How To Setup
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Wiki Home >> How To Setup the Trackmate System
Print some Tags
- Before you get started with the setup, you'll want to print out some tags. You can either print the layout guides PDF (specifically made to help setup your system), or you can create your own randomly generated sets using the latest version of Trackmate Tagger. Make sure your tags are 1"x1" when printed (turn off auto scaling!).
Setup the Hardware:
- Make sure your webcam supports manual controls. In particular, it is important to have manual gain, exposure, and focus control. Fixed focus cameras are okay, too, but they will give you a little less flexibility in how you can setup your system (The PS3 Eye works well on Mac using the latest Macam driver, and Logitech cams seem to work well on Windows; most webcams should be fine if they allow for manual focus and exposure).
- Place a sheet of Trackmate tags onto the surface of your Trackmate and adjust the webcam's focus (in a secondary camera utility such as Macam, Amcap, or the Logitech program) for the sharpest image. Make sure the tags measure 1"x1" in size (unless you are an advanced user and know how to work with other sizes).
- With the layout guide still present, adjust the gain and exposure for the best image (bright, but not washed out; if anything, error on the side of being too dark). Try to keep the gain as low as possible for better image quality.
- Save the camera settings (if your setup application allows it) so that they will be remembered.
Setup the Tracker Software:
- Start the Trackmate Tracker. If you have multiple webcams and the wrong one is showing, press [s] to change the camera settings. In Windows, you may need to disable other cameras in the Device Manager if you are having difficulty selecting the correct one.
- Place a sheet of tags(such as one of the pages from the layout guides or a custom sheet generated from Tagger) onto the surface of your Trackmate.
- Drag the four corners in the main camera windows (on the left) to line up with the corners of the guide.
- Adjust the table width and length (using the keyboard arrow keys) to match the size of the layout guide (each printed tag should be 1x1inch).
- Press [v] to change the view to "Tag Center Likelihood." If things are setup correctly so far, you should see a small white dot representing the center of each tag on the surface.
- Remove the layout guide and place a blank sheet of paper on the surface. Press [w] to calibrate the white illumination.
- At this point, things should be setup to work pretty well. Double check that tags are being read correctly by switching to the "Debug Tag Info" view by pressing [v] and placing a few tags on the table. If the tags are being read very unreliably, there is a good chance that you webcam image may be mirrored (press [m] to switch the mirroring mode if needed).
- Finally, once your system is reading tags reliably, press [v] to switch views to the "Fast Mode." You're ready to start up any LusidOSC spatial application!
- Optionally, you can press [!] to save your settings -- they will be automatically loaded the next time you start the Tracker.
If you are having issues with your software setup, the Cliffhanger screen-by-screen walkthrough may be helpful.
If you are looking for advanced settings or technical descriptions for configuring the software, see the Trackmate Tracker wiki page.
