Los Angeles, Calif. - Vicon, developer of Academy Award-winning motion capture systems, has optimized its all-new T-Series cameras for outdoor motion capture (mocap). The new capabilities enable highly accurate motion capture to be achieved outdoors without interference from natural elements and lighting. Customers with an existing T-Series system can also have their cameras upgraded for outdoor capture.
T-Series customers have been making workflow customizations to use their systems outdoors since August 2010. "Watching our customers push the boundaries of the T-Series cameras led us to think about how we could make it simpler to work across the entire range,” Doug Griffin, vice president of product marketing at Vicon, explains. “The outdoor ready T-Series cameras will work when you need them and where you need them, whether inside or out."
Dr. Alexis Wiktorowicz, from the Royal Veterinary College in London, used an outdoor T-Series system as part of a research project to help understand how kangaroos change their body posture and hopping mechanics as they grow. She said, "We were expecting the sun to be too bright to use an optical infrared system outdoors, but were really pleased the T160s handled it so well. We monitored the aperture and brightness throughout the day, but the cameras had a nice range to work with and flooding was never a problem. Data collection was excellent--the Vicon system exceeded our expectations!"
Vicon is also launching the new T-Series S Edition motion capture cameras: the T40S, T20S, and T10S. The new S Edition builds on the speed and flexibility of the T-Series cameras, and boasts the fastest full frame 1-megapixel mocap camera in the world, says a company representative.
The full Vicon T-Series range now includes:
• T10 -- an affordable camera, 250 frames per second (fps) at 1 megapixel resolution
• T10S -- the fastest full frame mocap camera in the world. 1000fps at 1 megapixel resolution
• T20S -- 690fps at a resolution of 2 megapixels
• T40S -- high resolution and optimized speed all in one, 515fps at full frame resolution (4 megapixels)
• T160 – 16-megapixel motion capture camera, 120fps at full frame resolution
Customers will also have the option to customize their new T-Series cameras with optimized lens and strobe combinations to maximize capture volumes.
"Vicon started developing proprietary camera sensors custom-built for mocap two years ago. The new S Edition cameras represent the latest evolution of that technology and deliver high speed and accuracy for our customers across entertainment, engineering and life science," says Griffin. "The new lens/strobe customization feature has been requested by customers who have mocap stages built into very confined or lengthy areas; this new level of customization will allow them to maximize their capture volume."