Hi,
I was wondering... What do you guys recommend:
Kinect o using 3 or 4 Playstation Eye cameras.

Many thanks
e.

It depends on how you intend to use the system.

PS3 Eye gives you a much larger performance space and the ability to capture compewx motions, but setup is more complicated and it requires more horsepower. Cameras are relatively cheap but you'll want to add certain accessories.

Kinect is much easy to set up and use, is arguably cheaper when you consider all the accessories you need for PS3 Eye, but the capture space is a bit small and it has problems with occlusion so you can't do complex motions like you can with the PS3 Eye set up.

iPi is about to release a two Kinect version, which may resolve some of the occlusion issues, but now you're talking $300 for two cameras.

That's it in a nutshell and I hope this helps. If you're really interested there's already been a lot of info on this topic elsewhere in these forums

G.

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

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

Hey,
Thanks Greenlaw!

But do you know what accessories and how much setup are needed?... I was checking on Ipisoft Wiki for PS3 Eye, there it says that I may need lots of cable, four tripods, and flaslights.

I was reading on this forum that someone had an issue with the PS3 cameras and he needed a SSD drive (around $500)... not sure if this is a requirement.
I am not familiar with all these... but I am looking forward to get into it, any help would appreciate it.

Thanks
e.

Accessories are optional; again, it depends on what you want to do with the system. My wife and I like to make short films and we also create visual fx and animation professionally, so we have a lot of gear to cover many situations.

Here's what we have for our iPi system:

- six light stands from Cowboy studio ($12 each). These are like tripods but without a panning head, which you don't need because the PS3 Eye cameras already have a base that tilts and swivels. They're very strong and sturdy and much better than using cheap camera tripods, and lighter to carry than more expensive tripods.

- helicoil kit to tap the base of the Eyes ($18; good for up to 12 cameras.)

- USB repeater cables; these are typically 16 ft long and you can daisy chain up to five for one camera ($15 each; get as many as you need.)

- clothing: jeans (not baggy), long-sleeved green or red shirt, short sleeved black T. You don't need expensive ones. I think I got my shirts for $6 to $10 each; pants about $20 - $25.

- soft boxes (3 for $300 - $350). This is completely optional of course. We just happened to have these because we also shoot a lot of regular video and green screen effects, but if you arrange the lights in a certain way you can get very even lighting with minimal cast shadows, which is idea for iPi video.

Optionally, you can use security camera brackets to mount cameras on the walls, or make something using gimbals with 1/4" screws on the base (I bought a set of these from Amazon for about $12) and L-Brackets (about 30 cents each at a local hardware store) and build your own. (I have these because I thought I might mount the cams permanently some day, but currently I still use the light stands.)

As for SSD storage, this is also optional, but it's the best for capturing a lot of data (i.e., streaming from six cameras.) And they're not that expensive; you can search New Egg for some prices. I bought a 120 GB SSD for about $175, but if it's dedicated to mocap a 40 - 60 GB SSD is probably plenty of space.

And the list can go on: solid neutral backdrop, soft floor mats, etc. I can list many things that are not useful or necessary for most users but can very important to some (like me.) As I said, it depends on what you want to capture and how you plan to use the data. In fact, you can actually use the PS3 Eye without most of the gear listed here, and you can use the Kinect version with almost none it.

Before committing to either system, I would plan out they type of motions you need for your project and then make a list of everything you need to achieve the results you want. Research your options and try not to buy a lot of stuff you may never use. (I've been guilty of that on occasion.) :)

Hope this helps as a guide.

G.

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

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

I really appreciate you kind response!
Thank you!!!

I think will go for Kinect for the time being... I think it will be easier for me as a starter.
I suppose that I dont need any other accessories with it, right?.
I have seen a few videos and looks like it does the job very well.

Keep it up.
e.

That's probably a good choice; I really like my PS3 Eye setup but setting it up and using it has much more involved than using the Kinect setup, even if you have a permanent space for it. And yes, assuming your computer and storage device meets the hardware requirements, the Kinect version is just 'plug-and-play'. The downside with Kinect, as already mentioned, is that it can't capture more complicated motions that you can capture with the PS3 setup.

One more thing: with either system, you need a good modern graphics card to track the motion at a usable speed. Luckily, the price of these cards have come down a lot in the past two years.

The nice thing with iPi DMC is that if you get the Standard version or upgrade to it later, you have the ability to use either camera system and then some. In other words, no need to buy two different versions of the software.

Good luck!

G.

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

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!