--- title: "Configure Vicon optical cameras for data capture" canonical: "https://help.vicon.com/space/Nexus216/11611911/Configure%20Vicon%20optical%20cameras%20for%20data%20capture" format: markdown --- As part of setting up your Vicon system, you must specify the required settings for Vicon optical cameras. To do this, you use the **Vicon Cameras** node in the **System Resources** pane. You can configure the settings for an individual camera, several cameras, or all cameras at once. ![image](media://141cb4d2-564d-452a-985b-8b1142921d3e) The **Vicon Cameras** node is displayed under the **Local Vicon System** node when Vicon Nexus is connected to a Vicon system and is in Live mode. It is displayed under the **Vicon Data** node when Nexus is in Offline mode. It lists each Vicon optical camera connected to your Vicon system. For each camera, the node name includes the device position number, any display name specified in the **Identification** property, and the camera type in parentheses, for example, **#1 Over Door (****Valkyrie 16****)** > ⚠️ **Important** > ⚠️ Before making changes to your Vicon camera settings, ensure that: > ⚠️ > ⚠️ - You have set your cameras' focus and aperture. > ⚠️ For how to set up Vicon Vero and Vantage cameras, see: > ⚠️ - [Vicon System Setup - Mounting and Optimizing a Vero Camera](https://youtu.be/mI93qqpQpO4) > ⚠️ - [Vicon System Setup - Mounting and Optimizing a Vantage Camera](https://youtu.be/VR3oVQFR0Pg). > ⚠️ For more information, see the [Vicon System Setup playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoL-MR-_fJaAT8h15VSCJuxS9kNuGIVs8). > ⚠️ - The required system configuration has been selected in the **System Resources pane** (see [Manage configurations in Vicon Nexus](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus216/pages/11609390)). > ⚠️ - Your calibration device (wand) is available. > ⚠️ - You have some markers with which to outline the capture volume. This will also assist with camera setup. If you are setting up a mixed camera system (that is, a system that includes Vicon MX T-Series cameras as well as current Vicon cameras), note that using T-Series cameras with Nexus 2.15 or later is not supported or tested. For information on using these cameras, see [Set up mixed Vicon camera systems](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus212/pages/11246699/Configure+Vicon+optical+cameras+for+data+capture#MixedSystems) in the documentation for earlier versions of Nexus. Also note that if you add Valkyrie cameras to a system that includes T-Series cameras, the T-Series cameras will not work. ### Check camera setup (optional step) Preview mode enables you to display a video image from an optical camera. This mode helps you to aim cameras more quickly and easily and to check volume coverage by the cameras during setup. To display a video image: - Right-click on the **Vicon Cameras** node and select **Enable Preview Mode**. Preview mode is for system setup purposes only. You cannot use Preview mode when you are calibrating, auto masking, capturing, or reviewing data. > ✅ **Tip** > ✅ If the image produced by Preview mode is too dark, adjust the aperture to maximize the light. After you've finished setting up the cameras, return the aperture to its required setting. ### Check camera lens focus You can check the image of the markers from the camera you are focusing in real time. **To check camera focus in Nexus:** 1. Ensure Vicon Nexus is in Live mode. If it is not, in the **Resources** pane, click **Go Live**. 2. In the **View** pane, select the **Camera** view type. 3. In the **Resources** pane, ensure **Live** mode is activated (ie, that **Connected** is displayed). 4. On the **System** tab, expand the **ViconCameras** node and select the required camera. 5. In the **Properties** pane at the bottom of the **System Resources** tab, go to the **Settings** section and set **Grayscale Mode** to **All**. 6. Right-click and drag in the **Camera** view pane to zoom in on the target marker pair. 7. If the image of the markers is not bright enough to allow confidence in the level of focus achieved, increase the intensity of the grayscale from the camera. To do this, in the **Properties** pane, ensure **Advanced** properties are displayed and in the **Settings** section, increase the value for **Gain** to a level above x1. 8. In the **Camera** view pane, observe the sharpness of the image of the markers. 9. After focusing the lens, return Nexus to its default capture settings. In the **Properties** pane at the bottom of the **System Resources** tab, set **Grayscale Mode** to **Auto**. ### Specify properties for Vicon optical cameras 1. Ensure Vicon Nexus is in Live mode. If it is not, in the **Resources** pane, click **Go Live**. 2. To visualize your capture volume, from the view pane menu, select **Camera**. 3. In the **System Resources** tree, select the node(s) for the camera(s) whose properties you wish to configure, either: - **Vicon Cameras** node for all Vicon cameras or - A sub node for a specific Vicon camera. The camera sub-nodes on the **System** tab correspond to the **Names** you set in the **Properties** pane (see below). Note that If no Lock is present in the Vicon system, the sub-node for the Vicon camera acting as the synchronization source is displayed in bold. When a camera is selected, a blue status light on its strobe unit lights up. :check_mark: **Tip**: In many cases, it is best to start by selecting all of the cameras, to find a common baseline. You can then adjust individual cameras as required. 4. In the capture volume, have someone wave the calibration wand and ensure that you can see marker images moving in the **Camera** view. 5. In the **Properties** pane at the bottom of the **System** tab, click **Show Advanced** to show additional properties. When you first set up your Vicon system, configure the following camera properties in the order shown. (If you are not sure what a particular setting means, hover over the relevant field or control to display a tooltip.): **Identification** section: - **Name** (If you wish to distinguish it from the other cameras) **Settings** section: - **Strobe Intensity** In most cases, keep its default setting (1). - **Gain** Only adjust this setting if the markers appear too faint or the cameras have trouble distinguishing them; otherwise, leave at its default setting (x1). Vicon does not recommend using a setting higher than x2. - **Grayscale Mode** This setting determines what data is sent from the camera to the computer. Ensure this is set to the default setting (**Auto**) for capturing data. If the camera recognizes a blob as a circle, only centroid data is sent. If the camera cannot distinguish the blob as a circle, full grayscale data is sent so that Nexus can attempt to circle-fit the blobs. Circle fitted markers are displayed as crosshairs in the **Camera** view. **Centroid Fitting** section: - **Threshold** This setting differentiates between markers and ambient light. A value in the region of 0.2 (the default) to 0.5 is usually appropriate, but Vicon strongly recommends that you view static markers in the volume to establish an appropriate setting. If cameras are evenly spaced around the volume, the same **Threshold** value is usually sufficient for all cameras. - **Minimum Circularity Ratio** The circularity threshold used by the centroid-fitting algorithms in a Vicon camera to fit centroids to grayscale blobs. The higher the value, the more stringent the centroid fitter is. For camera calibration, you may wish to apply higher settings to ensure that the Vicon system selects the best markers and thus provides the best possible calibration. For data capture, a lower value may be appropriate. When a blob is fitted with a centroid, it is represented by crosshairs. The default setting is 0.5. :check_mark: **Tip**: If adjusting these settings does not easily enable you to eliminate reflections, create camera masks to eliminate reflections and other unwanted light sources that occur in parts of the capture volume. For information on masking, see [Mask unwanted reflections](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus216/pages/11603997). **Centroid Tracking section:** - **Enable Centroid Tracking** Tracking 2D camera centroids provides extra information that maintains marker labels in real time when only one camera can see a marker. When enabled, the 2D track calculations are performed by a camera's onboard sensors. When disabled, the 2D track calculation is performed by the PC (in Nexus). The default is off. - **Marker Velocity** Maximum velocity at which a marker will be tracked, expressed as the percentage of image width per second. The default is 5. 6. When you have finished adjusting the **Vicon Cameras** settings, in the **Settings** section, ensure that **Grayscale Mode** is set to **Auto**. 7. At the top of the **System** tab, click the Save button to save your system configuration settings to a .system file in the Systems Configurations folder (see [Manage configurations in Vicon Nexus](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus216/pages/11609390)). > ⚠️ **Important** > ⚠️ The camera properties described above affect the quality of the motion capture data. You cannot adjust them after data capture, so it is important to optimize these before you collect data intended for analysis. In subsequent sessions, you may wish to configure additional properties to suit the needs of your motion capture application. For further details about each of the **Vicon Camera** properties, see [*Vicon Camera properties*](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus216/pages/11612733/Vicon+Cameras+node#ViconCamProps) in the *Vicon Nexus Reference Guide*.