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Calibrate FLIR Blackfly S video cameras

Calibrate FLIR Blackfly S video cameras

Owned by Adaptavist ScriptRunner for Confluence Cloud (Unlicensed)
Apr 08, 2024

We recommend calibrating at the fastest video rate that will be used for capture, with the ROI window set to the largest size used during capture. (If in doubt, use the default setting of the whole sensor.)

Unlike calibrating SDI video cameras in Shogun Live, you can change the frame rate and exposure of the video camera after calibration as well as decrease the ROI window size. However, do not alter the aperture of the lens without re-calibrating. Also, the calibration of FLIR Blackfly S USB3 cameras in Shogun Live does not check for timing offsets, as the timing of the camera is controlled directly using the Vicon Lock unit.

The procedure for calibrating a system that includes FLIR cameras is as follows:

Check for warnings

Ensure that no warnings are generated for missing triggers or black frames being inserted. Also, check the video is stable before starting calibration. 

Enable video calibration

  1. From the Calibration panel, select Activate Video Calibration. This enables a number of parameters in the System panel, including different sliders for exposure and gain. Your image should become much darker, ideally so that only the strobes can be seen.
  2. Power on the wand in Strobe mode.
  3. Check that centroids can be seen in the video image. If not, adjust the parameters until the centroids are visible.

Set the threshold

The default threshold is sufficient in most circumstances. You can reduce the calibration exposure until the strobes are the only thing visible in the image.

Calibrate the system

Calibrate the system as normal, making sure that the video camera receives sufficient wand waves.

If the calibration is successful, the icon for the video camera in the system panel is green rather than light blue, and the image error in the calibration table is small.

A red zero indicates that calibration has failed. 

Check the calibration

After calibrating, we recommend that you carry out a quick check.

  1. Wave the wand quickly in front of the video camera, while an assistant selects Pause.
  2. Step through and verify that reconstructions are shown. They may be very slightly offset due to the difference between the visible and IR strobe LEDs on the wand.