Installation Manual V1.4.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Vinten Broadcast Ltd Western Way Bury St Edmunds Suffolk IP33 3TB United Kingdom Vinten Inc 709 Executive Blvd. Valley Cottage NY 10989 USA Tel: +44 1284 752121 Fax: +44 1284 750560 Tel: (845) 268 0100 Fax: (845) 268 0113 Email: info@vinten.com Compiled by: James Oliver - Product Manager Issue Date: April 2004 Copyright © Vinten Broadcast Limited 2004 The copyright in this document is vested in Vinten Broadcast Ltd, part of the Vitec Group.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Table of contents 1 Introduction 4 1.1 1.2 Virtual sets free-d™ 4 4 2 System components 5 3 Installation 6 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 6 6 8 8 Targets Lens encoder Target seeking camera free-d™ Processor unit 4 Interconnection 10 5 Camera optimisation 11 6 Calibration procedure 13 6.1 6.2 Constructing a target database Free-d calibration wizard 14 16 6.2.1 6.2.2 6.2.3 16 17 18 6.3 6.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 1 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Introduction 1.1 Virtual sets A key component of any virtual studio system is a means of measuring the precise position and orientation of each studio camera. This data is used to render the virtual scene from the appropriate viewpoint.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 2 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 System components Supplied items: Part Number Description 101-072-0002 free-d™ Target Seeking Camera (TSC) Various Camera adapter bracket (to attach TSC to studio camera) 012-037-0020 TSC power cable (standard length 20m) 195-112-0002 TSC power supply 177-072-0001 free-d™ Processor Various Lens encoder N/A Mains cables (2 per camera system) Various Upper and lower targets (of roughly equal quantity) N/A 3.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 3 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Installation 3.1 Targets The targets supplied will come with drop rods, but not necessarily horizontal mounting bars. It is normally required that the customer or system integrator source and supply these bars and a means to mount the bars to the ceiling. A dedicated grid is the best method of securing the target bars. It is essential that whatever method is employed, the target array must be secure and vibration free.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Remove the two hex-socket screws that secure the module to the mounting block adapter plate. Take care not to damage any internal components when removing the module. Slacken the two screws that fasten the focus section to the zoom section. Remove the two screws and lock washers from the mounting block, then fit the block to the lens. Do not over tighten the mounting screws.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 3.3 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Target seeking camera Dimensions Weight Lens Output signals 100mm x 82mm x 82mm 1.5 kg Pentax, Ref. C30811 (C-mount) Serial digital video (NTSC) Connectors BNC – video output BNC – genlock input 26w ‘D’ – Lens encoder input 2x9w ‘D’ – Power Input 15w ‘D’ – RBU input The Target Seeking Camera (TSC) is intended to mount rigidly to a studio camera, perpendicular to the optical axis.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 and encoded values of the zoom and focus (which are measured by conventional mechanical sensors). The 19 inch rack-mountable unit identifies the targets in the image, measures their positions to sub-pixel accuracy and reads their bar codes. Knowing the positions of each target in the studio, which are stored in non-volatile memory, the position and orientation of the camera can be computed.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 4 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Interconnection Target Seeking Camera TSC 110/230Vac TSC PSU NTSC Monitor Video Genlock Input (if required) 24Vdc TSC Video 110/230Vac RS-422 To VR System Lens encoder data Free-d Processor Unit Cables indicated by a dotted line are not supplied with the Free-d system. When connecting the free-d™ processor to the calibration PC, an RS-422/232 converter will be required and a direct, pin-to-pin cable, 9-way male D-type to 9-way male D-type.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 5 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Camera optimisation LED array Focus – take care not to disturb S103 Test purposes S102 Exposure time control Gain levels – factory set Iris S101 Camera ID Number Set the camera ID number using rotary switch S101 (see Appendix D). Place the free-d™ TSC at its lowest operating height (in most cases this will be with the studio camera on the floor) so that it has an unobstructed view of the targets.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 have a video level no less than 70% that of the brightest target). If the brightness is less uniform than this, it will be necessary to adjust the ‘aiming’ of the illuminating LEDs. Badly aimed LEDs – centre targets brighter than outer targets. free-d™ TSC top-view LEDs after aiming. Check that most of the targets that can be seen in the image are being recognised by the system and are annotated with their barcode numbers.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 6 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Calibration procedure Before proceeding, ensure that all required targets have been mounted in the studio ceiling and the identification number of each target number noted onto the map (see Appendix G). If no target map is available, it will have to be reconstructed by directing the Free-d camera at the target array, and reading the target ID numbers from a monitor connected to the monitor output of the processor.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 6.1 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Constructing a target database Once operational, the system must know the exact position of every target to an accuracy of less than 1mm. To measure every single target to this level of accuracy, while not impossible, would be difficult and time consuming. The calibration process is able to refine the target positions provided an initial accuracy of 100 mm is achieved.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Makedef.exe will create the name.mkr file for you to edit with rough estimations of each target position. This file is essentially a text file and can be edited in Notepad or alternatively in Freed_v14.exe in: Utilities Edit Target Data (Alt-U-E) Enter the target numbers according to the target map. If there is no target then enter “????” for the target ID.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 6.2 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 free-d™ calibration wizard Run the program freed_v14.exe. This is a menu-driven program with three main windows. 6.2.1 Studio list Select: View Studio List (Alt-V-S) Enter a four-character name for the studio. This name is arbitrary and can be displayed on the Free-d processor display unit to check if the correct database is being used for the studio. Enter the studio ID number (in hexadecimal).
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 database address is somewhere within the range 00-7F, it may take several deflections of switch S3 before the next range of addresses is accessed. Once the desired database has been located, the biased switch S4 should be deflected to save this setting after a system reset. Enter the measured target numbers. Fixed #1 and #2 correspond to the targets where x, y, and height were measured.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Enter the camera ID number (Cam No.1 = 10, 2 = 20), according to the switch setting on the TSC, and a four-character name for the camera (use cam1, cam2). This name can also be displayed on the processor unit to check if the correct camera calibration and offsets are being used. The camera calibration filename (xxx.cal) must also be entered in the “Calibration Filename” column. This file should be provided on floppy disk with the delivered system.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Select: Utilities Calibration Wizard (Alt-U-W) Follow the prompts and the PC will read back the target database from the processor and display it on the screen. The display shows a graphical representation of the target layout and when each target has been seen by the TSC from enough positions it will change colour from blue to red to yyeellloow w to green and finally to w whhiittee.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Ensure RMS error is less than 0.1 The file lom1.bat can be run on the calibration PC/laptop to check the system is working correctly. It shows useful diagnostic information including number of targets seen, targets used, rms error as well as position information output to the VR system. The rms error should ideally be in the region 0.05 to 0.10 and must always be less than 0.25.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 6.4 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Additional free-d™ Target seeking cameras If more than one camera is to be used in a system it is possible to enter more than one set of camera values in the “camera list” section of the database. The free-d™ camera number will be recognised by the processor and relevant calibration files used. Therefore, any camera can be used with any processor, provided it has the database programmed into it.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 7 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 System verification This chapter describes a set of tests to confirm that a free-d™ installation is correctly set up. Some of the tests are performed on the camera tracking system in isolation, and others on the tracking system in conjunction with the associated Virtual Set system.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 If the reported distance and the actual distance differ by more than about 1 part in 500 (10 mm in 5 metres) suspect that one or both of the first two ‘reference’ targets has an incorrect X- and/or Y-value. Correct the fault before proceeding. 7.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 7.6 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 CCD centering Position a real object and a virtual object so they can both be seen in the centre of the composite picture, with the objects chosen so that their relative horizontal and vertical positions can be easily determined. Zoom the studio camera lens fully in and out whilst observing the relative positions of the objects in the centre of the field of view (ignore the rest of the image).
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 If the real and virtual objects cross the field-of-view at different rates, the viewangle of the real lens and the view-angle of the virtual lens are different. If the virtual object crosses the field-of-view faster than the real object, the view angle of the virtual lens is smaller than that of the real lens.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 between the free-d™ camera and the reference point on the studio lens has been entered correctly; if the offset is correct the problem is probably one of nodal shift. Repeat the test with different settings of zoom and focus. If the view angles match at some settings but not at others, a nodal shift error is probably responsible. This may require alteration to a studio lens calibration file.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd 7.13 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Roll adjustment Position a tall thin vertical real object and a similar virtual object so that they line up (zoom out so that their entire length can be seen). If necessary adjust one of the objects until they appear to be parallel. Now view the objects from a diametrically opposite direction (ie, such as the camera’s pan angle is 180 degrees from what it was before).
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Appendix A, free-d™ communications protocol v1.0 A.1 General Communications with the free-d™ unit use RS422/RS485 serial data as follows: Baud rate: Data bits: Parity: Stop bits: Total bits: 38.4 kbaud 8 (LSB first) Odd 1 11 Data is transferred in messages. Each message consists of: Message type Camera ID number Data (depending on message type) Checksum Multi-byte data values are sent most-significant-byte first.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd A.3 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Message structures A.3.1 Type D0 - poll / command The D0 message is used to poll the Free-d unit for data, or to send a command to the free-d™ unit.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 A.3.2 Type D1 - camera position/orientation data The D1 message is used for transferring the camera position and orientation data from the free-d™ unit.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 The system status is an 8-bit number which can take one of the following values: 0 System normal (no detected errors). 1 A processor reset occurred. This code is only present transitorily. 2 Serial communications error. This is most likely to be caused by a message being sent to the Free-d unit before the reply to the previous message has been received. 3 Vertical blanking failure.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 The DSP status is a signed 8-bit number which when negative indicates an error condition as follows: -1 -2 -3 -4 Too few valid targets visible to compute camera position. Iteration failed to converge. A DSP reset occurred. Internal DSP error. A zero or positive value of DSP status indicates the number of iterations which were required to compute the camera's position. A.3.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 The ‘half box width’ determines the size of the outer box used in target detection. The maximum value is 41 pixels: if a larger value is set the unit will not operate correctly; the box height is calculated to ensure the box is square. A value of zero signifies ‘automatic’: the free-d™ unit sets the box size according to the apparent size of the targets in the image.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 The MSB of Target Flags (bit 7 of FH) is set for a valid target and cleared for an invalid target. If the target is flagged as invalid its position data should be ignored. A.3.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 EEPROM Address .... 16 bytes of EEPROM data Checksum The EEPROM can only be programmed or read 16-bytes at a time. The EEPROM Address within the message corresponds to the address of the first byte of data transferred. A.3.8 Type D9 - request EEPROM data The D9 message is used to request the transfer of EEPROM data from the free-d™ unit. The free-d™ unit replies with a D8 message containing 16 bytes of EEPROM data.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 A.3.10 Type DB - diagnostic mode The DB message is used to switch the free-d™ unit into a diagnostic mode, or to return the diagnostic mode currently set. The message contains 4 bytes as follows: Message type Camera ID Diagnostic mode Checksum Only the two most-significant bits of Diagnostic Mode are defined.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 In the case of command 02 (request camera ID) the byte in the message should be set to FF. The free-d™ unit replies with an A4 message having the byte set to the current camera ID and the byte set to 02. For command FF (poll) the free-d™ unit replies with an A2 message. A.3.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 will be necessary for the host system to convert this to a true focus value based on the type and particular sample of lens and camera in use. The Height is expressed as a 24-bit integer in units of 1/82.2 mm. The range of values is from -102,051.2 mm (800000 hex) to +102,051.2 mm (7FFFFF hex). The X-Position and Y-Position are expressed in units of millimetres as a 16-bit integer part and a 16-bit fractional part.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Appendix B, Camera positioning parameters The following sections describe the parameters used to convey the position, orientation etc. of the studio camera. B.1 Definition of axes A set of orthogonal right-handed axes (X, Y and Z) is used, fixed with respect to the reference frame of the studio. The X and Y axes lie in the horizontal plane, and the Z axis is vertical. The positive direction of the Z-axis is upwards. B.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 plane. A positive value indicates a clockwise roll, when viewed from behind the camera. The value is expressed in degrees as a 24-bit twos-complement signed number, where the most-significant bit (bit 23) is the sign bit, the next 8 bits (bits 22 to 15) are the integer part and the remaining bits (bits 14 to 0) are the fractional part; alternatively, this may be thought of as a signed integer value in units of 1/32768 degree.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd B.8 free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 Camera zoom The Camera Zoom is defined as the vertical angle of view of the camera; ie, the vertical angle subtended at the camera lens by the top and bottom edges of the active picture. The value is expressed as a 24-bit positive unsigned number in arbitrary units related to the rotation of the ‘zoom ring’ on the camera lens.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.4 LED indications d1-green Off = no power, on= CPU O.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.
Vinten Broadcast Ltd free-d™ Installation Manual V1.4.
