FreeTrack Forum

Hi FreeTrack community,

I only just discovered FreeTrack today and I think that it is quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen :D.

Ive just made a headset in the three-points cap configuration and setup freetrack with the correct model dimensions. I decided to use Red LED's because thats all I had lying round and I would prefer if I didnt have to go messing round with taking the filter out of my logitech webcam. I will only be playing in relatively dark conditions tho because I'm using a projector in a dark room.

The LED's are quite bright but are not being tracked very well in Freetrack, most of the time I get red dots in the bottom right.

Can freetrack be configured to specifically look for "red" dots? Are there any other config options I can use to improve tracking reliability?

I only just discovered FreeTrack today and I think that it is quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen :D.

Ive just made a headset in the three-points cap configuration and setup freetrack with the correct model dimensions. I decided to use Red LED's because thats all I had lying round and I would prefer if I didnt have to go messing round with taking the filter out of my logitech webcam. I will only be playing in relatively dark conditions tho because I'm using a projector in a dark room.

The LED's are quite bright but are not being tracked very well in Freetrack, most of the time I get red dots in the bottom right.

Can freetrack be configured to specifically look for "red" dots? Are there any other config options I can use to improve tracking reliability?

This sounds a extra light leakage or too big distance to webcam, first check if you have light sources, windows or mirrors behind you? There should be only three red dots on cam.

Try to change the treshold setting and/or piece(s) of film over the webcam lens.Also, i recommend flattening leds by sanding them down for wider light angle. Instructions you can find for example from Hardware and Software FAQ in these forums and in the FT manual.

Snow

Thanks for the suggestions,

I will try to increase the brightness of the LED's, and make sure that there is no light sources behind me.

In a dark room, roughly what is the maximum distance you would expect LED's to operate from?

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has Red LED's working successfully as I am wondering whether it is fruitless and I should just switch to InfraRed.

It's difficult to give you any specific answers with so little info about current setup / situation, but red leds should work fine.

In a dark room, roughly what is the maximum distance you would expect LED's to operate from?

Hard to say the max distance, but try by moving closer to webcam, is there any change? And might be a silly question but have you disabled the autoexposure from the cam?

Back to your first post:

Can freetrack be configured to specifically look for "red" dots? Are there any other config options I can use to improve tracking reliability?

Umm.. basicly...no. When using FT, important thing is to filter out unwanted light so that only dot's visible are those three of your cap. There are FT and camera settings which you can use to get camera picking only needed dots.
If you use red leds you need the piece of film front of the webcam lens to filter excess light. I think that even the room is dark, the projector can give unwanted light to webcam if it's placed near the field of light.

Oh, and another thing, if you are far away from the cam, i think you have to expand the measured distances of the leds to avoid overlapping and control loss of FT.

i hope this gives you some ideas to get it working, a lot of tweaking but it's worth it...

Cheers,

Snow

Cool thanks for the reply, I replaced the LED's I was using with superbright ones and my results are excellent. Its working great, tracking head movements really well. The dots are now much bigger and brighter so I had to tweak the pixel radius settings.

Just have to work out how to get 6DOF working on IL2  now...