Hi folks:

The ipisoft product page says that the software can use windows XP, but requires a direct3d 10 video card. Direct3d 10 is only available for Vista and Win7, so does this software actually work on Windows XP. I'm trying to minmize my cost to evaluate the software. I like that a 30 day trial is available, but having to do several thousand dollars worth of hardware and software upgrades would make it impractical.

Does anyone know if the free trial period software will handle a 6 camera solution? If I do a 6 camera shoot, can I have the ipisoft software only use the video from 4 of the cameras when I process it later into mocap data?

My current system is an atlon 9500 quad core with two Raid 0, 1TB drives that I use for HD video realtime capture. I've ordered 6 Sony Eye cameras.

Thanks,

Michael

Yes it does work on Windows XP.



Yes, it's true. You need a DirectX 10-compatible video card for running this software, even under WinXP. This is a GPGPU software (it does calculations on a video card). It requires a video card with serious support for 32-bit floating point math. Existing DirectX 9 cards only support 24-bit FP math. So you need a DirectX 10 card despite the fact that our software uses DirectX 9 API.



You can get a decent mid-range DirectX 10 video card for around $100.



Trial version supports up to 4 cameras. You will be able to preview capture results for 6-camera video but you won't be able to export animation for it.



Theoretically you can edit your video and cut extra cameras. You can use VirtualDub for editing (it is free).

If you are able to record from six cameras, you may as well process the data from six cameras; the result is higher quality mocap data, so it's silly to just it away to save a little time.

The 'hard part', so to speak, is being able to record from six PS3 cameras. To do this may require additional hardware like multiple USB controller cards, a solid state drive (SSD), and a i7 quad or six core system. You can however record from four cameras with a comparatively modest computer system.

As Michael already explained, to process the mocap data, it's all about the graphics card. Get the fastest nvidia GTX card you can afford. I've been using a GTX260 which came with the computer we purchased last summer. This card is reasonably fast but it is already feeling 'dated' when I read about how fast the 400 series crunches iPi mocap data. The 400 series was very expensive last year but the prices have dropped recently. These days I'm seeing the GTX460 going for about $180 now (it was around $500 when I was lusting for it last year) so I'm already thinking about upgrading even though I've had the the GTX260 for less than a year.

Look in the iPi wiki for a chart with benchmark results.

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!

Sigh! After typing that I could no longer resist upgrading. Our GTX460 should arrive in a couple of days. :)

Found a good one that was both small, quiet, and energy efficient for $170 after rebate. I almost went for a really beefy GTX 470 but then I saw that this card would be too large for my case and I would definitely need to upgrade my power supply. The GTX460 I ordered should work just fine in my computer without further upgrades. I'll post a message comparing the two cards later if I'm not too bogged down at work this week.

G.

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

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

Thanks for all the info; I'm looking forward to trying things out.

Just curious, I'm looking at a GTX 460 SE card and a GTX 460 card. Which will work better with the mocap conversion? Both are 1GB, if that makes a difference.

Thanks,

Michael

I'm not sure what the SE designation is. I'm guessing SE means 'special edition', which could mean the card is overclocked or otherwise modified. You may want to check the manufacturer's website for the actual specs. If it was me, I'd probably stick with cards that conform to official specs from Nvidia to insure compatibility. But that's just me.

Again, this is just me guessing; I really don't know. :)

Be sure to check the power requirements and actual size of the card too to make sure it will fits in your computer. I was looking at the 470 earlier but it required a 500w power supply which I don't have, and also the card is HUGE and probably wouldn't fit in my current system. (Especially not with the two extra USB controller cards in there already.)

G.

Edit: I don't know if this is important to you but check the noise level of the card too. I made sure the one I got wasn't going to make my computer any noisier. My current system is virtually silent and I want to keep it that way as much as possible. Last year I bought a new graphics card for a different computer and had to send it back because it sounded like a jet plane.

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

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

It looks like it might be promising:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/ha ... iew-2.html

I'll let you know how it works for me when I start analyzing video (seconds/frame),

Michael

P.S. - where did you find cheap/good active USB cable extenders?

I use these:

GWC 16.4 ft. USB 2.0 Repeater Cable

I noticed that they've gone up in price a little since I last bought one but they're still pretty cheap. These cables are really long (16.4 ft and you can theoretically daisy chain up to five of them,) and so far they've been very reliable.

G.

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

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

I ended up ordering these from amazon (they were on the ipisoft wiki):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002VG ... ss_product

$14.00 each and 10 meters long,

Michael

Good deal! Might have to get a pair myself if I decided to do an outdoor session. :)

G.

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

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!