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I want to track a string moving about in a small space, say a 1 foot cube. I cannot place markers on it because that will mess up its movement behavior but I can coat alternating sections with light/reflective paint (the string is dark). The string is very thin and very light- under 1mm in diameter and weighing less than 1gm.

Can I configure the OptiTrack cameras to get tight enough on the work volume to have sufficient resolution and will the tracking software handle non-spherical objects well enough to produce movement traces of the string sections ? I can take care of assembling the traces into the actual string from frame to frame. The string would be bounced/waved about within the volume in a non-simple movement (though not fast) and it would inevitably have some of its sections pass behind/in-front of one another.

I know this is outside of the typical use of the system, but if there is a reasonable expectation that it can handle this, then I'll give it a try.

BTW, I am a motion capture refugee from many, many years ago, having written some of the early human gait analysis software used with Motion Analysis and Vicon. I have been out of this area for over 20 years.

thanks
--dwight

Hey Dwight,

My advice is to get a piece of generic retro-reflective stock from us. It's got a sticky back and you can cut as small of a piece as you need. The reflectivity is going to be much higher than anything you can paint on.

Good to have you back into the optical capture world. Let us know if there is anything else we can do to help your project along.