volume capture height

[bsteagal]

Hello all!

I'm curious to find out what is the maximum capture height you all have achieved in your setups? I'm averaging little over 6 feet with my 8 cam system but I'm particularly interested in 12+ setups arranged at the optimum distance. (I have someone interested in doing some captures and they have some specific requirements in regards to height)

thanks!

Bryan

[VincentG]

We usually run from 8 ft. , when using the Tripods, and 10 ft., when using the truss work.

[Jim]

Bryan:

We have done captures with the cameras at 12' high. This works pretty well for volumes up to 20' square (camera placement). Normally we have a height of 9-10'.

[bsteagal]

Jim:

Thanks for the reply, so are you getting 12' actual capture height? or does that translate to about 9 -10 feet?

thanks!

Bryan

[Jim]

Cameras are placed at 12' high, resulting in a 9 foot capture height, or there abouts.

[dtaylor112]

Hey - I just set up this weekend and I'm running some tests and getting familiar with the 8 camera setup. I have my "high" cameras at about 9' (the cameras are about 15' apart in one direction and a good 12' apart in the other) and my "Low" cameras at about 5' high.


Here's the problem. My feet are ALWAYS a problem when capturing... and to make sure it wasn't my foot markers I tried laying down on the floor but I lose the skeleton once I pass the "squat" position. Is there anything I can do to solve this? I'm about 6'2".

I have a scene where I'm supposed to crawl on the ground but the minute I touch the floor I lose the skeleton and I'm thinking, "should I lower the 'low' cameras?" -- well, I tried that and it minimized my capture volume.

* Should I tilt the cameras WAY downward? Both high and low cameras??
* Is there any special technique I need to do to capture the lower extremites and floor?
* I thought it could be the calibration but I had my girlfriend try it and she got 8 "Excellents" TWICE when the cameras were up high so that has nothing to do with it I think.
* When I moved the cameras lower there was very little overlapping as the display preview made it look as though the cameras field of view did not exceed about 4 feet out.

* Another thing - my skeleton is all over the place when I'm just walking around... sometimes I'm completely upside down (on the screen) - what could be causing this?

* I tried playing aroung with the FPS and went from 100FPS to 50FPS to 25FPS... can I do that? I'd prefer capturing in 25FPS so when I apply the BVH to my 3D models I'm not rendering 100FPS since at 2 minutes pre frame that would take forever.

Thanks

[Jim]

Hello:

You can try rotating the cameras to be on their side, 90 degrees. This will give the camera more Vertical field of view.

Do not adjust the FPS capturing rate. Always capture at 100 FPS and then downsample to 25 FPS, or whatever target frame rate you want when you export the BVH file, that control is in the export dialog.

If your skeleton isn't tracking well, that is most likely a setup issue, if you send us your files we can load them and give you more detailed setup feedback.