Main page → Hardware Setup page → Prepare Setup Area
Before setting up a motion capture system, choose a suitable setup area and prepare it in order to achieve the best tracking performance. This page highlights some of the considerations to make when preparing the setup area for general tracking applications. Note that this page provides just general recommendations and these could vary depending on the size of a system or purpose of the capture.
First of all, pick a place to set up the capture volume.
For the best tracking performance, minimize ambient light interference within the setup area. The motion capture cameras track the markers by detecting reflected infrared IR light and any extraneous IR lights that exist within the capture volume could interfere with the tracking.
All cameras are equipped with IR filters, so extraneous lights outside of the infrared spectrum (e.g. fluorescent lights) will not interfere with the cameras. For IR lights that cannot be removed or blocked from the setup area, they could be masked in Motive using the Masking Tools during the system calibration. However, this feature completely discards image data within the masked regions and an overuse of it could negatively impact tracking. Thus, it is best to physically remove the object whenever possible.
Dark-colored objects absorb most of the visible light, however, it does not mean that they absorb the IR lights as well. Therefore, the color of the material is not a good way of determining whether an object will be visible within the IR spectrum. Some materials will look dark on human eyes but bright white on the IR cameras. If these items are placed within the tracking volume, they could introduce extraneous reconstructions.
Since you already have the IR cameras in hand, use one of the cameras to check whether there are IR white materials within the volume. If there are, move them out of the volume or cover them up.
Prime 41 and Prime 17W cameras are equipped with powerful IR LED rings which enables tracking outdoors; even under the presence of some extraneous IR lights. The strong illumination from the Prime 41 cameras allows a mocap system to better distinguish marker reflections from extraneous illuminations. System settings and camera placements may need to be adjusted for outdoor tracking applications.
Please read through the Outdoor Tracking Setup page for more information.
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