Problem with third Kinect

Greenlaw · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 6:12 am

Hi,

I'm trying to get a third Kinect sensor to work with iPi Mocap Studio 3. The error I'm seeing in Recorder states that "Some part of the sensor is not ready. Please wait," but it never seems to become available. In the past, I tried a third Kinect with iPi Mocap Studio 2 but simply testing connection was as far as I had taken it. Tonight is the first time I actually tried to record with the third Kinect.

The light on all three Kinect sensors is a steady green, and the computer itself appears to be seeing all three devices (no error that I can see.) All three Kinect sensors are original Kinect for Windows sensors, not Kinect 2 for Windows.

My guess is that the third USB connection on this computer may not be adequate. I have two USB 3.0 controller handling the two functioning Kinects, and the third is plugged into an on-board USB 2.0 controller along with the BT adapter. Maybe I'm asking too much from the on-board USB 2.0 controller?

Later next year I'm hoping I can afford a new workstation with additional USB 3.0 controllers, which may solve the problem but for now I'm going to disable the third sensor and stick with the two functioning sensors plus the three PS Move controllers I normally use.

Do you have any opinions or advice for this? Thanks in advance for any information.

I'm going to try rebooting and see if that changes anything. BRB.

G.

Greenlaw · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 6:28 am

No, reboot didn't help...still seeing this:

Attachment:

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Currently I have two Kinect sensors plugged into each of the two USB 3.0 cards in the back of the computer, and the third Kinect sensor and BT are plugged into two USB 2.0 ports in front (I'm assuming they're sharing a controller.) No hub is in use. There are on-board USB 2.0 ports in the back but these are being used by other peripherals (currently just mouse and keyboard, I think.)

I'll try other combinations later this week.

I would love to add a third USB 3.0 card but unfortunately this computer is getting fairly old and is pretty much maxed out now.

G.

vmaslov · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 7:28 am

This may be a compatibility issue with your onboard USB controller (which is not likely the case if you have an Intel CPU). Nevertheless, try different USB ports.
Also, ensure that the sensor itself is operational - plug it into the USB 3.0 controller.
Look in the Device Manager as well, whether it indicates any problem for the Kinect device.

Greenlaw · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 9:28 am

Thanks for the fast response!

Device Manager showed everything as normal as far as I could tell--3 sensors online, no errors. My motherboard/cpu is an Intel i7 quad. That the Kinect may be faulty did cross my mind, although it's brand new and it displayed a steady green light.

I'll test this more thoroughly tonight when I get home, and try swapping the Kinect sensors as suggested.

I still suspect my current computer may be too old or underpowered to handle three Kinects. If so, I'll hold off on using three sensors until I can get a newer and more powerful computer in here. That could be a few months but two sensors have been working fine for me with version 2 so, for now, they will be fine for me in version 3. :)

I'll write again tonight.

G.

Greenlaw · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 11:48 pm

Okay, I'm almost certain now that the brand new Kinect is defective. It seems to be connecting to the computer without errors but it doesn't want to function inside of Mocap Studio.

Now I'm wondering if it really is defective or if this a firmware update issue--I'm not sure how to check that or if this is even possible. Ugh! That's disappointing because Kinect for Windows appears to be EOF and the price has gone up. Kinect 2 for Windows is readily available and cheaper but that's not going to help right now until distributed rendering comes online.

Luckily, I have still an older XBox Kinect that still works. Maybe I can try that as the third Kinect sensor. In the meantime, maybe I can still get the apparently defective Kinect for Windows device repaired by MS.

Will write again if anything new develops. For now, I have some dual K mocap I need to record. :)

G.

Greenlaw · **Posted:** Mon Dec 08, 2014 11:58 pm

Ah, found another Kinect for Windows for a reasonable price. Should have it in a couple of days. Still looking into warranty for the defective one. More later.

G.

vmaslov · **Posted:** Tue Dec 09, 2014 12:16 am

Greenlaw wrote:

Kinect 2 for Windows is readily available and cheaper but that's not going to help right now until distributed rendering comes online.

FYI, different generations of Kinect can not be combined in one setup because of different resolutions, if you have thought of that. At least not in the near time.

As for probably defective sensor, try running some samples from Kinect SDK. Does it work there?

Greenlaw · **Posted:** Tue Dec 09, 2014 12:17 am

Confirmed. I got the XBox Kinect running as the third Kinect sensor.

Attachment:

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Will try this configuration tonight. Because this is an XBox Kinect, I don't have the nice RGB controls I have for the two Kinect for Windows but that shouldn't affect tracking quality.

The third device seems to be capturing at full speed with no dropped frames. Hopefully I still have enough bandwidth for the three PS Move controllers too. Fingers crossed.

Now, on to calibration...

G.

Greenlaw · **Posted:** Tue Dec 09, 2014 12:19 am

vmaslov wrote:

FYI, different generations of Kinect can not be combined in one setup because of different resolutions, if you have thought of that. At least not in the near time.

Ah, that makes sense! I feel better about ordering another first generation device. :p

Thanks for the information.

G.

Greenlaw · **Posted:** Tue Dec 09, 2014 2:59 am

I tried calibrating with three Kinect sensors using a Maglite. I was a little uncertain about going back to the Maglite method because I was having such good luck using the foam core board with dual Kinect sensors. Anyway, I ran my first calibration test with the Maglite and I got a perfect result. Not a single bad or dropped frames--yes, perfect!

I guess this means my old computer is very capable of capturing from three Kinect sensors and three PS Move devices at the same time.

I like this! :)

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Problem with third Kinect

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