Digital start trigger and high speed camera

Is there any particular option or way available in LabVIEW to initiate the data acquisition and high speed camera using a digital start trigger? If yes, shall I create a task for high speed camera and then synchronize it with the other tasks?
Kind Regards,

Hi Helen19411,
The way to trigger data acquisition in LabVIEW is to use the 'DAQmx Start Trigger VI'. To set this up I recommend taking a look at this example:
http://www.ni.com/example/25282/en/
Without any information about the high speed camera you are using, I can't give much advice. If the device is viewable in MAX then you may be able to create a task, and so long as you synchronise both channels in your code, the digital trigger should activate both events.
Kind Regards,
TomS
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

Similar Messages

Synchronisation of M Series and High Speed Digitizer

Hello everybody,
i just have a question regarding synchronisation/timing of two different PCI cards (M-Series PCI 6220 and High Speed Digitizer PCI 5112, connected via RTSI cable).
I wonder how I can synchronise signals, because those cards use different mechanisms in Labview for timing and synchronisation.
Can anybody tell me, how I can synchronise the clocksignals and let them use the same trigger (actually I want to use the external trigger of the 5112)? Witch VIs do I have to use?
Thanks in advance
Oliver

Hello!
First of all many thanks for your reply.
Exporting the external trigger from the 5112 to 6220 via RTSI works.
Synchronising the clocks in the same way as you wrote doesn't seem to work. May be I did something wrong.
What I did was the following:
I exported the "reference clock" signal of the PCI 5112 using "niScope export signal.vi" to RTSI 7.
Than I used the daqmx "sample clock.vi" to configure the
clock. I used the instance "sample clock" with "dev1/RTSI 7" as
the source (dev 1 actually is PCI 6220) and as sample mode "continous
samples". I started the PCI 6220 (daqmx) first, after that I started
the 5112 (niScope).
Running this vi I get the following error:
"ADC conversion attempted before the prior conversion was complete.
Increase the period between ADC conversions. If you are using an
external clock, check your signal for the presence of noise or
glitches."
This is still a small problem, but meanwhile I came to a bigger one:
I thought I could use the 6220 in the same way I can use the 5112:
I want to fetch (or read) data on both cards contionously but also
periodically. The period time is given by the External trigger I
mentionend before. Till now I didn't find a way to aquire the data from
the 6220 in records of a given length (let's say 100 samples, at 1kHz)
every time the trigger occurs (External Trigger rate is about 250 Hz).
This is possible with the 5112 board, but I wonder if this is also
possible with the 6220?
Kind regards
Oliver
PS: Sorry for the "witch"

High speed cameras

not quite FCP related..well, sorta. anyhow, does anyone have any suggestions as far as high-speed cameras (500-1000fps) for outdoor, action-sport usage? i've checked into a few rental houses, and there's a decent variety, but i haven't used one before and don't know if there's a specific one that would work better than another. this would be used on snow (for snowboarding) but in warm temps (40-70 degrees F. You can snowboard/ski on Mt Hood in oregon in the summer, if you're wondering).
also, is there anything i need to be concerned with when importing and editing this footage in FCP?
thanks for any help!

i think, gardner, you're on the bleeding edge here. i can honestly say i've never in my several years here seen this come up.
my experience with super mo cams are reconfigured studio cams shooting 90fps into discrete r,g,b channels and then fed into an evs for even slower motion. feisty beasts i must say! also, i've yet to see a hd super mo. whenever i work an hd show and there's a mo, it's upconverted to hd from sd.
i do not have any sort of experience with handheld super mo's like the phantoms from vision research. http://www.visiblesolutions.com/?sector=htm/app&page=products&prodcatid=1
that being said, if you're working in standard definition, at the end of the day, it has to be ntsc 29.97 fps video, plain and simple. just because something was shot at 1000fps, it's still ntsc 29.97 fps video.
good luck and i find this interesting so post back with your findings and please post any video you shoot.
zeb

Replace MiDAS with labview in a high speed camera

Has anyone out there used MiDAS for high speed camera aquisition? The camera came with MiDAS. However the camera can be operated through labview which I'd prefer for better data aquistion. Does anyone have a program for this? Or know somewhere to look? Or help me get started to build my own program.
The camera will be connected to a NI USB 6251
Thanks!
Hova

Let's consolidate these threads into one.
Chris Bolin
LabVIEW Partner Program, CLA

MacBook Pro's fans start running at high speed when the computer is asleep. Normal?

The other night, my MacBook Pro's fans started running at high speed when the computer was asleep. Loud enough to wake me up. And this just kept on going until I finally decided to turn the computer off. Is this normal? Is this anything to worry about?

This is not normal. See if a SMC reset solves the problem:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964
Ciao.

Simultaneously trigger and display two camera images with two frame grabbers

When I try to simultaneously trigger and display two camera images, each with their own frame grabbers, Labview is only able to display one of the images at a time.
My hardware:
Two Sony XC-EU50 cameras (not in sync with each other)
NI-1410
NI-1405
My Software:
Windows XP and Labview 7.1 with IMAQ
I connect each camera to its own frame grabber. Both frame grabbers are in the same computer. I input a trigger into each frame grabber. Both trigger signals are identical. Trigger rate is only 0.2 Hz.
I want to display and save both images at the same time. The program i put together only displays one image at a time. The image that is displayed alternates from one camera to the other.
Please help with any suggestions.
Thanks.
Shahab K.
Attachments:
TriggerTwoCameras.vi ‏137 KB

Hi Shahab.
Without having triggered two cameras connected to two NI boards with LabVIEW yet: This shouldn't be a limitation in LabVIEW.
Updating two Image Display Indicators in one run of a while loop definitely works properly, so this cannot be the reason for the problem.
Your code uses the IMAQ Snap.vi. This VI is not reentrant, so the both instances of this VI on your block diagram cannot execute at the same time.
I could not find an appropriate example matching your scenario exactly. (Maybe someone else knows better?)
I recommend to have a look at the examples in the "IMAQ Signal IO.llb" and do some copy and paste to get a VI that satisfies your requirements.
The "Grab with two boards.VI" illustrates how to acquire images without using the not-reentrant "IMAQ Snap.VI".
Hope this helps, Guenter
P.S.: Do you know NI's Vision Forum? http://forums.ni.com/ni/board?board.id=200

Using the same wire for positive edge start trigger and negative edge stop trigger for 6533

I would produce a start trigger for an external data source to start them.
Emediatly after this starttrigger this source produces a trigger Signal.
I would like to use this trigger Signal as an extern trigger which should provide some functions:
1. on the positive edge of the Signal some pattern should read in with an external clock.
2. on the negative edge of the trigger signal this process should stop.
I would do this with CVI

Hey Schicki,
I have included two links below that should help you with your application. The first one is setup to perform digital pattern I/O with an external clock in CVI. The second shows how to incorporate start/stop triggers in digital pattern I/O operations. You should be able to combine parts of these two programs to complete your application.
NI 6534 Double-Buffered Pattern Generation, External Clock -- CVI
http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/niepd_web_display.display_epd4?p_guid=B45EACE3E7FD56A4E034080020E74861&p_node=DZ52321&p_source=External
Output Digital Data from a Buffer to a Group of Two Digital Ports Upon a Digital Start Trigger
http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/niepd_web_display.display_epd4?p_guid=B45EACE3EA4556A4E034080020E74861&p_node=DZ52321&p_s
ource=External
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Todd D.
NI Applications Engineer

Analog output digital start trigger c api

Hi, I am attempting to start analog output based off a digital trigger (either PFIO, or a PXI line) I can do this easy in LabVIEW. However with the C API (through Python wrappers), the problem isthat when I call DAQmxBaseWriteAnalogF64, the write will always timeout as the acquisition has not been triggered. However, I cannot call this after the trigger occurs, as obviously that will be too late.
I cannot find any C API examples where analog output is triggered off a digital trigger. I can find them for analog input, but that is fundamentally different as you can performan read anytime after the trigger occurs.
Python code as follows (the functions are equivalent ot C API, though you do not need ot pass the task handle as it maintained as part of the Task object)
# create analog output task
analog_output = Task()
analog_output.CreateAOVoltageChan("Dev1/ao0","",-10.0,10.0, DAQmx_Val_Volts, None)
analog_output.CfgSampClkTiming("",outputRate, DAQmx_Val_Rising, DAQmx_Val_FiniteSamps, numSamples)
analog_output.CfgDigEdgeStartTrig("/Dev1/PFI0", DAQmx_Val_Rising)
analog_output.StartTask()
analog_output.WriteAnalogF64(numSampsPerChan=numSamples, autoStart=False,timeout=1.0, dataLayout=DAQmx_Val_GroupByChannel, writeArray=data, reserved=None, sampsPerChanWritten=byref(samplesWritten))
print("Analog output: Wrote %d samples" % samplesWritten.value)
# create digital trigger
dig_out = Task()
dig_out.CreateDOChan("Dev1/port0", "", DAQmx_Val_ChanForAllLines)
# create digital trigger function
highSamples = 1000
numpts = 3 * highSamples
doData = np.zeros((numpts,), dtype=np.uint32)
doData[highSamples:2*highSamples] = 2**32 - 1
# send digital trigger
doSamplesWritten = c_int32()
dig_out.WriteDigitalU32(numSampsPerChan=numpts, autoStart=True, timeout=1.0, dataLayout=DAQmx_Val_GroupByChannel, writeArray=doData, reserved=None, sampsPerChanWritten=byref(doSamplesWritten))
print("Digital output: Wrote %d samples" % doSamplesWritten.value)

Hi PatrickR,
You can review some of the text based NI DAQmx (ANSI C) code examples on generating an analog output using a digital start trigger. If you included/checked text-based support dusing your NI DAQmx driver installation, you can navigate to Windows Start>All Programs>National Instruments>NI DAQ>Teaxt-Based Code Support>ANSI C Examples>Analog Out>Generate Voltage>Mult Volt Updates-Int Clk-Dig Start. If you have any questions/concerns regarding the NI hardware.

Advice on buying camera for stills and high speed video

Hello video pros,
I'm a music composer who occasionally dallies with some simple photographic and video work. I'm looking for some advice re picking up a camera to make some simple videos, but with the highest quality I can get with consumer grade gear.
I am pretty much ruling out consumer grade camcorders for two reasons: One is that I want to be able to shoot high quality stills and make stop motion videos from very high res stills. The other is that I don't need audio recording at all because the video will always be just to accompany music - simple music videos basically. So I'm much more interested in the recent mid range point-and-shoot bridge cameras with full HD video modes rather than camcorders - they seem to cover more realistically the range of things I want to do.
My main question is regarding shooting at higher frame rates than 30 fps. I'd like to shoot video at a minimum of 60 fps (or higher) to then playback at 25 fps to get that smooth, slightly dreamy motion effect. There are a few cameras out there that offer high speed video modes, but most are nothing more than a gimmick because the res is so low that the resulting video is unusable. However a few cameras now seem to hit a sweet spot, offering 60 fps recording at HD res, and also 120 fps at 640x480 which (at a pinch) is usable, at least for stuff destined for simple web use.
The cameras I've narrowed it down to so far seem to be the Nikon Coolpix P500, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40 and possibly the Fujifilm HS20 EXR. I also was vaguely interested in the Casio Exilim HS cameras, but they seem to only offer high speed video modes that are pointless - 1000 fps at a completely useless low res, and 120 fps only at 640x480. The others I listed seem to offer at least 60 fps at some kind of HD res, so I'm assuming that with these cameras I could shoot decent looking video which would then play back with that slightly hyper real slow-mo effect when I import into FCP at 25 fps. Is this correct? Or is it the case that when they say HD video @ 60fps, it's some kind of interlaced mode which means you can't play back at a slower frame rate to get smooth slow motion?
The other thing I've noted is that all of these cameras do record HD video, but it's always compressed in H264 format. I understand that this puts a serious limitation on how much post-processing you can do to the video afterwards. Highly compressed video will begin to show image artefacts very quickly when you apply effects as opposed to higher quality (bigger file size) video compression. But I think I can live with that given that for the stuff I want to make, it will just be simply edited and only lightly graded. However, of the cameras I'm looking at, the Lumix also records in a format called AVCHD which (I think) does full HD at 17 Mbps. Does this mean that it's basic video quality is significantly better than the other choices? That said, from the specs it's unclear if it actually allows shooting at higher frame rates which you can slow down at playback.. the way it describes 60fps mode makes it sound like it's just interlacing so you don't actually get a higher number of images per second to then be able to play back at a lower frame rate. This for me might rule it out because I really want the creative effect of high speed video, even if it's only the subtle effect of 60 fps slowed down to 25.
So in summary, I'm looking for a camera capable of creative shooting (high quality stills to make stop motion videos, usable-quality HD video along with at least some degree of high speed video at a resolution that is still usable) to make interesting and artistic footage to accompany music. The destination medium is the web, so even though I'd like to get the best quality raw material to work with, the final destination is not exactly a cinema screen. As a pro in a related industry, I'm all too aware of the pointlessness of buying outlandishly over-specced gear that is far beyond your level of expertise. So I want to keep it simple and realistic, budget-wise, given the level I'm at. Nothing more than say $800 US. A seriously high end camera would be wasted on me, and I think it would be wiser to invest in useful accessories like a steadicam merlin and decent tripod rather than blow loads of cash on a camera far beyond my skill level.
Apologies for the long post, any and all advice would be very welcome and appreciated! And feel free to correct me if my assumptions are wrong, and suggest any gear that I should consider looking at.

Hi, thanks for your input. I'm aware of the fact that my question is a bit OT, but I'm just looking for input from people with more experience and broader information in this area than I have myself.. I know people are here to talk about FCP, but I'm betting many editors and film makers who work with FCP will have more insight in this area than I do.
I've been reading every review I can find at dpreview, and also am watching as many test video examples I can find on the internet, mostly on vimeo because the ones on youtube look pretty awful. I just am reaching out to get some actual experience and advice from people who might give me pointers on what to look out for.
As for 60fps not being fast enough, I know what you're saying. But for me, even 60 fps slowed down to 25 fps on playback is enough of an interesting effect, as long as the actual quality of the footage looks good to start off with. I like the subtle effect of slightly slower than real motion when it's real, bona-fide high frame rate slowed down. Artificially created slow-mo using plug ins looks cheesy to me, and the gimmicky super high frame rates of cameras like the casio exilim (where the resolution looks like a mobile phone video from ten years ago) are completely useless.
I've seen lots of examples on vimeo of stuff shot with DSLRs from Canon and Nikon at 60fps and then played back at 25 or 24, and it looks plenty nice enough for what I'm after. But am I kidding myself that I'd get anything near as nice with the price range I'm looking at?

LabVIEW 8.5 high-speed camera

Hi,
I'd like to take many
high-speed images with a camera, and save them to a disk, or my computer's hard drive. I congfigure the camera (it is a Pulnix TM-6740cl camera) with the Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX.) I take the pictures with LabVIEW. I've found an example program in LabVIEW that is close to what I want; it was written by two members of this forum, N_Holmes and reut. The only differences between that program, and
the program that I'd like to run is that I need to be able to change
the shutter speed of the camera (although I believe that I can do this
with MAX), I'd like to be able to change the target
directory (for some reason, if I change the directory with the reut
program, the camera only takes 1 "frame" and stops), and I'd like to be
able to save a file for each frame taken by the camera (I can only get
the reut program to save 1 file.) I have LabVIEW version 8.5. If you
could help me out in any way, then that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Attachments:
grab images and Save to FileReut-11.vi ‏67 KB

Hi Bolin,
I'm using an NI PCI 1426 with NI-IMAQ, 18MB. Thanks for your previous help. I've actually worked on the program, and I got the camera to take multiple pictures. I also incorporated a part in the program that decodes the raw bayer image that this camera outputs.
I do have some other questions, though. First of all, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "trigger." I use the computer to take the pictures; MAX configures the camera, and LabVIEW sends the signals to the camera to take the pictures, and then saves them on the computer. Also, I know this is probably a bad question, but I'm not 100% sure where in MAX I can look to find out what framerate I'm acquiring at. I'd like to acquire pictures at the camera's maximum framerate, which I believe is somewhere over 1000fps. I tried many different methods in order to capture at the maximum framerate, and the best option seemed to be at the settings: manual shutter, shutter setting 0, 4X4 binning. However, my pictures were of extremely poor quality, and they were very dark.
Also, where can I go in MAX to change the shutter speed? I've tried changing the shutter control setting and the shutter setting number; I just want to verify that this is correct.
Thanks again for your help! Once I can figure out how to make these pictures take at maximum speed, and at the best quality, then I can finally start on my project!

I have one application that has requirement to do low and high speed acquisition. I want to change sample rate while running. BUT... I have E series Device

I am writing control software for a process that is usually dull and
requires only 10 Hz acquisition rate. At particular times during
the sequence, however, we are interested in looking at a couple of
channels at 1000 Hz. My approach so far is to configure my
Buffered DAQ to run at the higher rate at all times. When we are
in the 'high-speed DAQ' mode, the program logs every point to
disk. In the 'low-speed' mode, I am picking off every nth (in
this case, 10th) point to log to disk. At all times, I update my
GUI indicators on the front panel at a maximum of 4 times per second (I
find that anything faster results in an uncomfortable display), so I
fill up a FIFO with data in my acquisition / logging loop, and read the
FIFO in the display loop. The data in my GUI display can be up to
250 milliseconds off, but I find this acceptable . As a side note, I
need buffered Daq with hardware timing, as software timing results in
lost data at 1000 Hz.
This all works fine and dandy, but I am convinced that it is not the
most elegant solution in the world. Has anyone developed a
buffered DAQ loop where the scan rate can be adjusted during
operation? I would like to change the rate of the E-Series card
rather than relying on down-sampling as I am now doing.
The reason I have concern is that at the moment I am simulating my AI
using MAX and when running the down-sampling routine, I consistently
miss a particular event on the simulated data becuase the event in
question on the simulated data always occurs at the same 'time', and I
always miss it. Granted, while it is unlikely that my measured
signal and my acquisition are perfectly synchronized in the real world,
this particular situation points out the weakness in my approach.
More than anything, I am looking for ideas from the community to see
how other people have solved similar problems, and to have you guys
either tear apart my approach or tell me it is 'ok'. What do you
think?
Wes Ramm, Cyth UK
CLD, CPLI

Adding to Alan's answer:
One of the problems that comes with these tricks for variable-rate acquisition is being able to match up sample data with the time that it was sampled.
If you weren't using either of E-series board's counters, there is a nifty solution to this! You'll be using 1 of the counters to generate the variable-rate sampling clock. You can then use the 2nd counter to perform a buffered period measurement on the output of the 1st counter. This gives you a hw-timed measurement of every sampling interval. You would need to keep track of a cumulative sum of these periods to generate a hw-accurate timestamp value for each sample.
Note: the very first buffered period measurement is the time from starting the 2nd counter until the first active edge from the 1st. For your app, you should ignore it.
-Kevin P.

Timeout errors when using high speed camera.

Hi all.
I'm currently trying to capture images using a Mikrotron EoSens MC1363 camera at high frame rates >500fps. The issue arises when the region of interest (ROI) is decreased in the microtron software (of which screenshots are attached). The ROI must be dropped in order to increase the fps. When MAX is opened and configured to match the camera settings, and grab is initiated, the timeout error occurs. I've attached screenshots of the mikrotron software, max settings, the error and PC used. The OS is windows 7 64 bit. We use the camera config file for the mono version of the camera which i've been informed will cross over to satisfy the colour version we use. Any questions feel free to ask. Thanks.
Attachments:
errors.docx ‏3016 KB
997-EoSens 3CL-MC1362-Manual.pdf ‏1209 KB

Hi Dom.
As you said the maximum frame rate with the ROI set to 1280 x 1024 is 505fps but according to the general information for the camera series:
The Mikrotron EoSens camera series features extremely sensitive high-speed
CMOS sensors available in monochrome or in colour with a resolution of 1280 x
1024 pixels and capture rates of 110 or 500 frames per second. Depending on
the model the image data is transferred in 8 or 10 bits via either CameraLink
(Base, Medium or Full) or Gigabit Ethernet.The region of interest (ROI) can be
freely selected, and the cameras can achieve even higher capture rates up to
120,000 fps when the ROI is reduced
Therefore it was my thought that by reducing the width of the ROI increased frame rates may be reached. Realistically we're looking for as high frame rates as possible so that the camera has capability to pass between projects. Currently the moving object enters and leaves the ROI within a 4 frame window, so frame rates of up to 1000fps would generate more data. Naturally, a point will come where the data cannot be physically written as fast as it is generated (>600MBps). Therefore it would be useful to get a handle onto why the error occurs as well as methods to fix it. Hopefully the problem is being discussed between NI and Mikrotron and we may have some answers in the near future.

Nikon D2x and High Speed Crop

Just an interesting observation....
With Aperture and Tiger, Nikon D2x images shot with the smaller MP High Speed Crop (HSC) mode displayed 24 extra columns/rows (depending on orientation) of pixels; thus an image that should be 3216x2136 showed up in Aperture as 3240x2136. The extra pixels included several rows/columns of garish purple and green pixels than needed to be cropped. This is fine for one image, but not suitable for several hundred (such as shot at a sporting event). In addition to the lack of support for .xmp import, this is one of the most frustrating things about Aperture (for me at least).
With Tiger this could be traced back (I'm guessing) to Core Image in the OS because other apps using it (such as Preview) displayed similar results. I was hoping for better results with Leopard and was disappointed to find the similar side effect. But I just checked and Preview, iPhoto, etc. no longer show these extra pixels in Leopard, only Aperture. My hope is that Apple will address this in an Aperture update in the near future (perhaps a RAW Fine Tuning 1.2 option).

I doubt that it's the camera, as the issue doesn't arise on exported pics. That said, as there are only two posts on the forums (yours and the one you refer to on the Aperture forum) it's possible that a: this only arises in very limited circumstances or b: it's local to your computer rather than a bug proper.
Create a new account (systempreferences -> accounts) and make a library there. Import a few pics and see if the problem is repeated there.
Regards
TD

Using the iphone to view a video recorded on a separate high speed camera

I use a high speed video camera to film athletic motion. Can I play this back on my iphone? The files are in avi format and would I require any adaptors. Thanks, I am very new to using the iphone.

Does anyone know what settings I should use to export a 1080p video for playback on iPhone4? I'm hoping to use the iPhone4 to playback 1080p video on 1080p monitor. Is this possible?
No. Only the iPhone 4S, iPad3, and TV3 currently support 1080p30 content. Even then the 1080p30 playback support for your monitor may depend on how the device is connected. The iPhone 4 is limited to 720p30 playback.
Is it possible to keep the higher quality for playback through a 1920x1080 hd monitor? Otherwise, would I be able to sync a 1920x1080 mov file to a new iPad or other device?
Not on your current device. As previously stated, the latest generation of iPhone, iPad, and TV devices support a maximum 1080p30 playback capability but may be limited to lower resdolutions depending on your method of connection to your monitor. This information can be found on the Apple web site TechSpecs page for each respective device.

Accessing high-speed camera

I have a high-speed firewire camera, model Basler A620fc (max. fps = 100).
Is it possible to use JMF to capture AVI movie from that kind of device?
Note that camera must be connected to PC through firewire port.
Any advice or code sample?

Download the JMStudio, and see if that's listed as a capture device. Anything that JMStudio can capture from, JMF obviously can capture from.
If your OS supports the camera, you should theoreticlly be able to use it in JMF.

Digital start trigger and high speed camera

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