Properties pane for a Vicon Cameras node

The Properties pane for a Vicon Cameras node or an individual camera node contains the following sections.

You can also access related options from the Vicon Cameras context menu.

Camera Identification section

On the System tab, when you click on a Vicon Cameras node or an individual camera node, the following controls are available in the Identification section of the Properties pane:

Control	Description
Name	A user-defined display name for the entire set of Vicon cameras or for each individual Vicon camera. For example, if a camera is placed over a door, you could name it Over Door.
Device ID	The unique identification number Vicon assigns to each Vicon camera during manufacture. The top-level entry for all Vicon cameras is read-only.

Camera Settings section

Note
The above illustration shows the Settings section for a Vicon Vantage camera. The Settings section for other Vicon cameras displays slightly different options.

On the System tab, when you click on a Vicon Cameras node or an individual camera node, the following controls are available in the Settings section of the Properties pane.

Control	Description
Enabled	Whether or not the Vicon camera is currently enabled for use. Default is selected.
Enable Strobe	Whether or not the strobes on the camera are used (does not affect the shutter period). Default is selected.
Strobe Intensity	The amount of light emitted by camera strobe units. This value can be set between 0-1 to minimize reflections and obtain clear marker images. The higher the setting, the brighter the markers appear, but this may cause blobs to be produced from reflections from other strobes. Lower settings make the markers themselves less visible to the cameras. In almost all circumstances, you will want to keep the intensity at its maximum level because the system works by recording light from the strobes that is reflected from the markers, thus the more light the strobes send out the more light the markers reflect. However, if you are capturing a very fast moving object you may achieve better results by reducing the strobe intensity. The strobe intensity affects the time the strobe is on for each camera frame. The full strobe intensity corresponds to 1ms (0.5ms with Bonita) for normal frame rates. Lower strobe intensities mean that the markers are captured with the strobes on for less time and, therefore, have less time to move during the frame. Tip: It is advisable to use full strobe intensity and deal with reflection problems by closing the camera lens aperture. Adjust this setting and the Threshold setting until reflections are minimized or gone. For further tips on setting Strobe Intensity, see Setting up a mixed Vicon camera system.
Sensor Mode	Tracker 3.9 and later supports the use of the Vantage+ firmware upgrade,enabling you to use High Speed mode on your Vantage cameras without having to change the field of view (FOV) or lens. When you capture optical data, subsampling (selectively reducing the pixel count) enables you to run at high camera frame rates without reducing the FOV (frame size). In High Speed mode, you can run your Vantage cameras at higher frames rates while maintaining the FOV. You can change frame rates during capture and you do not need to set up your cameras again when you increase the frame rate, as the FOV is unchanged.Because the higher speeds are achieved through subsampling (removing some pixels from the frames), some reduction in resolution is incurred. For details, see High-speed mode in the Vicon Vantage Reference Guide.
Gain	(Vicon MX T-Series only) The amplification of the pixel value. Select a displayed value to determine the intensity of the grayscale from the Vicon cameras: x1, x2, x4, or x8. (Note that the available values are those supported by the camera.) This setting is applied to the camera to change the dynamic range of the recorded image. Increasing the Gain means that the marker has less variation in grayscale intensity between its center and its edge, but in certain circumstances, using a higher gain yields markers that are easier for the camera to distinguish. Adjust this setting if the markers appear too faint or if the cameras have trouble distinguishing them; otherwise, leave the this property at the default x1 setting.
Grayscale Mode	The type of data for processed grayscale blobs that the Vicon cameras send to Vicon Tracker. (Note that this mode is disabled if Low Jitter mode is selected.) The Vicon cameras perform data processing to create 2D data for Vicon markers. They generate grayscale blobs for reflections from objects in the capture volume and then use centroid-fitting algorithms to determine which of these are likely to be markers by comparing the shape of the grayscale blobs to the Minimum Circularity Ratio and Maximum Blob Height settings. During this processing, Vicon cameras can produce the following types of data for grayscale blobs: centroids data (x, y coordinates and the radius of the centroid calculated), grayscale data (pixel and line information), or coordinates data (line information, that is, grayscale data without pixel values). However, Bonita cameras do not perform centroid fitting. You can specify which type of processed data Vicon cameras send to Tracker:
	Auto	Send grayscale data only of the grayscale blobs for which centroids were not generated, that is, those below the threshold specified for Minimum Circularity Ratio. Send coordinates data of grayscale blobs for which one or more line segments, or the total number of lines in the blob, exceeds the value set for Maximum Blob Height. If a marker can be centroid fitted by the camera, the centroid is passed to the capture PC. If it cannot, the full grayscale of the image is sent, allowing the data to be post-processed on the PC. This is the default and recommended mode. Tip: If any optical camera does not capture wand data during a wand wave, select the relevant camera on the System tab and look in the Settings section of the Properties pane to ensure you have set the Grayscale Mode to Auto.
	None	Send no grayscale data; send only centroid data (i.e, x, y, and radius data). Any ambiguous grayscale data will be discarded.
	All	Send grayscale data both of grayscale blobs for which centroids were generated and of those for which centroids were not generated, that is those below the threshold specified for Minimum Circularity Ratio. Send coordinates data of grayscale blobs for which one or more line segments, or the total number of lines in the blob, exceeds the value set for Maximum Blob Height. Select this setting if you need to see exactly where the camera calculates the centroid with respect to the grayscale marker image, for example when adjusting parameters. This setting results in much larger data rates and files; it may be useful for diagnostic purposes, but do not use it in normal capture situations.
	Only	Send all grayscale and coordinates data; send no centroid data. This setting is useful when focusing or making other adjustments to the cameras themselves as you see exactly the image recorded on the sensor.
	Edges	Send only edge coordinates data; send no centroid or grayscale data. If data rates are very high, for example when there are too many reflections, the camera automatically enters this mode. Use this setting to manually force the camera into this mode.
	No Edges	Send grayscale data both of grayscale blobs for which centroids were generated and of those for which centroids were not generated; send no coordinates data. Use this setting to prevent the Vicon camera from sending edge coordinates. Caution: Even if you have not specified a Grayscale Mode setting that would have coordinates data sent to Tracker, a Vicon camera automatically sends coordinates data – either temporarily or permanently – if it is overloaded with data (e.g., too many markers, too many reflections, hand or reflective objects immediately in front of the camera, too low a threshold or too high a gain). If a camera automatically starts to present coordinates data, identify the source of the overload and attempt to remedy it.
Enable LEDs	When selected, the status lights on the Vicon camera strobe unit provide feedback on the status of the camera. (Bonita cameras do not have status LEDs.) For more information, see the documentation that was supplied with your Vicon camera.
Enable Display	(Vicon Vantage only) When selected, the OLED display on the camera provides feedback on the status of the camera. For more information, see the Vicon Vantage Reference PDF, supplied with your Vicon Vantage cameras and available from the Vicon documentation website.
Enable Tap to Select	(Vicon Vantage only) When selected, you can lightly tap the camera in the volume to select it (and deselect the other cameras). Note that when Enable Accelerometry is selected (see below), if you tap a calibrated camera too hard, its status LEDs and OLED display (if enabled) indicate that it has been 'bumped'. You can remove the camera's bumped status in Tracker. If this is a frequent occurrence, you can change its sensitivity to being tapped by reducing the Bump Detection Sensitivity. For information on removing a camera's bumped status and changing Bump Detection Sensitivity, see Camera Status section.
Enable Accelerometry	(Vicon Vantage only) When selected, the OLED display on calibrated cameras changes to alert you when they have moved from their calibrated positions, eg, if a camera has been knocked. In Tracker, the camera's Bumped check box (in its Status properties) displays a check mark. For information on removing a camera's bumped status and changing Bump Detection Sensitivity, see Camera Status section. (This setting also turns on or off the auto-rotation of the display on Vantage cameras.) For more information on Vicon Vantage accelerometers, see the Vicon Vantage Reference PDF, supplied with your Vicon Vantage camera and available from the Vicon documentation website.

Centroid Fitting section

On the System tab, when you click on a Vicon Cameras node or an individual camera node, the following controls are available in the Centroid Fitting section of the Properties pane:

Control	Description
Threshold	The minimum brightness (intensity) for markers; pixels of an intensity lower than this threshold are ignored. This value can be set between 0-1 to determine the pixels to be considered for centroid fitting onboard the Vicon cameras. Lower settings enable the camera to detect lower light levels, thus making the markers appear larger, but may pick up unwanted reflections and other light sources. Higher settings reduce the noise, but make the markers themselves less visible. This setting differentiates between markers and ambient light. A Vicon camera records 10-bit grayscale data, which for each sensor pixel is a measure of how much light fell on that pixel during a given amount of time. However, the cameras will almost always pick up some ambient light in the volume. To enable the cameras to distinguish between light that comes from markers and light that does not, a threshold is applied. Anything above this threshold is deemed to be a marker, anything below is deemed to be ambient light. A value in the region of 0.2 to 0.5 is usually appropriate, but Vicon strongly recommends that you use static markers in the volume in order to establish an appropriate setting. If cameras are evenly spaced around the volume, the same threshold value is usually sufficient for all cameras. Adjust this setting, the Strobe Intensity, and the camera's aperture until reflections are minimized or gone. Tip: To help you to determine the most effect threshold setting for grayscale blobs, you can set the background color of the Camera view pane to the value of the Threshold control in the Centroid Fitting section of the Properties pane. To do this, open the Options dialog box (F7), and in the General View Options, select Threshold.
Minimum Circularity Ratio	The circularity threshold used by the centroid-fitting algorithms in a Vicon camera. (Note that this mode is disabled if Low Jitter mode is selected.) This value can be set between 0-1 to determine how similar a grayscale blob must be to the internal model of a marker – that is a radially symmetric object that has smooth, sharp edges and whose pixel intensity is brightest at the center and gradually fades towards the edges. The Vicon cameras consider grayscale blobs with circularity equal to or greater than this threshold to be well-formed, circular marker images. The higher the value, the more stringent the centroid fitter is; the lower the value, the less stringent the centroid fitter is. You may want to apply higher settings for camera calibration to ensure that Tracker selects the best markers and thus provides the best possible calibration. A lower value may be appropriate for data capture.
Maximum Blob Height	The maximum number of pixels per line that a grayscale blob can contain in a horizontal line. If the number of pixels exceeds this value, the Vicon camera determines that the grayscale blob is not a marker, stops processing it, and discards the pixel values (it preserves just the coordinates data, which can be sent to Vicon Tracker, depending on the Grayscale Mode setting). Set this value between 0–77500 to determine how large a grayscale blob can be for a Vicon camera to consider it a candidate marker. The Vicon cameras consider grayscale blobs with horizontal lines containing this number or fewer pixels to be good-sized, circular marker images. The higher the value, the larger a grayscale blob can be; the lower the value, the smaller a grayscale blob must be.

Centroid Tracking section

On the System tab, when you click on a Vicon Cameras node or an individual camera node, the following controls are available in the Centroid Tracking section of the Properties pane:

Control	Description
Enable Centroid Tracking	When selected, enables the camera's onboard centroid tracking algorithm. Note: Applies only to Vicon cameras that have the ability to process this information on board the camera. Default: Off
Marker Velocity	Maximum velocity at which a marker is tracked, expressed as the percentage of image width per second. Default: 5

Camera Status section

Note
The above illustration shows the Status section for a Vicon Vantage camera. The Status section for other Vicon cameras displays fewer options.

On the System tab, when you click on a Vicon Cameras node or an individual camera node, the following controls are available in the Status section of the Properties pane.

Control	Description
Connected	Whether or not the Vicon camera is currently connected to the Vicon system.
Sync Master	Whether or not the Vicon camera is designated as the synchronization master for the Vicon system. (Not relevant for MX T-Series cameras or systems containing a ViconLock)
Contributing Centroids	Whether or not the Vicon camera is contributing centroid data during the current motion capture.
Contributing Grayscale	Whether or not there is a socket open to the Vicon camera capable of receiving grayscale. This socket may be dropped when the system is under heavy load, therefore this property is useful as a system status monitor. It is not related to Grayscale property in Settings.
Contributing Tracks	Whether or not the Vicon camera is contributing tracks (that is, labeling centroids between frames) during the current session.
Bumped	Indicates the whether the Vicon Vantage camera has moved from its calibrated position. You can remove the Bumped status for: A selected camera: Clear the Bumped check box. All cameras: Press Ctrl+Shift+B
Bump Detection Sensitivity	Enables you to change the sensitivity of the Vicon Vantage camera's accelerometer (also see Enable Accelerometry in Camera Settings section).

Camera Hardware section

Note
The above illustration shows the Hardware section for a Vicon Vantage camera. The Hardware section for other Vicon cameras displays fewer options.

On the System tab, when you click on a Vicon Cameras node or an individual camera node, the following controls are available in the Hardware section of the Properties pane.

Setting	Description
Type	The type of Vicon camera (Vantage, Bonita, T160, T40 or T20). The Vicon Cameras node is read-only.
Strobe Type	The type of strobe unit attached to the front of the Vicon camera: Visible Red (VR), Near Infrared (NIR), or Infrared (IR). MX T-Series T160, T40, and T20 cameras support only VR and NIR strobe units. Bonita cameras support NIR. For a Vicon Cameras node, this setting is read-only.
Strobe Temp	Displays data from Vicon Vantage strobe onboard sensor both as a numeric indicator (in degrees Celsius) and a colored temperature indicator. The color of the indicator changes to reflect a change in temperature: yellow (warming up to the temperature specified by the lower bounds), green (between the specified upper and lower bounds) or red (overheated above the upper bounds). To set values that are representative of your laboratory environment, you can change the upper and lower bounds of the temperature range. To do this, select the Camera Temperature Range option in the Options dialog box (F7).
Camera Body Temp 1	Displays data from Vicon Vantage camera body onboard sensor. See Strobe Temp above.
Camera Body Temp 2	Displays data from Vicon Vantage camera body onboard sensor. See Strobe Temp above.
Sensor Width	The width (in pixels) of the Vicon camera sensor.
Sensor Height	The height (in pixels) of the Vicon camera sensor.
Revision	Camera revision number.
MAC Address	The Media Access Control (MAC) address assigned to the Vicon camera during manufacture. This is a hexadecimal value in the format ##.##.##.##.##.##. For a Vicon Cameras node, this setting is read-only.
Serial Number	Vicon Vantage camera's serial number (if set)
IP Address	The Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned to the Vicon camera on the Vicon Ethernet network. For a Vicon Cameras node, this setting is read-only.
Destination IP Address	The network adapter IP address to which data from this camera will be sent.

Camera Firmware section

On the System tab, when you click on a Vicon Cameras node or an individual camera node, these controls are available in the Firmware section of the Properties pane:

Control	Description
Firmware Version	The version number of the Vicon firmware currently installed on the Vicon camera.
Firmware Complete	Whether or not the currently installed Vicon firmware is complete. If not, you can reprogram the firmware.

Camera Calibration section

On the System tab, when you click on a Vicon Cameras node or an individual camera node, the following controls are available in the Calibration section of the Properties pane:

Control	Description
Reset Calibration	Reset calibration of selected camera(s)
Focal Length (mm)	The camera lens focal length value of the selected camera(s) in mm.

Camera Commands section

On the System tab, when you click on a Vicon Cameras node or an individual camera node, the following command is available in the Commands section of the Properties pane:

Command	Description
Reboot	Stop and restart all cameras or the selected Vicon camera.

Tracker 3.9 Documentation