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In one of the previous topics, Matt raised the question of how best to use IDS - cameras in combination with Kinovea.
Actually, the new Kinovea - version 0.9.1 has been released. It now works pretty stable also using IDS and Basler-cameras.
There are often questions regarding the usage of IDS or Basler cameras and what driver to use.
The high speed cameras of IDS or Basler have their own performance-drivers that are much more powerful than the directshow-interface. Therefore they have to be installed separately.
To get all out of these cameras, it is important, to have a dedicated USB3.0 Interface that is exclusively used by each camera. Using two cameras on the same USB-Port reduces the Bandwidth so much, that you mostly cannot use high speed options without significant drops during video acquisition. There are expansion card available that have two (2) dedicated controllers on board (cost about 75-90 Euro/Dollar). Alternatively, using the new gaming motherboards (i.e. Z390 chipset) is a good option, they have two independent USB-channels (1x3.1, 1x3.0).
The IDS uses the uEye - software, the Basler uses the Pylon - software.
If you use Kinovea, it is always important to use the correct driver version that has been used during compilation of Kinovea.
For IDS it is uEye 4.93, for Basler it is Pylon 6.0.x (NOT version 5.x).
You first have to register on the webpage of IDS/Basler to download the files for free.
Link IDS:
Link Basler
(or select other language)
Downloads
Click „More downloads“ to open the next page
During installation of these files you have to select, which Camera-Interface you are using. In most cases it will be USB3.0
For the Basler-camera you should also install the separate (!) Pylon-file for MP4 (s. above).
All files can be found on IDS or Basler homepage in different languages.
The next step will be to select the settings that are appropriate.
The best way first is to use the uEye software (or Pylon for Basler) and trying out different settings to get used to it. Always look on the resulting Bandwidth for each setting that it is not too high for your computer/USB-Interface. The selected settings can be saved in uEye to a configuration file.
If an IDS camera is used, the ini-file can be loaded from inside Kinovea when setting camera properties. Once Kinovea is closed, it stores the actual setting of the camera. These settings will be loaded the next time Kinovea ist started. So if you would like to change settings in the IDS-camera that cannot be set by Kinovea, it is important to use uEye, create a file of the settings and then load it again from inside Kinovea.
If a Basler camera is used Kinovea does not modify the camera settings, it will only read it from the camera. To change settings, the best way is to use Pylon and apply the settings you like to have.
How to load the INI file of the IDS-camera to Kinovea?
Call Kinovea, select the camera. If it is loaded, select the Camera settings (click tool-icon bottom/left) and click on import. Selecting the saved file of uEye, these settings are loaded to the camera. Click Reconnect and the camera will run using these settings.
When Kinovea is closed, it will store these settings automatically and recalls it at the next startup.
Inside Kinovea Version 0.9.1, there are a lot of settings that you can modify in the options-menu. I would recommend to start using uncompress video, MP4.
At the beginning it seems to be a little bit complicated but after a while you get used to it.
Reiner
Actually, the new Kinovea - version 0.9.1 has been released. It now works pretty stable also using IDS and Basler-cameras.
There are often questions regarding the usage of IDS or Basler cameras and what driver to use.
The high speed cameras of IDS or Basler have their own performance-drivers that are much more powerful than the directshow-interface. Therefore they have to be installed separately.
To get all out of these cameras, it is important, to have a dedicated USB3.0 Interface that is exclusively used by each camera. Using two cameras on the same USB-Port reduces the Bandwidth so much, that you mostly cannot use high speed options without significant drops during video acquisition. There are expansion card available that have two (2) dedicated controllers on board (cost about 75-90 Euro/Dollar). Alternatively, using the new gaming motherboards (i.e. Z390 chipset) is a good option, they have two independent USB-channels (1x3.1, 1x3.0).
The IDS uses the uEye - software, the Basler uses the Pylon - software.
If you use Kinovea, it is always important to use the correct driver version that has been used during compilation of Kinovea.
For IDS it is uEye 4.93, for Basler it is Pylon 6.0.x (NOT version 5.x).
You first have to register on the webpage of IDS/Basler to download the files for free.
Link IDS:
Link Basler
(or select other language)
Downloads
- pylon 6.0.1 Camera Software Suite Windows
Click „More downloads“ to open the next page
- pylon Supplementary Package for MPEG-4 Windows
During installation of these files you have to select, which Camera-Interface you are using. In most cases it will be USB3.0
For the Basler-camera you should also install the separate (!) Pylon-file for MP4 (s. above).
All files can be found on IDS or Basler homepage in different languages.
The next step will be to select the settings that are appropriate.
The best way first is to use the uEye software (or Pylon for Basler) and trying out different settings to get used to it. Always look on the resulting Bandwidth for each setting that it is not too high for your computer/USB-Interface. The selected settings can be saved in uEye to a configuration file.
If an IDS camera is used, the ini-file can be loaded from inside Kinovea when setting camera properties. Once Kinovea is closed, it stores the actual setting of the camera. These settings will be loaded the next time Kinovea ist started. So if you would like to change settings in the IDS-camera that cannot be set by Kinovea, it is important to use uEye, create a file of the settings and then load it again from inside Kinovea.
If a Basler camera is used Kinovea does not modify the camera settings, it will only read it from the camera. To change settings, the best way is to use Pylon and apply the settings you like to have.
How to load the INI file of the IDS-camera to Kinovea?
Call Kinovea, select the camera. If it is loaded, select the Camera settings (click tool-icon bottom/left) and click on import. Selecting the saved file of uEye, these settings are loaded to the camera. Click Reconnect and the camera will run using these settings.
When Kinovea is closed, it will store these settings automatically and recalls it at the next startup.
Inside Kinovea Version 0.9.1, there are a lot of settings that you can modify in the options-menu. I would recommend to start using uncompress video, MP4.
At the beginning it seems to be a little bit complicated but after a while you get used to it.
Reiner