CORSON VIDEO JUMP MEASUREMENT SYSTEM -- STARTUP INSTRUCTIONS
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Starting up the new "Stream Capture" front end for the Corson
Video Jump meaurement system requires a very specific set of
steps to be performed -- many of these steps must be done in
a very specific order, as well. So here's a checklist of
those necessary steps.
1. The Windows Taskbar Properties needs to have the "Auto
Hide" option unchecked. Right-click on the taskbar,
choose "properties", then uncheck the Auto Hide box.
2. The Windows desktop should be set to 800x600 resolution,
if necessary to change this, right click anywhere on the
desktop, then select the "Settings" tab at the top of
the configuration window which opens. That resulting
screen will have the resolution selection control in the
lower right corner.
3. The WSTIMS Scoring program may be started at any point.
It is a good idea to size that window so that it occupies
less than full screen.
4. The Video Jump Capture program MUST be started before the
Video Jump Measurement program. So if you've accidently
started the measurement program first, or have terminated
the capture program and need to restart it, you must exit
the measurement program before you can start the capture
program. Otherwise the capture program will be unable to
access the video device drivers and control the video.
5. Launch the Video Jump Capture program. The Video Config-
uration screen comes up first. This offers four buttons,
of which 3 should be inspected and/or verified.
a. The Video Format option should be 640x480 (full),
and the Video Image format should be 15 bit RGB.
b. The Video Source options should specify the proper
video input source (Composite or Tuner), depending
on how the VCR has been hooked to the video card.
The options under this button also provide the
ability to change the contrast and brightness of
the video image, please note.
c. The Compression option should be set to Indeo Video
5.x, which gives the best performance. Check the
"configure" button, and be sure that the "Quick
Compress" option has been checked.
Note that these video options -- most notably the Video
Source screen with the contrast and brightness controls,
can be re-selected later from the video capture screen,
at any time, by clicking on the "Return to Configuration"
button which appears on the Video capture screen. This
will permit you to adjust the contrast and brightness in
the face of changing lighting conditions, to enhance the
legibility of the jumpers' landings.
Finally click on the "Continue" button, which will take
you into the main capture window. At this point you
should see the live video coming in from the selected
source. You will probably need to click on the Maximize
button at the upper right corner of the window in order
to see all of the video image. Adjust the video camera
if necessary.
Then assuming you can see all of the reference and
verification buoys, then go ahead and capture a clip
of calm water. At the conclusion of that process then
you will automatically be switched into the frame
selection window. This will probably also need to
be maximized, in order to see all of the video image.
Once you get into the frame selection window, this first
time you need to check the "Copy to 800x600" box. This
tells the program to expand the captured image from the
native 650x480 scaling, to the 800x600 rame which most
clearly displays all of the critical marker points. Then
click on the "Frame selected" button, to store this image
for the jump measurement setup process.
6. Now it's time to launch the Video Jump Measurement
program. When you're going through the startup screens,
you will get an "Unable to Connect" message box -- this
is normal when running with the Capture front end. Go
ahead and finish the startup in the usual manner. Once
you get to main menu window, DO NOT select the "Connect"
option on the menu bar -- this can lock up your computer.
Then select the "Setup" item on the main menu bar, which
will take you into the normal setup window. You will be
seeing a blank pink screen -- this is normal. The next
step is to click on the "Paste" item on the top menu
bar line. The frozen calm water image from the capture
process should now appear on the screen.
Go ahead and complete the setup in the usual manner,
then save your completed setup.
Then exit the setup window, then select the "Measure"
item from the Main Menu. This will take you into the
normal measurement screen. As with the setup window,
this will be a pink xcreen. Now locate and click in
the "Auto Load" box in the control area at the top of
the window -- and in a moment the calm water image
should appear.
This "Auto Load" feature will cause the measurement
window to automatically load the frozen image most
recently selected in the frame selection window of
the capture program. So when re-entering the measure
window later after capturing a landing and selecting
the proper frame, it will automatically be displayed
in the measurment window.
Now you should verify the location(s) of the check
buoys against their surveyed locations. Adjust the
reference buoy markers if necessary until the setup
checks out properly, then save the final setup.
7. Now you are ready to start the WSTIMS scoring program,
if not already active. Size and position the scoring
program window so that you can still see the distance
result boxes at the top of the measurement window.
8. Now you're ready to measure jumps. Each jump will
take you thru the Capture, Measurment and then Scoring
windows in sequence, using the "always up" taskbar at
the bottom of the screen to help you switch between
these tasks at the proper points. Here's the play-
by-play for each jump.
a. Go to the Capture window. The highlight should
appear on the "Start Capture" button at the top
of the screen.
b. When the skier goes onto the ramp, press the
"Enter" key once. This will begin the capture
process. When you see the skier complete their
flight and contact the water, press the "Enter"
key again -- this will give the computer a
tentative frame positioning for the captured
landing clip.
c. At the end of the capture (default is 3 seconds,
although this can be reset with a box on the
capture window), the computer will automatically
switch over into the "Frame Selection" window,
displaying the frame from the time when you hit
the Enter key the second time.
d. Now select the "earliest contact" frame, either
by using the "Step FWD" and "Step Back" buttons,
or by dragging the slider which appears at the
bottom of the image frame. (In Version n and
higher you can also use the arrow keys).
e. Once you've got the best frame displayed, then
click on the "Frame Selected" button. This will
store that frame for the Measurement process, and
automatically switch you back to the capture
screen displaying live video.
f. Now click on the "Measurement" task icon on the
task bar at the bottom of the screen. When the
measurement screen comes up, you should see the
selected frame is already displayed. Go ahead
and mark the landing point in the normal manner,
then click on the "Record Jump" button to get
the official distance.
g. Then click on the "Current Event Scoring" task
icon on the task bar at the bottom of the screen.
Report the displayed distance to the boat over
your radio, then enter the boat times for that
jump into the scoring window. Then press the
Enter key on the "Enter Distance Ft and Mtrs"
option to pick up the official results from the
video measurement window.
h. That concludes this jump. Click on the "Video
Capture" task icon on the task bar to prepare
to capture and measure the next jump.
Then repeat steps a-h for each subsequent jump.