Prepare video cameras (optional step)

Vicon Vue cameras and supported third-party video cameras can be calibrated as part of a Vicon system, enabling you to see an accurate video overlay both during a live shoot and offline.

If your Vicon system includes supported video cameras, ensure you have set up your PC to work with the video cameras, physically connected the video cameras to your Shogun system, and set an IP address for each video camera as described in the Vicon video: 3 - Shogun Live - Setting up Vue video camera.

Set up aliases for video capture

Shogun Live enables you to provide an alias and specify the location to which to capture video. By having a dedicated disk (normally an SSD) for each video camera, you avoid any impact on the main system resources.

Before you begin a capture that includes video, ensure you have specified the required location for video capture, as described in the following steps.

To specify the location to which to capture video:

1. On the Settings menu, select Preferences (or press SHIFT+P).
2. In the Preferences dialog box, set up a different alias for each video camera in your system, each pointing to a different SSD as follows:
   
   1. Scroll to the bottom of the Preferences dialog box and in the Device Capture Folders section, click New.
   2. In the Create New Device Capture Folder dialog box, in the Alias field enter a name for the folder and in the Capture Folder field, enter or browse to the required location and click OK .

      

3. When you have finished, select Save Changes .
4. In the System panel, in the Video Cameras section, for each video camera, ensure that the correct alias is selected from the Capture Directory list.

Configure video cameras in Shogun Live

After you initially connect your Vicon video camera(s), set up IP addresses and open Shogun Live, icons that represent the cameras are displayed in the System panel. However, when you select a video camera, nothing is displayed in the Cameras view. The yellow warning icon next to the video camera name indicates that you need to configure the video camera.

To configure video cameras:

In the System panel, select a video camera, and then set the following attributes:

1. In the General section, ensure Enabled is selected and set the Stream IP Address for the selected video camera. This must be the address that was set for this video camera in the Windows Network and Sharing Center, as shown in the Vicon video: Vicon Vue Configuration (see above). Ensure the camera’s IP address is not the same as that used by any other optical or video camera, or any other device. As the address ending in 192.168.10.1 is always reserved for the system, normally video cameras take the next available IP addresses (for example, 192.168.10.2, 192.168.10.3, etc).

   The video stream is now displayed in the Cameras view of the selected video camera.

   You can now calibrate the video camera, along with the other cameras (see Calibrate cameras).

2. To configure the capture settings:

   1. Note that for the best performance and to avoid running out of disk space, in the Capture section, set the Capture Directory to a drive that is different from that used by the Data Management or Eclipse database. If possible, specify a different drive for each video camera, as described inSet up aliases for video capture. If not, at least divide the video cameras into separate groups, depending on the drive speed, and allocate a separate drive to each group.

      The folder structure created by setting the Capture Directory duplicates the structure of the Data Management capture path.

   2. To change the sampling rate for video cameras, in the System panel, in the Video cameras section, select the required video camera and in the General section select the required option from the Sub Sampling Divisor list.

   3. If you need to adjust the saturation, select Advanced parameters and change the relevant setting in the Video Mode section.

Select realtime video compression options

Capture to MOV

In Shogun Live 1.5 and later, you can capture direct to .mov file format, using one of five preset quality settings, enabling you to balance the file size against the required quality.

To select .mov format for capture:

1. In the System panel, ensure the relevant video camera is selected (both Vue and SDI are supported) and in the Capture section, select the Container Format list and select MOV.

2. To change the default quality setting, select the Video Format list and select one of:

   • Lowest (lowest quality very small file)
   • Low (low quality, small file)
   • Medium (medium quality, medium size file)
   • High (high quality, large file)
   • Best (best quality, very large file)

   File sizes can be much smaller, depending on the chosen quality setting.

Capture to uncompressed MOV

With Shogun 1.7 and later, you can save uncompressed video directly to a .mov file so that you don't have to capture to Vicon Video file format (.vvid) and then convert to .mov in Vicon Video Converter.

How do I capture uncompressed mov footage?

To capture to uncompressed MOV format:

1. Ensure your Vicon system, including your video camera(s), is connected to Shogun Live.
2. On the System tab, select the video camera, and in its Properties section below, go to the Capture section and:
   1. In the Container Format field, select MOV.
   2. In the Video Payload field, select Uncompressed.

      

3. Ensure the other settings are as required and then capture the required movement.

   A MOV file is created in the specified location (either in the default Capture Folder, or in the custom Device Capture Folders).