--- title: "Calibrate Vicon cameras" canonical: "https://help.vicon.com/space/Nexus218/406488171/Calibrate%20Vicon%20cameras" format: markdown --- To calibrate Vicon cameras including video cameras, use the relevant sections of the **System Preparation Tools** pane as described in the following steps. > ℹ️ **Video-only calibration** > ℹ️ For information on video-only calibration, see [Calibrate video cameras](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus218/pages/406487911). > ![SysPrepTools.png](media://4a4aab30-0202-4cf2-bde2-3815647982e6) To perform a camera calibration, you need a Vicon reference device, which is supplied with your Vicon system. Note that, to use the following process to calibrate supported digital video cameras, as well as optical cameras, you must use a Vicon Active Wand, which must usually be set to Strobe mode (for more information, see [Use Active Wand](https://help.vicon.com/space/ActiveWandDoc/339345815/Use+Active+Wand)). (If you are not using an Active Wand, you can calibrate any supported video cameras using the legacy **Static Video Calibration** section of the **System Preparation Tools** pane. For more information, contact Vicon Support.) Camera calibration describes the capture volume to the system, enabling Nexus to produce accurate 3D data. During camera calibration, Vicon Nexus creates a calibration parameters (.*xcp*) file. This file contains the calibration settings and threshold data specified for the Vicon cameras (as well as any supported video cameras) in your Nexus system and is used when data from these cameras is processed. > ⚠️ **Important** > ⚠️ Vicon recommends that you calibrate your Vicon cameras each day before you capture any data. This ensures that any unexpected changes in your setup that may have occurred when the system was unsupervised (such as someone accidentally knocking a camera slightly out of position) will not influence the quality of your data. **To calibrate Vicon cameras in Nexus:** 1. Ensure you have aimed and masked the cameras (see [Aim Vicon cameras](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus218/pages/406487836) and [Mask unwanted reflections](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus218/pages/406487855)). ⚠️ **Note**: If you’re using Active Wand Hybrid (NIR & IR), make sure at least 2 NIR cameras in your Vicon system can see the wand. 2. Remove from the capture volume all markers and the sources of any unwanted reflections that have not been accounted for by camera masks previously created in a **Camera** view. 3. In the **Resources** pane, ensure Nexus is in Live mode. 4. Display a **Camera** view. 5. In the **System Resources** tree, expand the **Vicon Cameras** node and select all Vicon cameras. 6. In the **System Preparation Tools** pane > Macro (inline-media-image) , under **Calibrate Cameras**, from the **Wand** list, select the reference device that you are using. 7. In the **Calibrate Cameras** section, view or change settings for the required parameters: 1. To automatically stop calibration when enough data has been collected, click **Show Advanced** to display advanced parameters and ensure **Auto Stop** is selected. 2. If required, you can also change the minimum number of frames to be collected for both optical and video cameras. To start with, we recommend that you leave the Auto Stop values at their defaults. 8. In the **Calibrate Cameras** section, click **Start.** The camera calibration process starts, and the **Start** button switches to its **Stop** setting. If you are using a FLIR camera and a warning is displayed informing you that the DV camera is not set to a valid frame rate, note that this is expected behavior and you may ignore it. :check_mark: **Tip**: For more information on FLIR camera calibration, see [Calibrate video cameras](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus218/pages/406487911). 9. In the capture volume, wave the calibration wand throughout the area where you intend to capture 3D data, ensuring that the markers on the calibration object are visible to the cameras. Vicon Nexus begins to capture wand wave data. :check_mark: **Tip**: For information on how to perform a successful wand wave with the latest Vicon reference device (Active Wand (dual-sided)) as well as other tips on using and maintaining your Vicon reference device, see the [Active Wand documentation](https://help.vicon.com/space/ActiveWandDoc/). 10. Monitor the calibration progress and status: - In each **Camera** view, ensure that the colored lines that identify wand frames indicate that sufficient wand frames are spread across the intended 3D capture volume. Also check the colored triangle in the lower right of each view pane. The triangles change from red to green as the collection of calibration information progresses, and then vanish when the cameras are calibrated. :check_mark: **Tip**: If no cameras are visible in the **Camera** view, ensure that the **Show Uncalibrated Cameras** option is selected in the **Camera Positions** section of the **Options** dialog box (press F7). Also, if you are not using the Vicon Control app, you may find it helpful to display the Nexus window on a large screen where the person in the capture volume can see the feedback in the **Camera** view while they are waving the calibration wand, so they can see the area that they have covered. - In the **System Preparation Tools** pane, under the **Camera Calibration Feedback** section check **Wand Count** values returned for each camera. - On the strobe unit on the front of each camera, the status light flashes while the camera registers valid frames where the whole wand is visible. When the status light turns a solid green, the camera has collected enough data to be calibrated successfully, usually 1,000 frames of valid wand data. 11. If **Auto Stop** was not selected, in the **Calibrate Cameras** section, click **Stop**. Nexus starts processing the calibration information. If you selected the **Auto Stop** option, Nexus automatically stops collecting calibration information and starts processing it when sufficient calibration information has been acquired. If you are using a FLIR camera and a warning is displayed informing you that the DV camera is not set to a valid frame rate, note that this is expected behavior and you may ignore it. Note that, for a system that includes video cameras, calibration is done in two passes, so the **Camera Calibration Feedback** bar progresses from 0% to 100% twice. 12. In the **Camera Calibration Feedback** section, monitor the progress bar until the camera calibration process is complete and review the **Wand Count** and **Image Error** data. As a general guideline, Nexus typically takes 15–60 seconds to complete its calculations for a typical Vicon system setup, but this can take longer for a very large system or low-specification PC. When the camera calibration has successfully completed, it is automatically saved to an .*xcp* file. For more information on the controls in this section, see [Camera Calibration Feedback section](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus218/pages/406490496/System+Preparation+tools#CamCalFeedback) in the *Vicon Nexus Reference Guide*. :check_mark: **Tip**: Because calibration feedback values are based on factors such as the size of the capture volume and the camera lens type, it is not possible to provide general guidelines on typical or acceptable ranges. Therefore, to determine the optimal values for your Vicon system, shortly after the system is installed, establish a baseline against which you can compare future daily calibration values. When you have finished calibrating the Vicon cameras, you are ready to [Set the volume origin](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Nexus218/pages/406488184).