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Configure file export pipeline operations

Configure file export pipeline operations

You view and change the settings for the supplied export pipeline operations in the Properties pane at the bottom of the Pipeline Tools pane. For more information, see:

You can also export to a number of other file formats: to view the available formats, in the Pipeline Tools pane, go to the Available Operations list and expand File Export.

For general information about how to use pipelines, see Work with pipelines.

Configure the Export 3D Overlay Video operation

You can export the 3D overlay of Vicon optical data over images from a supported calibrated video camera to an .mp4 or .avi file for viewing in other applications using the Export 3D Overlay Video operation in the Pipeline Tools pane.

With the Combined View option in a Camera view, you can display Vicon optical data overlaid onto images from a calibrated digital video camera. For example, you can display 3D information, such as the floor grid, markers, and virtual force plates, overlaying the 2D video image. The Export 3D Overlay Video operation burns this 3D overlay information into an .mp4 or .avi (digital video file) so that you can view it in other applications, such as Vicon Nexus Insight (.mp4 only) or Vicon Polygon.

To export 3D overlay information to a video file:

  1. In the Camera view toolbar, from the View drop-down list select Combined to view Vicon optical data overlaid onto images from a digital video camera.
  2. In the Options dialog box (F7), select the desired options to configure the visualization of data to suit your needs (for example, you may want only the force vector to appear on the 3D overlay).
  3. At the top of the Options dialog box, click the Save button to save the configuration you just created. The configuration is saved as an .options file in the appropriate Nexus Options folder.
  4. In the Pipeline Tools pane, create a File Export pipeline that includes the Export 3D Overlay Video operation. (For a reminder of how to create a pipeline, see Create a pipeline.)
  5. In the Current Pipeline operations list, click on the operation, then in the Properties section at the bottom of the Pipeline Tools pane, view or change settings for the desired properties:
    • From the View Options Set list, which is displayed in alphabetical order, select the name of the .options file you created in step 3.
    • If you want to restrict the output to only one or more of the connected video cameras, ensure the required cameras are selected and in the Cameras list choose Selected Video Cameras.
    • Select an option from the File Output list. (The default is h.264 MP4).
    • Depending on whether quality or file size is the most important criterion for your requirements, select the most appropriate option from the h.264 Compression list.
    • If the trial is cropped, select the appropriate range of frames to export. If you do not do this, the exported video will be of the whole trial, but will be static in the cropped frames.
  6. Run the pipeline either on an individual trial in the Pipeline Tools pane or on multiple files using the Batch Processing Interface (click Show File Transfer/Batch Processing interface and then the Batch Processing button on the Data Management tab).

About 3D overlay files

The 3D overlay information from each reference video camera is stored in a separate file, in the format: TrialName.DeviceID.overlay.* where:

  • TrialName is the base name of the trial file.
  • DeviceID is the unique identification number Vicon assigns to a DV camera.
    You can find the Device ID in the System Resources pane, by expanding the Video Cameras node, selecting the desired video camera, and then in the Properties section expanding the Settings area.
  • overlay identifies the file contents as the 3D overlay information associated with the video file.
  • * is the file extension (mp4 or avi).

For example, with a video camera with a Device ID of 52883644, if you run the Export 3D Overlay Video pipeline operation on a video file named Walk1.52883644.avi, the exported 3D overlay file will be called Walk1.52883644.overlay.avi.

Note
You cannot open an exported 3D overlay (.overlay.avi) file in Nexus.

Configure the Export ASCII operation

The Export ASCII pipeline operation enables you to export saved trial data to a plain text file, saved in CSV or TXT format.

To export processed Nexus data to an ASCII file:

  1. Ensure you have loaded and processed the required data.
  2. In the Pipeline Tools pane, create a File Export pipeline that includes the Export ASCII operation. (For a reminder of how to create a pipeline, see .)
  3. In the Current Pipeline operations list, click on the operation, then in the Properties section at the bottom of the Pipeline Tools pane, view or change settings for the desired properties:
    • Flename: Do one of the following:
      • Accept the default Current Trial setting; or
      • To use a different path and/or filename, click the downward arrow to the right of the box, clear the Macro check box, and click the ellipsis (...). You can then enter the required file name, including its extension, for example my_trial.csv.
    • File Extension: Can be .csv, .txt, or if required, clear the Macro check box as described above and then specify the required extension.
    • First Frame and Last Frame: If required, change these to specify the range that you want to export.
    • Delimiter: Do one of the following:
      • Click to choose the delimiter of the exported data, selecting either commas, tabs, or line feeds/carriage returns; or
      • To use a different delimiter, click the downward arrow and clear the Macro check box. You can then edit the Delimiter field to specify a combination of ASCII characters (maximum of two characters).
    • Local Numeric Format: If you want the exported data to use the local language float number format, select this check box.
    • Export Gait Cycle Parameters: To export gait cycle analysis, select this option.
    • Export Events: To export events, select this option. If you choose to include events, they are sorted in the output file by type, subject and time of occurrence.
    • Digital Device Sampling: Choose the digital devices frame rate and sampling rate options:
      • MX Frames: Exports at the same frame rate as the trajectory data. The exported data may be up-sampled to achieve an integer number of sub-samples per frame.
      • Raw Frames Exports at the original frame rate and sample rate. The exported frame and sub-frame numbers may not correspond to other devices or the trajectory data.
    • Local Numeric Format: To export using the local language's float number format, select this option.
    • For the rest of the outputs, you can do one of the following:
      • Click to choose to export either none, only the selected output type, or all of them; or
      • To supply a comma-separated list, click the downward arrow to the right of the drop-down list and clear the Macro check box.

    (tick) Tip: In most cases, as an alternative to selecting All, you can use the asterisk * wildcard.

  4. Either run the pipeline or right-click the Export ASCII operation and click Run selected op.
  5. After you have run the pipeline operation and exported the file, you can examine the exported data as required.

Configure the Export C3D operation

The Export C3D pipeline operation exports the current state of the processed data to a .c3d file. You can then import the data into other software for further processing or report generation.

In the Properties section you can view or change the following properties:

  • Filename Name of the file to be exported. By default, this is the name of the current trial, for example Trial01. To change the name, click the downward arrow to the right of the field and clear the Macro check box. You can then enter a new name.
  • First Frame First frame of the range to be exported
  • Last Frame Last frame of the range to be exported
  • Trial Name Postfix Adds the string you specify to the end of the filename. For example, if you entered export in this field, the name of the output file would be Trial01.export.c3d.
  • Integer Format Measures the maximum range between real data points, and determines a scale factor. The data is then scaled to that range when saved to the c3d file, and all values are written with the Integer format. When the data is read into another program (eg, Polygon), the scale factor is applied to the data, converting it into Real data. The Real data format saves the data as it is, without any multiplication by a scale factor, and writes it to the c3d file.
    Certain types of data are best suited for the Real format option because no resolution is given up in the storage of the data. However, bear in mind that not all programs can read both Integer- and Real-formatted c3d files. For more details on the .c3d format, see c3d.org.
  • Subject Prefixes Prefixes the exported marker labels with the subject's name. (To specify that marker labels are prefixed only when more than one subject's data is exported, choose the Auto option.)
  • X Axis Direction, Y Axis Direction, Z Axis Direction Enables you to choose the direction of the axis in the exported 3D world.

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