internet upload/download or my motherboard bandwidth and how do i check if i have enough?

5. My area i have for availability is 12.7 ft x 12.2 ft, is that enough for ps3 eye cameras or dual kinects?

6. How much bandwidth will 4 ps3 eye's or dual kinects need?

7. If I get the ps3 eye cameras i would like tripods and can't find a tutorial, so is their a way to convert a cheap tripod for the ps3 eye cameras?

(7-2. For the tripod i have a pretty good idea on how to modify a a ps3 eye bottom so it will lock onto a tripod like a dslr camera does, but am still working out the kinks.)

8. If i did get a ps3 eye setup or dual kinects would it be better if i had my 15 ft x 15 ft as the floor?

9. When recording should i wear all light colors like white/yellow or dark colors like brown/black?

Thank you in advance for any replies/answers.

It depends on what you consider 'better'.

Quality is about the same between four PS3 Eye cameras and Dual Kinects. However, the PS3 Eye setup allows for a larger capture space. Six PS3 Eye cameras will gives you better quality plus the larger capture space. The 'downside' with PS3 Eye is that setup and calibration is a lot more involved than when using Kinect.

Personally, I prefer dual Kinects and use this setup most of the time because it's very convenient for home studio use. I also have six PS3 Eye cameras available but will only use them when I need to capture 'big action' or require a level of subtlety that I can't pick up with Kinect.


You can use two PS3 Eye cameras per USB controller, which is different from the number of USB ports you have. If each port is on a different controller, you can have two cameras per port (with hub); however if both ports are on a single USB controller then you can only use two PS3 cameras in total.

Generally speaking, most PC's will have at least two USB controllers--but it sounds unusual to me that your PC only has two USB ports so I'd check to be sure. See the Wiki for info on how to tell how many USB controllers you have in your PC.

Some users have reported that they can use three cameras per controller when they use USB 3.0. I have two USB 3.0 controllers and I think this is true for me too but I haven't tested for this specifically. Try searching the forums for this info.

FYI, a USB hub does not give you additional controllers--all it does is split the number of ports to a single controller. For to increase the number of controllers in a computer you need to add a USB controller card.

Regarding cables, you should use USB repeater cables (a.k.a., active USB cables.) These are special USB cables that feature a box on the end that can extend the USB signal. Theoretically, you can daisy chain up to five 16 ft repeater cables and still get a good data stream. I get my repeater cables from New Egg for about $12 each.


I think this info is in the Wiki. Besides having enough USB controllers for your devices, you need to have a reasonably fast drive. For dual Kinect and four PS3 Eye cameras you can probably use a fast standard hard drive; for six PS3 Eye cameras an SSD or RAID is recommended.


The software doesn't use the internet for operation, just for license activation. After activation, you do not even need to be connected to the internet.

A typical quad core should be fine for four PS3 Eye or dual Kinect, and it might be adequate for six PS3 Eye. (I can use six with my quad core but only when capturing to SSD.)

Dual Core might be good enough for four PS3 Eye or dual Kinect but I can't confirm this.


IMO, that's a bit small for four PS3 Eye cameras--I think you'll basically have standing room for performance and it may be tricky to have appropriate lighting in a small space. It's probably big enough for Dual Kinect because you can use fewer cameras when capturing depth, and in this particular situation you may actually gain a larger capture space to perform in. This is just my opinion--check the Wiki for official info.

This is in the Wiki.


You can tap the base of a PS3 Eye camera using a Helicoil kit which allows you to mount it to regular tripod. I actually shot a video for this topic about two years ago but I keep forgetting to post it. Maybe this weekend.

BTW, I like to use light stands I purchased from Cowboy Studios for about $12 each instead of regular tripods. These are fairly heavy duty and come with a nice case. They do not have a full panning head like a camera tripod, just a standard 'camera' screw mount, but that's fine because the PS3 Eye camera base is designed to tilt.


Yes, definitely. Bigger if you can get it. That's about right for Dual Kinect with 90 setup but you'll want much bigger to do a 180 degree setup. PS3 Eye is capable of 20 x 20 ft capture and of course the cameras will have to be positioned even farther apart to do this.

Of course, this all depends on how 'big' your motion is going to be--if you're only going to walk around a few feet, you can use a smaller space.


For PS3 Eye, you should wear a red or green long sleeved shirt with a short black T pulled over. Regular fitting blue jeans is appropriate. You can wear sneakers--I wear socks indoors, sneakers outdoors. See here for my PS3 Eye outfit: PS3 Eye Deform Test

For Kinect capture, any normal fitting clothing is fine, color is irrelevant. Here's my daughter with Kinect: Mocap Test with Small Child

One very important question you haven't asked: is your graphics card is appropriate for motion tracking?

For tracking I recommend an Nvidia GTX 460 or better. Anything slower may be frustrating to work with. If you only have Intel Graphics available, you will not be able to track motion. FYI, some users will capture their data using a laptop that only has Intel Graphics and track it using a desktop with a more powerful Nvidia or ATI graphics card. See the Wiki for more info about requirements for tracking.

Hope this helps.

G.

_________________
Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

Regarding Kinects and tripods--I know you didn't ask but here you go:

For some reason, Kinect does not have a standard camera mount. However, you can purchase tripods designed for Kinect. I bought some cheap ones from Amazon which work good enough but because they are really cheaply made I can't recommend them.

I've seen clip-on bases for Kinect that will allow you to mount them to regular tripods--these probably work better.

There are also a few clip-on mounts you can download and print on a 3D printer like the Makerbot. We have a Makerbot 'Thing-O-Matic' kit in our studio but we're still assembling it. When it's ready, we'll be trying one of the printable Kinect camera mounts. Let you know how that goes.

G.

_________________
Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

Nice set of concise answers there Greenlaw!
I'll put some of these into practice when I start doing my tests for Uni!

Oli

You know, now I'm thinking 12.5 x 12.5 ft just might be big enough for four PS3 Eyes since you'll likely be arranging them in a semi-circle. This size probably isn't much smaller than the space I used in that demo video I referenced earlier where I arranged four cameras in a semi-circle facing the far corner of the room. Our total garage space is larger than this size but, as I recall, the cameras were probably positioned within your boundary size or close to it.

I can check on this if you wish.

G.

_________________
Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

Thank you GreenLaw for those very descriptive answers. I accidently repeated a question so sorry for that. I was going to arrange them like a semi circle kind of like the 4 corners of the square facing inwards or a semi-circle setup since some of my movements will be quick pace(I will test when I get everything). In regards to your usb hub question, I have 2 "available ports since my motherboard has 4 usb ports and my mouse and keyboard take up two of those so if i wanted to use 4 ps3 eyes then I would need a usb hub for a 2 cameras in 1 usb cord out. For my hard drive I have standard hard drives if that matters(I believe 1 is 7200 rpm and other is 5400 rpm). For the 7th question if you could post that video of tripod mounting that would be helpful. Also my GPU is a 5450 radeon HD.

Additional questions: Instead of my regular carpet floor should i use a green screen as a floor?
When you says in the wiki "For 4 cameras at 60 fps, 640 x 480 resolution: not less than 70,4 Mb/sec" does that mean read or write(probably write but just checking)?

In regards to the 3d printer, I don't have $2,000 to put towards that so that is not an option for me but thanks for the suggestion.

And another question about the helicoil kit and cowboy studio light stands. Which helicoil kit and light stand should I get? And is there any tutorials on how to use helicoil kit to tap the base of ps3?

A little more info:

You might have wondered why our cameras were not positioned to the full size of the garage. This was because:

1. We had three softbox lights outside the boundary that had to be kept out of view of the cameras.
2. There is a lot of clutter outside the camera boundary. It is a garage after all. :p

With the PS3 Eye setup, lighting is an important consideration. While it's not at all necessary to use softboxes like we have, there should be fairly even lighting on your performer with minimal cast shadows on the body. Avoid harsh directional lighting.

Shadows is one reason for the black short-sleeve T-Shirt that's pulled over the color long-sleeve shirt--it effectively hides any shadows cast by the arms on the torso, shadows that may otherwise confuse the software.

If you shoot outdoors, it's best to shoot very early in the morning or on overcast days. This minimizes shadows and everything should be evenly lit. Another user, known as 1k0, uses a shiny mirror ball on a stick for outdoor calibration because a tiny Maglite might not be visible outdoors. This type of ball is typically a large plastic novelty Christmas tree ornament. With Christmas coming up, this item should be easy to find. A few years ago, we got a few mirror balls at Big Lots store very cheaply. We kept the mirror surface on one ball, painted one matte white and another matte gray, and mounted them to wooden toilet plunger handles we purchased from a hardware store. We purchased these to use as lighting reference for fx work, and the white one is ideal for outdoor mocap calibration.

Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest you should get a 3D printer just for this purpose--it's just an example of what some people have done to solve this problem. If you do wish to go this route, there might be a 'Maker' or other DIY hobby club or school organization in your area, and it's possible that they will have a 3D printer available for use. Or you might be able to find a hobbyist that has one. To be honest though, it's probably easier and cheaper to just buy a ready-made Kinect adapter, so please ignore all this. :p

I'll put together some info for using a Helicoil kit tonight and get that video uploaded. The kit I got was purchased from Amazon--I'll search my purchase history and see which one I got. If I remember correctly, the kit cost between $15 - $18, and it was good for 12 cameras. You'll also want a bench vise and an electric hand drill with a hard bit for metal. Don't worry, the drill is only used to expand an existing hole in the metal base of the camera. It's should be easy to do. And wear goggles of course.

G.

_________________
Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

Ah! I just now found my camera mod (Helicoil) footage. Will post it later today with notes.

G.

_________________
Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!