OptiTrack Capture space

[dtaylor112]

Hey all - close to getting the system and I've been debating and measuring and debating my available space. I live in NYC so I don't have a garage, a barn, a warehouse etc. so my initial "studio" will be my living room.

The space is about 13' long by about 15' wide (when it's cleared out) - would this be enough space for an 8 camera set up? Obviously I won't be doing motion capture for Madden Football or anything but I would need a few walking cycles along with a myriad of nuance movement for my characters.

Also, what kind of flooring is recommended? I have wood floors and I'm not sure if the minimal bouncing would affect the capturing.

Hm, if I *need* studio space that's gonna be another hill to climb so it's better to know sooner rather than later.

Thanks - this place is a wealth of information.

[bsteagal]

Koan:

This should be enough, calculate that you will be losing about half that space... so you should be looking at roughly a 6 x 7.5 capture volume. do you have tall ceilings? If you do... I would suggest getting the top 4 cameras as high as you can, this will extend your volume somewhat...

Now, I will ask something that might sound strange... how tall are you? I ask because of this... I'm 6'2" and I found that I had to really tweak to get the best capture volume for my size.

I started out with 6 cameras and I had to really set my cameras up high to get the best volume. (it was a bear to get both my head and my feet in all cameras and still have room enough to move around... lol) Instead of using tripods, I used wall mounts so I could set the cameras high up on my walls or even attach them directly to the ceiling. (my cameras were installed 9-10 feet high)

Hope this helps and if you have any more questions, fire away!

Bryan

[leith]

With that small a space, I swap my default 45 degree lenses for 60 degree lenses. But I think that's an unsupported thing (last I checked, the factory is the only one who is supposed to be able to swap lenses)

[dtaylor112]

Hey Bryan,

Ceilings are fairly high (9 feet) - I'm over 6' as well... you say you started out with 6 cameras, did you move up to 8? I see the eight camera setup has the "high/Low" camera thing going - maybe that would be a better option?

Brad - 60 degree cameras... are those expensive cameras? Would the quality be the same?

Thank You

KM

[bsteagal]

Koan

Yes, I did finally upgrade to 8, in fact, just set them up today.. but didn't get a chance to capture yet.. (tomorrow is the day!)

If you have the money, go for the 8.. 6 are ok, but with 8 your captures will be a lot better and you can maximize the space you have... Most have 8 or 12 camera setups (I think I was probably one of the only alpha/beta testers with just 6 cameras...lol, gave me good experience though)

I'll post some examples of my capture tomorrow...

later!

[dtaylor112]

Nice. I look forward to seeing them. Also, information on the space you needed with 8 cameras vs the 6 camera setup would be some seriously good information.

Thank You!

[Jim]

Hello:

I would recommend 8 as well for your proposed volume. Set them up like in the online diagram, 4 corners, 2 cameras in each one, one high, one mid height (5').

As suggested, you should be able to get about 1/2 the overall space in actual capture volume. With 12 cameras, we have been seing more like 3/4 of the space.

I would recommend getting some AutoPoles for mounting the cameras. This will let you put the cameras in the corners of the room, that will help a lot, as tripods can take up a lot of space.