forums.naturalpoint.com

My studio buy OptiTrack's 12 camera set nearly 2 years ago.
We've been familiar with the works and cleaning...
But in the process we encounter many problem which all people does, something with the uncaptured some dot marks which lead to disarray the calculated marks and lead it to many small yet annoying problems and slow down our production times.

I mean, i don't want this company answer me by the book, I want some real answer which base on real process not the company theories.

As the title does written, How to maximize Arena result, fasten the time of production without sacrifice quality aka efficiency, and maintenance the hardware.

For basic Q' like,
1. What the best formation of the camera for full body. Square ? or Circle... ?
2. The precise heights of the top cameras and the bellows ?
3. What lighting condition support the camera reach it potential take ?
4. In serious case, how to capture feet without fear it goes reds ? (Because we're paid talent's and stunt, we cannot take another mocap session if there's problem later on and deadline limits.)
5. What recommended computer spec which make the result stable ?
6. What the exactly tops camera's angle to make it efficient, same for the bottoms camera ?
7. What a good distance range from camera to camera ?
8. What maximum and minimum effective spacious mocap area ?
9. Lastly, what common stupid act by the user which lead Arena does not reach it potential ?

For Advance Q'
1. What & How 3D model we need to provide for the facial mocap ? Bone, Rig, Skin & Physique ?
(Our studio using 3Ds Max 2012, maybe max 2013 later on)

We know and realize, every hardware and software has it weakness. We weren't and never blame the weakness of Optitrack Product, as we understand it was hard to make a perfect product. But, we need yours knowledge as the company to tell us the good and bad, so we understand what we can do and don't.

For your concern, we are buy your product and have the product License, so treat us kindly as the costumer who were having many trouble to make something good & right with limited deadline.

And you can also point us for a forum's discussion that already discuss out stress signal. or some video stream that can help us. Bring any hints or anything, we are not a spoiler costumer, but we need hints... help us. Please.

Thanks & Peace out...

Hello -

A 12 camera system would Ideally be set up in a square approximately 20 feet by 20 feet (6m x 6m). You can either put all 12 cameras at around 8 feet in height (2.5m) or put 8 high and 4 low (5 feet / 1.7m) so there is a high camera in the middle of each side, a high camera in each corner, and a low camera in each corner. Depending on your capture needs, either could be appropriate. I'd probably start by doing all 12 high and switching if you find that you need more volume in the lower section.

There's no precise height for the cameras to be placed, it depends entirely on your need. In house we generally place them 8-10 feet off the ground, depending on what we want to capture. Aiming is the tricky part. You have to aim the cameras to minimize wasted space and maximize your volume.

I'm not sure I understand the third question. OptiTrack Cameras use Infrared light, and as such you should avoid unwanted sources of IR which might interfere with operation of the system (remote controls, sunlight, halogen, low pressure sodium lights, et. cetera).

Make sure you have the appropriate coverage in the lower half of the volume. Test it thoroughly by having an operator run around in the volume beforehand to make sure they don't break. Re-adjust, re-aim, and re-test if necessary until you get the volume you want.

12 Cameras running Arena? An Intel Core i series should be more than capable of handling that. i5 or i7 would be a plus, but it should run on an i3. 4gb ram on 32 bit OSs, 8gb on 64 bit OSs.

The cameras should be angled to maximize usable space in the volume and minimize wasted space. If your upper cameras are perpendicular to the floor, half their field of view will be focused on the area above the volume making it completely wasted. A good rule of thumb is to put a stick in the center of the volume at about the highest point you would want to capture, then aim the upper cameras so the top of their field of view is just above that. Calibrate, then test the volume. Make minor adjustments, recalibrate, and retest as needed.

7 is covered in the answer for question 1. The cameras should ideally be in a square of about 20 feet.

You're likely to get an 8 to 10 foot square out of that setup.

There's no real bad act that leads to running below potential outside of not being familiar with the system. Really just play around with it for a few days and see what it can do, what changes do what, don't be afraid to change things and experiment. You'll learn quite a bit about it!