Quick Start Guide for Dual Depth Sensor Configuration

Revision as of 14:23, 12 October 2011

Prerequisites

• Computer (desktop or laptop):
  • CPU: x86 compatible (Intel Pentium 4 or higher, AMD Athlon or higher), dual- or quad- core is preferable
  • Operating system: Windows 7 (x86 or x64), Windows Vista (x86 or x64), Windows XP SP3 (x86 or x64)
  • Video card: Direct3D 10-capable (Shader Model 4.0) gaming-class graphics card
    • for more info see Cameras and accessories#Video_Card
  • USB: at least two USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 controllers
    • for more info see USB controllers
  • Storage system: HDD or SSD or RAID with write speed at least 55 Mb/sec
• iPi Recorder 1.6.0.0 or later
  • see Quick Start Guide with MS Kinect Sensor#iPi_Recorder for installation instructions
• iPi Studio 1.3.0.0 or later (Free Trial or Basic or Standard edition)
  • see Quick Start Guide with MS Kinect Sensor#iPi_Studio for installation instructions
• Two Microsoft Kinect Sensors with separate power adapters
  • If you bought "XBox 360 + Kinect" bundle then you need to order power adapter
• Optional: active USB 2.0 extension cables
• Minimum required space: 3m by 3m (10 by 10 feet)

Note that before starting of working with two Kinects it's highly recommended to get appropriate results with single Kinect solution: Quick Start Guide with MS Kinect Sensor.

Recording with 2 Kinects

Important! Each Kinect Sensor should be plugged through different USB controllers. If both Kinects are plugged through one and the same USB controller then the second Kinect will not work. How it looks in the Device Manager:

Good		Bad
Both Kinects are plugged correctly		Both Kinects are plugged through one and the same USB controller

Run iPi Recorder and mark both MS Kinect Sensors in the Camera Selector dialog:

Press “Ok” button. As a result you should see something like this:

Make sure that you can see correct colored “depth video” from both sensors and

1. that you can change motor position for each sensor using appropriate slider and “Motor of” combobox
2. that you can switch between RGB and “depth” video using “View RGB/Depth” button
3. that actual frame rate is 30 fps (or 29.9) and frames drop is in range from 0 to 5 for each sensor

Note that you can turn off RGB streaming using appropriate checkbox in the Advanced Options section of Camera Selector dialog. Also you can change correspondence between cameras and motors in case when they are in the wrong order:

Don't forget to set output directory for recorded video:

Calibration

There are two possible arrangements of the two sensors:

1. angle between sensors is between 60 and 90 degrees;
2. angle between sensors in near to 180 degrees that is sensors are opposite to each other.

At present time we strongly recommend to use the first configuration:

Top view	Side view

For calibration purposes rectangular veneer/plywood/cardboard/pasteboard is used:

• horizontal size should be at least 0.5m (1m - 1.3m is recommended);
• vertical size should be at least 0.7m (1m - 1.5m is recommended);
• hold it vertically in front of yourself on outstretched arms;
• make sure that the veneer/plywood/cardboard/pasteboard is good visible in the both sensors (the amount of yellow is low in the area of veneer/plywood/cardboard/pasteboard).

Tracking

Next Steps

• Clean-up
• Animation export and motion transfer