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Lens Tracking (TCD)

This page details the options for setting up lens tracking in TCD. This is the recommended method with an Iris encoder.

Warning

Currently the only tracking system that provides TCD that we know of is the EZtrack hub. If you use another tracking provider and want to calibrate Aperture, make sure they support TCD.

1. Tracking Protocol

This dock is accessible from the Capture step.

Possible values:

2. Encoder Bounds

Set the minimum and maximum values of the encoder.

You should start tracking (3.) before setting these at it will be easier with the value received displayed just under.
Go to one extreme on the camera lens, write down the value displayed in the tracking panel (3.5.), then go to the other extreme and write that value.

Note

It is not necessary to be precise to the digit, but the overall scale should be matched.
The actual bounds can change a bit at random with time, so the normalized value can be a bit above 1 or below 0. This is normal and will not affect the result in a meaningful way.

3. Tracking Receiver

Warning

This assumes a tracking system has been configured on the camera to calibrate, and it currently sends TCD data to the computer running EZprofile on a specific port. If you own an EZtrack hub and don't know how to do this, look at Setting Up EZtrack for EZprofile.

3.1. IP

IP address of this computer. In most cases leave 0.0.0.0 (0.0.0.0 means "any IPv4 address at all"). If you want to make sure to only listen to the data on a specific network adapter, you can choose its IP instead from the list.

The IP list can be refreshed by clicking the "Refresh IP List" button.

If you prefer specifying the IP manually, check the "Custom IP" box.

3.2. Port

Port on which to receive TCD messages. This is the port that should be given along with the true IP address of the computer running EZprofile (not 0.0.0.0) to the tracking apparatus.

3.3. Camera ID

There is a Camera ID in TCD to identify multiple cameras sent on the same port. By default this is not filtered by EZprofile.

To activate Camera ID filtering, check the "Filter ID" box. You can then put the desired ID in the field on the left.

3.4. Start/Stop

Once IP, Port and filters have been configured, use this button to toggle the TCD receiver. The fact that the button is green only indicates that the receiver is running, not that it is actually receiving messages. To check this, you can look at the Preparation Table, which should have lit up. Also the values under in (3.5.) should move when changing zoom or focus on the lens.

In addition to that, there is a Frequency indicator under the button. It gives an estimate of the frequency at which messafges are received. If no messages are received the frequency will be zero.

3.5. Received values

Displays the raw lens values received in real time.

  • Raw : the value as given in TCD
  • Normalized : the value normalized between 0 and 1 using the Encoder Bounds specified in section 2.

4. Remote Control Actions

see Using a SteamVR controller as remote

Back to capture workflow: Capture Workflow