Getting started with Vicon Video Viewer

Vicon Video Viewer is a tool for playing back files generated from Vicon applications such as Shogun and Nexus.

This guide contains information on installing and using Vicon Video Viewer.

Install Vicon Video Viewer

Vicon Video Viewer may be installed when you install a Vicon application, such as Vicon Shogun. You can also download it from the Vicon website. It does not require a license.

After installation, to start Vicon Video Viewer do one of the following:

• Click the Vicon Video Viewer shortcut on the Windows desktop.

• On the Windows Start menu, expand Vicon, then click Vicon Video Viewer <release number>.
• In Windows Explorer or on the Windows desktop, double-click an associated video file. (An association for .vvid files is created during installation.)

Get to know the user interface

The key areas of the Viewer window are the menu bar, view pane, information area and time bar.

 Menu bar

 View pane

 Current timecode

 Current decoder (hardware/software) and performance in frames per second

 Video information including resolution, payload format, frame rate, number of frames, duration in seconds

 Time bar, with current frame indicator

 Play/pause button, stop button and full screen button

Play a video with correction for radial distortion

If a video is recorded from a calibrated system in Shogun Live, it contain lens calibration information. This information can be used to show the video without radial distortion.

To check whether a video contains lens calibration information:

1. From the View menu, select Video Properties.

2. In the Video Properties dialog box, look for properties starting with LensDistortionCalibration, like those shown in this example:

   

   If you find these properties, you can choose to view the video with or without distortion, as described below.

To apply distortion or to view the video without it:

• From the View menu, select or clear Correct Radial Distortion.

  

Play back a video with different gamma and saturation values

If the video payload is a Bayer format, you can change the gamma correction and color saturation values that are used for playback.

To access these settings:

1. From the View menu, select Video Display Settings.

   

2. In the Video Display Settings dialog box, view and/or change the gamma correction and/or color saturation.

   

Supported video formats

Vicon Video Viewer plays back files generated by Vicon applications. It also opens some video files created with third-party tools such as FFMPEG, but this is not its primary purpose.

It plays videos in the following formats:

* Only intra-frame (i-frames only) H.264 video is supported.

Troubleshooting Vicon Video Viewer

Video playback is too slow

• On the Playback menu, point to Decoder, and make sure that Hardware is selected.
• On the Playback menu, make sure that Skip Frames is selected.
• Make sure that the video is stored on a local drive and is not open over network file-sharing.
• Move the video to the fastest local drive, ideally an SSD.

Error when opening a video

• If the video was recorded from a Vicon application, it is likely that the file is corrupt. If the problem persists, contact Vicon Support.
• If the video was not recorded from a Vicon application it is likely that the file is an unsupported format. Consider using an alternative tool such as VLC Media Player.