Prototype 2D Capture Station Testing

[dhernand]

I did a short test of the new 2d capture station which is attached to this email. The image quality is excellent, but I did have some trouble with getting a consistent image. Sometimes I had wavy lines, sometimes the brightness/contrast seemed to change as well. I unchecked the auto-focus too. I think it is some setting I am missing. Not sure. The lights are fantastic. No shadows that I can see and they don't get hot. I brought up a handful of my students in class and asked them what they thought of the set up. Everyone agreed that they loved the camera and the lights, but they would prefer the old 'Benchmark" bar (adjust the camera vertical/horizontal) and the animation disk that rotates as options. I don't think the camera needs to be as high anymore, but after awhile, I think the students would get the idea of where it needs to be placed in general. Currently, I think the bendable device that holds the actual camera might be a little problematic for consistency. On one hand it seems like a nice thing to have for easy adjustment, but on the other, I think the students will prefer to use the marks on the "Benchmark" bar (I hope I am saying that correct).

Anyways...that's my two cents. Dan Hernandez is gonna stop by and go over camera settings with me. Troy should also do a quick test and see what he thinks on the latest set up.

Hope that helps!

John Webber

[dhernand]

John,

You probably have the auto-iris still turned on. That would need to be disabled as well as the auto-focus.
Although I haven't seen it, the idea of a 'bendy device' to hold the camera sounds potentially disasterous as, I would imagine, over time the arm will only get more bendy, and we'll be strapping it up with tape to stop it moving during shooting. When I saw the pic Bob showed me, it looked like a more lightweight version of the stands we have now, with vertical column and horizontal arm, is the camera holder not like this now?

Jeremy

[jwebber]

Jeremy,

Not sure about the auto-iris, but auto-focus was off. It is a more lightweight version of the current stands we have now and I like it, but the more I played with it, I could just see everyone wanting those marks on the stand to help line things up with. The students confirmed my thoughts. The horizontal arm, if I can recall (I'm writing this from home), didn't have the same capacity as the current stands do, but you could still manage with the "tilt" and "pan" settings in Flipbook. For my 2 cents, I prefer the current stand, but with the new camera and lights replacing the ones we have now.

John

[dhernand]

Yesterday Steve Abrams and I sat down with John Webber and Troy Gustafson and looked into the problems experienced by John with the 2d prototype capture station.

A few settings need to be set:
camera settings in Microsoft camera software:
white balance set to auto
exposure set to auto

in Flipbook:
white balance setting off
exposure setting off

We also noticed a wobble in the video capture display in flipbook because of the rubber piece that mounts the camera to the camera mast moves slightly when people walk near it.

We wondered if the lcd lights connected to the prototype could possible be connected to the existing capture stations in room 326 and we could figure out a way to secure the microsoft webcam to those capture stations?

Thanks.

dan

rubber piece moves when people walk by

[rduncan]

There will be a refitted capture stand as requested installed today (Friday, July 29th) in the afternoon. We have followed through on the request to put the LED lights and web cam assembly on the traditional capture stand provided by Montgomery. We will post pictures later today.

[ghodge]

We experimented on one of the more "weathered" Bencher stands, ignoring the aesthetics for now. Once we fine-tune the functional aspects, we'll do our best to perform a "make-over" for appearance sake. Security of the new cameras and lights will also be addressed.
Greg

[rduncan]

The new update is up and running for tests.

[ghodge]

Don't be alarmed; I had to disassemble the 4th floor prototype while sourcing parts for upgrade of the other stands.
Greg Hodge,
547-6189

[ghodge]

MH 326 Stations 6 & 7 have been upgraded for testing. Suggestions are welcome.