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Trooper_747 #1 28/09/2007 - 23h50

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Hello, i need some help  configuring my webcam which is a Creative  Vista Plus!
I have read all the topics involving setup and tried to use the suggestions but no more than 24-25 FPS so far...and experienced jitters as well
Does anyone have such webcam and can any1 help me to set it up correctly?

I'm using 1.5V normal LED's and have not tried the negative film yet...
Also these are my PC's specs AMD 3200+, Nvidia 6600GT 128MB , 2GB RAM Dual Channel

Thank you in advance !
urze #2 01/10/2007 - 16h01

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25FPS sound compared to your system OK for me.
If the cam has a built in micro i would suggest you to turn it of.
About the jitter - play a little more with the values of the cam and FreeTrack.
Edited by urze on 01/10/2007 at 16h01.
Trooper_747 #3 02/10/2007 - 09h44

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Thanks for the response Urze  :) , somehow i managed to get 29-30 FPS out of my creative vista plus webcam, looks like the problem was about the banding filter which optional, 50Hz, 60Hz and outdoor . I was running at 50 Hz filter on, once i changed it to 60  i saw the increase of the FPS. Regarding the jitter, looks like no matter what i do, i still have that problem. Maybe i should follow your suggestion and play more with the settings.

thanks man  :)
Kestrel #4 02/10/2007 - 10h03

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Trooper_747 @ 02/10/2007 - 11h44 a dit:

looks like the problem was about the banding filter which optional, 50Hz, 60Hz and outdoor . I was running at 50 Hz filter on, once i changed it to 60  i saw the increase of the FPS.



Wouldn't it be better to use outdoor mode? Both 50Hz and 60Hz anti-flicker cause fps problems.
babasior #5 02/10/2007 - 10h11

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Kestrel @ 02/10/2007 - 12h03 a dit:



Wouldn't it be better to use outdoor mode? Both 50Hz and 60Hz anti-flicker cause fps problems.



Kestrel has right,
You may be uninstall and install webcam driver to able to unselect (or disable) it ...

FPS are better around 20% without this feature ...
Trooper_747 #6 02/10/2007 - 10h13

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hi kestrel, thank you for the fast response, however i have already tried it (selecting the outdoor mode) but i saw no difference in FPS between 60 Hz and outdoor mode. Anyway as soon as i get home (currently at work) i'll follow your suggestion and maybe ( i have a crappy internet connection) even post some pictures of my webcam interface.
Thanks (to you and your colleagues)  for developing  such a great software.
I hope that next version will be even better :)
Trooper_747 #7 02/10/2007 - 10h18

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whoa  i'm flattered since i have the programmers dealing with my issue :)
Thank you too babasior for the suggestions but as i had written in my previous post ( now that i double checked i realize that i hadn't made it clear enough) i have all the 3 options 50Hz,60Hz and outdoor functional, in other words i can select whichever i want ( so i don't think i have to reinstall drivers as they are all acessible) bur saw no difference in FPS. Maybe i should try it again...
will let you know as soon as i get home....
Mdds #8 02/10/2007 - 13h04

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I'm borrowing this thread just a little because I have same kind of problems. The FPS is fine, 25 to 30 and I got no flickering but I got quite a lot of jittering.

I've toyed around with the freetrack and my webcam settings for the past few weeks but with no luck. I got some unwanted movements too when I put my head into certain position. Actually unwanted is the wrong word to descripe it. I just don't move my head but for some reason, freetrack acts like I'm actually moving it.

Some specs;
3 points clip, Black Eagle
IR modded MS VX-1000 with the latest drivers
Windows XP x64 SP2

Intel e6400@2,5GHz
2Gb DDR2@733MHz
Kestrel #9 02/10/2007 - 14h58

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Mdds @ 02/10/2007 - 15h04 a dit:


I've toyed around with the freetrack and my webcam settings for the past few weeks but with no luck. I got some unwanted movements too when I put my head into certain position. Actually unwanted is the wrong word to descripe it. I just don't move my head but for some reason, freetrack acts like I'm actually moving it.



Caused by image noise (cheaper webcams usually have more); reduce by using a low exposure, low gain, adjust threshold and defocus webcam to make the tracking points bigger blobs (allows blob center to be found more accurately), also reduce sensitivity and increase smoothing where possible. Next version will be better.
Mdds #10 02/10/2007 - 18h39

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Thanks for the reply Kestrel. Unfortunately I've tried making those blobs bigger but it just makes the jittering worse. Because of this, I tried to make those blobs smaller and it solved the minor problems with the tracking but there's still that jittering

Also have tried to reduce the sensitivity to kill those extra movements and jittering but it has no effect at all
Kestrel #11 03/10/2007 - 02h19

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Mdds @ 02/10/2007 - 20h39 a dit:


Also have tried to reduce the sensitivity to kill those extra movements and jittering but it has no effect at all



Are you saying if you reduce sensitivity, so that the virtual 3d head barely moves at all, you're still getting jitter?
Mdds #12 03/10/2007 - 03h36

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Kestrel @ 03/10/2007 - 04h19 a dit:

Are you saying if you reduce sensitivity, so that the virtual 3d head barely moves at all, you're still getting jitter?



Oops, looks like I have misunderstood something here. With virtual 3d head there isn't that much problems after I increased the sensitivity settings. This killed most of those unwanted 3d head movements when I move my head around. But if I put my head into certain position and hold it there, the 3d head starts making some weird rapid movements even though I'm not moving my head. I have this even when I have decreased the sensitivity settings!

Another thing is that I just simply can't kill the "dancing" of the tracking points but think just because of the image noise...This is probable the cause of all the problems I'm having with Freetrack
Kestrel #13 03/10/2007 - 05h14

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Are your Yaw, Pitch and Roll response curves non-linear (central deadzone)? If so, set them to linear lines, this will ensure sensitivity is the same for all head orientations.
Mdds #14 03/10/2007 - 11h36

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I wasn't sure what I had done to those settings previously so I tried to give this another try but it's still a no-go. Can't even adjust Freetrack to keep the 3d head to stay at the center position...

Think I'm just gonna have to wait the next version and get myself a decent webcam. This is just pretty surprising compared to what others have said about VX-1000. Personally, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. Too much image noise
Rajveer #15 03/10/2007 - 21h03

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3 point mode needs I420 mode selected. Quoted from Kestrel himself:

"Forgot to mention 3 point tracking mode only works properly in I420 with v2.0."

It's in the readme.txt :)

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