1 General..................................5 1.1 Essentials of MotionBLITZ®Director2......................5 1.2 Customer indications............................5 1.2.1 For customers in the U.S.A............................5 1.2.2 For customers in Canada............................6 1.2.3 Pour utilisateurs au Canada............................6 1.2.4 Life Support Applications............................6 1.3 Declaration of conformity..........................6 1.4 Remarks, Warnings............................7 2 MotionBLITZ® in practice............................8 2.1 The user interface...............................8 2.2 Program settings..............................9 2.2.1 Changing the display rate............................9...
Page 3
3 Arrange a scene..............................24 3.1 Recording in non circular mode (Until end of file)..................24 3.2 Recording in circular mode (Ring)........................24 3.2.1 Start recording................................25 3.2.2 Stop recording................................25 3.3 Playback of a sequence............................25 3.3.1 Edit and save a sequence............................25 3.3.2 Select a sequence for playback and export........................25 3.3.3 Remove a sequence..............................
Page 4
7 I/O Board B716..............................38 7.1 Pinning of the 15 pin D-Sub connector......................39 7.2 Example schematics............................40 7.2.1 Connection of one input............................40 7.2.1.1 Light barrier with NPN transistor........................40 7.2.1.2 Light barrier with PNP transistor........................41 7.2.2 Connecting more Inputs............................42 7.2.2.1 Opto inputs - connected to relays or NPN transistors..................42 7.2.2.2 Opto inputs - connected to relays or PNP transistors..................42 7.2.2.3 Opto inputs - random access..........................43 7.2.3 Connection to the outputs............................43...
General Congratulations! MotionBLITZ® is an excellent choice, because it’s a extremely versatile, advanced and self contained digital camera system. Mikrotron Deutschland GmbH has combined progressive camera technology with software which is very easy to operate. Thus MotionBLITZ® is the ideal solution for high speed recording. This manual provides information about the features and operating modes of MotionBLITZ®.
Mikrotron customers using or selling these products for use in such applications do so at their own risk and agree to fully indemnify Mikrotron for any damages resulting from such improper use or sale.
Remarks, Warnings This document contains important remarks and warnings. See the corresponding symbols: Important remark Attention, Warning MotionBLITZ® Director2 CVR CXP Version 1.7.4...
MotionBLITZ® in practice The full range of functions available and all camera parameters may be set by means of the MotionBLITZ® software. The user interface is organized in three parts. On the left side, there is the control panel for the camera and program settings, in the middle the display window and below the panel for controlling the application.
Program settings 2.2.1 Changing the display rate Adjusts the display rate in fps. To reduce the CPU load on slow systems the display rate can be lowered. The maximum possible display rate depends on the used hardware (CPU, Graphics card). 2.2.2 Changing the playback speed Adjusts the playback speed in fps for an opened image sequence.
2.2.5 Show info panel Displays the info panel at the top of the main window. The info panel shows basic information about the current camera settings and record information if a recorded sequence is opened. The sync options for multiple cameras and files are also displayed on this panel if available.
Page 11
A camera profile is a set of all camera parameters that may be changed by the user. The profiles are stored in XML format. If you save a profile, the actual camera settings will be written to a file. If you load a profile, the parameters in the appropriate file are read and sent to the camera.
Changing the link speed of the camera For special environments (long cables) the cameras link speed has to be lowered or set to a specific value to work correctly. To do this, exit the Director2 software and please edit the configuration file “CLGlobal.cfg”. This file is normally located in “C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming”: the content could look like: <CLGlobalCfg>...
Camera Info panel showing link speed 2500 in line “Camera model”. Entering a camera name in the field “Camera name” an clicking at “Apply”, you could assign a name to your camera! Startup profile The last used camera setting is automatically loaded when the application is started. Camera settings 2.7.1 Framerate, exposure time and frame size The framerate and exposure time may be adjusted with the slider „Framerate [fps]“...
2.7.2 „Low Light“ mode In low light mode the camera's exposure-time is extended up to 99,9 milliseconds in order to increase it's sensitivity. This mode is good for setting up the frame size and the focus in “Live” mode. Select your exposure time with the slider " Shutter [µs]" or input it directly in the appropriate number-field.
IO settings All triggers except “External sync” are generated by software. Therefore the results can differ slightly when synchronizing two or more systems. 2.8.1 External sync in If enabled the camera is synchronized with an external signal on the selected input port of the IO card.
2.8.5 Start burst on external trigger There are two burst modes available Record while the trigger on the selected input port is active. Record a predefined number of frames when the trigger occurs. 2.8.6 Start record on external trigger If the recording should be started by an external signal, the check box “Start record on external Trigger”...
2.8.9.2 Gray difference and Relative object size Calibrates the ImageBLITZ® trigger. The parameters can be set automatically by using the auto adjust function. For example: Gray difference is set to 100 and relative object size is set to 20. The trigger is released when 20 percent of the pixels inside the selected area show a gray value difference of 100 compared to the reference image.
Record settings 2.9.1 Record directory Allows to create a new record directory or to browse/delete existing record files. The record root drive can’t be changed. MotionBLITZ® Director2 CVR CXP Version 1.7.4...
Page 19
Your MotionBLITZDirector2 CVR CXP uses the RAMDisk for recording, i.e. you MUST export your frames to a non-volatile memory like hard disk because otherwise will your recording be lost after powering off your PC MotionBLITZ® Director2 CVR CXP Version 1.7.4...
2.9.2 Record name Used name for the next record file. The current date and time is automatically appended to the filename (RECORDNAME_DATE_TIME If no record name is specified the default name is used (DIRECTORY_DATE_TIME). 2.9.3 Available size Displays the current available record size. If the record size limit of the system is reached manually delete files from the record directory to get free space.
2.9.7 Record size The selected record size for the next recording. The minimum file size is fixed to 500MB. The maximum file size depends on the used system and the available space on the record directory. 2.9.8 Record frames The number of frames that can be recorded for a given record size. 2.9.9 Record time The record time for a given record size in [HH:MM:SS] HH: Hours...
2.10 Record file format All record files are stored in a Mikrotron proprietary .dat format. The format contains a file header (8192 bytes). After the header the raw image data is written sequentially. DWORD Offset to image data DWORD Header version...
Int64 TickCountFrequency high performance counter (since header version 3) 2.11 Image information field Each recorded frame holds various information in the first line of the image. Byte 0..1 Image counter [1..65535] Byte 2..3 free, currently not in use Byte 4..7 DWORD, High Performance counter Ticks (HighPart) Byte 8..11 DWORD, High Performance counter Ticks (LowPart)
Arrange a scene Click on the "Live"-Button to get a live-image from the camera. The camera may now be focused and adjusted to the details of the scene. You may use the low light mode to increase the camera's sensitivity (available only in live mode because on the other side the framerate will be decreased!) Recording in non circular mode (Until end of file) Non-circular record mode is selected in the expander control "Record settings"...
3.2.1 Start recording The recording can be started by the record button in the bottom control the F5 key an external signal on the IO card, see chapter “Start record on external trigger” 3.2.2 Stop recording The recording can be stopped by the stop button in the bottom control ...
To remove a single sequence move the scrollbar to the sequence until it’s selected and then click “Sequence options”->”Remove current selection”. To remove all the sequences click “Remove all selections”. The selected sequences are used for playback and for image export. Simply click save to start the image export dialog.
The display window All image processing functions are available through the display window. The name of the current file is shown in the windows title. Dock/Undock the display window Depending on the current state of the window it is docked or undocked. In undocked state the window can be moved and resized.
Minimize/Maximize the window Depending on the current state the window is maximized or minimized. Show/Hide the toolbar Depending on the current state the windows toolbar is shown or hidden. If the window is minimized the toolbar is automatically hidden. Zoom The image can be zoomed by the mouse wheel or by clicking the zoom button in the toolbar.
4.9.1.2 Gamma = 1.0, Unchanged 4.9.1.3 Gamma = 2.0, Image gets brighter 4.10 Image rotation Rotates the displayed image clock or anticlockwise. The rotation is done in 90 degrees steps. 4.11 Image flip Flips the displayed image horizontally or vertically. 4.12 Bayer adjustment (White balance) Good illumination is extremely important for optimal true color display.
4.12.1 Adjust white balance manually To adjust the white balance manually the histogram window (Line mode) can be used. Adjust the size of the green checkline, which is automatically displayed in the camera image when the histogram window is opened. Move this line over a white area using the mouse.
4.14 Edit the info line Opens a text field to add arbitrary text to the info line at the bottom of the image. 4.15 Show Histogram Window Shows the histogram of the current displayed image. The area which is used to compute the histogram can be changed by moving the red rectangle.
Shows the RGB values at the current mouse position. The values are displayed at the bottom of the display window. The mouse must be over the displayed image. 4.19 Revert changes All settings are reset to it’s default state. The settings of the white balance are not affected.
Many other image processing tools also support DNG since it’s a common file format for raw camera data. 5.1.6 AVI The images are stored in the AVI container format. The AVI format allows compressed (Divx) or uncompressed storage. 5.1.7 DAT Mikrotron proprietary container format. MotionBLITZ® Director2 CVR CXP Version 1.7.4...
(.exp) inside the export directory which contains additional information about the current export and can be used to open the sequence all at once. 5.2.3 Export name Export file naming convention: For Mikrotron proprietary container formats: %EXPORTNAME%_%SOURCE_RECORD_DATE%_%EXPORT_DATE%. All other formats: %EXPORTNAME%_%IMAGENUMBER% 5.2.4 Export format...
PNG BMP TIFF JPG DAT (Mikrotron proprietary RAW Format) By selecting the additional information file (.exp), which is automatically created with each image export, all images of a previous export can be imported at once. ...
Sync record files After enabling the “sync record“ checkbox all sequences are synchronized to their trigger frame and cut, so that each sequence has the same number of frames before and after the trigger. This mode assumes that all sequences were recorded with equal framerate and stopped by a common signal.
I/O Board B716 The IO board has eight inputs (“CAM4” with I/O-Bits 0 ...3, “CAM0” with I/O-Bits 4...7), but only the four inputs of “CAM4” will be available for CVR CXP systems and can be used by the software (the lower D-sub connector). MotionBLITZ®...
Pinning of the 15 pin D-Sub connector The parallel I/O signals are accessible through 15 pin female D-Sub connectors on the rear side. Both connectors are identical therefore this manual describes only one connector. 15 pin D-Sub connector female on rear side of PC Name Type...
Example schematics 7.2.1 Connection of one input 7.2.1.1 Light barrier with NPN transistor Resistor RX must be built into the connection between the light barrier and the parallel plug. The value is calculated as follows: RX [] = ((Supply voltage – 2) [V]/ 0.015 [A] ) – RB [] RX [] ...
7.2.1.2 Light barrier with PNP transistor Resistor RX must be built into the connection between the light barrier and the parallel plug. The value is calculated as follows: RX [] = ((Supply voltage – 2) [V]/ 0.015 [A] ) – RB [] RX [] ...
7.2.2 Connecting more Inputs The other inputs may also be used as free programmable input lines. In the following schematics, the external device supplies 24 Volts. 7.2.2.1 Opto inputs - connected to relays or NPN transistors The first example connects the positive pin of external 24V with pin 10 of the 15pin D-Sub connector. The inputs 11, 12, 13 and 14 are connected via a series resistor 1,2KOhm 1/3W and an external contact or a NPN transistor to the negative pin of the external 24V.
7.2.2.3 Opto inputs - random access The third example separates each input from the other. RSA and RSB must be omitted. Pins 1 and 2 of the solder jumper must be closed. M716 external connection 7.2.3 Connection to the outputs The output optocoupler is a Darlington type.
Schematic of the Opto I/O Board Part name / Value Channel Remark Jumper RS4 / n. p. RS3 / 4.7k RS5 / 330 RS9 / n. p. RS8 / 4.7k RS10 / 330 n. p. : not populated MotionBLITZ®...
Need help?
Do you have a question about the MotionBLITZ Director2 CVR CXP and is the answer not in the manual?
Questions and answers