Cognisys STACKSHOT 3X Owner's Manual
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Cognisys STACKSHOT 3X Owner's Manual

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Owner's Manual
Revision 1.0
Copyright 2014 Cognisys, Inc.
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Summary of Contents for Cognisys STACKSHOT 3X

  • Page 1 Owner’s Manual Revision 1.0 Copyright 2014 Cognisys, Inc.

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS ..........................7 GETTING STARTED ............................. 7 ............................8 LEANING AND 2.1.1 Cleaning ..............................8 2.1.2 Care and storage ............................8 3X C ........................9 TACK ONTROLLER ............................10 OTORIZED 2.3.1 StackShot Macro-rail ..........................10 2.3.2 Rotary Table ............................
  • Page 3 Move to… ............................76 7.11.3 Add Key frame ........................... 77 7.11.4 Edit Key frame ........................... 78 7.12 ..........................81 RAGON RAME 7.12.1 Dragon Frame connecting to StackShot 3X ..................82 7.12.2 Configuring the axes .......................... 83 SETTINGS ..............................87 ............................... 87 LOBAL...
  • Page 4 ..............................87 XIS SETTINGS ............................87 ETTINGS 8.3.1 Save Settings ............................88 8.3.2 Load Settings ............................89 8.3.3 Load Factory Defaults ..........................89 ............................89 HUTTER UTTON ..........................90 HUTTER UTPUT ETTINGS 8.5.1 Pics Per Move ............................90 8.5.2 Final Off Time ............................91 8.5.3 Shutter I/O .............................
  • Page 5 9.17 ........................... 105 LIDER ISTANCE 9.18 ............................105 LIDER ACKLASH 9.19 ............................... 105 LIDER PEED 9.20 ............................106 LIDER EXAMPLES ............................107 10.1 – S ........................107 OCUS TACKING INGLE 10.2 – V ....................... 113 OCUS TACKING IRTUAL BJECTS 10.3 –...
  • Page 6 Table of Figures Figure 1 – StackShot 3X Controller ....................... 9 Figure 2 - Steps Vs. Pictures ........................24 Figure 3 - Automatic Step Mode ......................... 26 Figure 4 - Automatic Distance Mode ......................28 Figure 5 - Total Distance Mode ........................30 Figure 6 - Manual Mode ..........................

  • Page 7: Safety Instructions

    CAUTION or WARNING statement. CAUTION: Only use the AD/DC power adapter (cube) that was included with your StackShot 3X. Use of other power adapters may damage the controller and/or attached equipment. CAUTION: The StackShot 3X controller moves your camera equipment and/or the subject you are photographing.

  • Page 8: Cleaning And Care

    2.1 Cleaning and Care We want your StackShot 3X to last – so here are some brief steps to keep your controller happy! 2.1.1 Cleaning For cleaning the display first use a dry micro-fiber cloth. If that doesn’t remove debris or smudges you can use a slightly dampened (not wet) micro-fiber cloth.

  • Page 9: The Stackshot 3X Controller

    2.2 The StackShot 3X Controller Figure 1 – StackShot 3X Controller The left side of StackShot 3X has the following connectors/buttons from top to bottom: 1. DC power (2.1mm jack) 2. Power switch 3. LED power indicator 4. USB connector 5.

  • Page 10: Motorized Gear

    2.3 Motorized Gear You have an excellent StackShot 3X controller – chances are you’re going to want to attach it to something equally as awesome. We have you covered! Here is a brief summary of the accessories available. 2.3.1 StackShot Macro-rail The StackShot macro-rail is ideal for focus-stacking.

  • Page 11: Pan/Tilt Rotary System

    2.3.3 Pan/Tilt Rotary System The Pan/Tilt rotary system includes two rotary tables. They can be used individually or combined with the included brackets for full pan/tilt effects. This combination allows for giga- pixel panoramas or full-blown motion control. 2.4 Connecting Rails/Rotary Systems/Sliders The motor connectors are a twist/lock style connector.

  • Page 12: Camera Connection

    – but if you have made changes to the settings they may not get stored. Great! StackShot 3X is on and now… How do I tell it to do something? Touch the display! You’ll feel the “haptic feedback” when you touch an icon (the display will vibrate slightly). There are two styles of icons you can touch on.
  • Page 13 What is an “input”? One of the “Shutter Outputs” can be changed to an input. An input is going to tell the StackShot 3X it needs to do something. It’s a way to tell the controller, “Okay, now GO!”. This input could be a remote push-button, or even another StackShot controller. It’s not something the average user would usually use but it is there in case you need it –...

  • Page 14: Basic Navigation

    3. Basic Navigation In this section we’ll go into the basics of adjusting settings for StackShot 3X. If you find your eyes glossing over with all the technical discussion you can always skip to the “10 - Examples” section to start using StackShot 3X.
  • Page 15 Activate Camera. This will activate the camera output(s). You can adjust which output this activates in section “8.4 - Settings”. The output will behave as configured in section “8.5 - Shutter Output Settings”. When the outputs are active there will be a red-circle with the output number shown on top of this camera icon.

  • Page 16: Common Screens

    “Reset” button. 3.2 Common Screens There are a few common screens used frequently to enter information for StackShot 3X. While these screens don’t show it, there are some limits to what you’re allowed to enter – but they’re pretty big.

  • Page 17: Time Entry

    Notice how along the right side there is the return arrow (take me back without changing!), a “Reset” which restores the factory setting, and then “mm” and “um” -- with a green check-mark behind it. If you wanted to travel 12.5 mm, you would touch “1”, “2”, “.”, “5” and then “mm”. Once you touch the “mm”...

  • Page 18: Character Entry

    Pressing the ABC/abc/123 will cycle you through the three character entry screens. 4. Changing Operating Modes An operating mode is just a way of telling StackShot 3X what you want to do – because it can do a lot! There are three main categories for the operating mode: 1.
  • Page 19 Here is an overview of the modes: Focus stacking is (for our products) adjusting the position of a camera in precise steps moving either toward or away from an object. Generally in macro-photography, the depth of field (DOF) can be quite poor especially if the subject is close to the lens. By taking several different images and then processing them using a focus stacking program (such as Zerene Stacker or Helicon Focus), a greatly improved DOF single image can be generated.
  • Page 20 From here you can choose what you would like to do with StackShot 3X. Touching one of the three above buttons will bring up a list of modes specific to Stacking, Panoramic, or Motion control. Here is the full navigation of the different modes. The modes are discussed in more detail in...

  • Page 21: Focus Stacking

    Be aware of the environment you are operating in. The center of gravity will change as StackShot 3X moves the camera. Moving the rail can potentially cause a tipping hazard. Be sure that your tripod is secured and balanced properly to prevent damage to equipment. Monitor your camera, lens, and other equipment at all times while the rail is moving to prevent damage to your equipment.

  • Page 22: Stacking: Checklist

    5.1 Stacking: Checklist Here is a list of requirements/suggestions for focus stacking: o Camera in manual mode o Camera set to single-shot (not continuous) o Lens in manual focus o Image stabilization off o Aperture set to your lenses sweet spot (Generally two stops down from the widest aperture) o Take one or two shots more in front of and behind of your subject than you think you need (more data is better than not enough)

  • Page 23: Mode: Automatic Step

    10. To adjust the number of steps simply touch the “# Steps” button and enter the number of steps desired. StackShot 3X always takes a picture prior to moving the motor so the total number of pictures taken will always be: “# Steps” + 1. See below: As you can see in Figure 2 below, there are five steps (movements) of the rail.

  • Page 24: Figure 2 - Steps Vs. Pictures

    Pictures Taken Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4 Pic 5 Pic 6 Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Figure 2 - Steps Vs. Pictures 5.1.1.2 Selecting the Start/End Positions In this mode you are first prompted to select the start position. Use the slider on the left to move the rail to the starting position of the stack.
  • Page 25 You are presented with two buttons at the bottom. If you press the “Change Start/Stop” button you’ll be prompted for a new start and end positions. If you press the “Start” button the rail will return to the beginning of the stack and begin the picture collection process. While the process is running the status window will show which step is currently active and the time remaining for the stack.

  • Page 26: Figure 3 - Automatic Step Mode

    Step 2: Manually move to Step 1: end position Manually move to start position Step 3: Automatically returns to start position Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4 Pic 5 Pic 6 Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 4: Automatically...

  • Page 27: Mode: Automatic Distance

    “Automatic Step” mode. The only difference is that the user specifies the distance to travel for each step. StackShot 3X will take a picture before first moving, and then at every distance interval specified. If the total distance desired is not evenly divisible by the desired distance per step, StackShot will “round...

  • Page 28: Figure 4 - Automatic Distance Mode

    Exactly like “Auto-Step” mode, you press the “Start” button to begin the sequence. When the stack completes you’ll be given the option to change the start and end points or run the stack again. If you touch the screen any time during the stack it will stop the motor, abort the sequence, and the display will show “Aborted”...

  • Page 29: Mode: Total Travel Distance

    “Aborted” and give you the option to start the sequence again. See Figure 5 below. The 2mm step size is determined by StackShot 3X. Just like “Automatic Step” mode, the number of pictures taken is always “# Steps” + 1.

  • Page 30: Figure 5 - Total Distance Mode

    Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4 Pic 5 Pic 6 Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 (2mm) (2mm) (2mm) (2mm) (2mm) 10 mm Figure 5 - Total Distance Mode...

  • Page 31: Mode: Distance Per Step

    5.1.4 Mode: Distance per Step The “Dist Per Step” operating mode lets you specify the distance to travel per step. It is similar to “Total Distance” except here you explicitly specify the distance each step should be (rather than the total distance). 5.1.4.1 Number of Steps The “# Steps”...

  • Page 32: Figure 6 - Manual Mode

    5.1.5.1 Distance per Step The distance the rail travels per step (“Distance”) is the amount traveled each time the rail is automatically moved. To adjust this value press the “Distance” button and enter the desired distance for each move of the motor. 5.1.5.2 Direction The direction defaults to “Forward”.

  • Page 33: Mode: Continuous Movement

    5.1.6 Mode: Continuous Movement For Continuous mode (“Continuous”) you select the total distance the rail will travel. The rail will not stop until it reaches its final position. During this time the shutter output(s) will fire continuously. The shutter on and off time ultimately set the number of pictures that may be taken during the rail move.

  • Page 34: Mode: Auto-Rotary

    camera, subject, dye, or material may have a variable amount of time before the next picture is desired. This mode is geared toward specialized applications and we would recommend the use of “Automatic Distance” under most circumstances. 5.1.7.1 Advancing the rail After the start and stop points have been selected like in the “Automatic Distance”...

  • Page 35: Mode: Rotary

    5.1.8.3 Starting the Sequence Once the final position has been selected, the status will change to “Press Start to begin”: Exactly like “Auto-Step” mode, you press the “Start” button to begin the sequence. When the stack completes you’ll be given the option to change the start and end points or run the stack again.

  • Page 36: Stacking: X-R - Stack/Rotate

    5.1.9.4 Starting the Sequence Exactly like “Auto-Step” mode, you press the “Start” button to begin the sequence. If you touch the screen any time during the stack it will stop the motor, abort the sequence, and the display will show “Aborted” and give you the option to start the sequence again. 5.2 Stacking: X-R –...
  • Page 37 That will bring up the selection for the X-axis: These settings are similar to the “Auto-Distance” mode in section 5.1.2. At the top of the screen you will see “X Distance: 2.000mm”. This is distance the rail will move for your focusing steps. To adjust this value simply press this button and enter the step size required.

  • Page 38: Adjusting/Setting The Rotary Position

    From here you can press “Ok” to return to the main screen. You can also optionally press the “Preview” button. This will take a single picture at the beginning and the end of stack to verify your composition. If everything looks good press the “Ok” button. You can also return to this screen later if you ned to adjust the move distance or the the start and end positions.
  • Page 39 Using the slider on the left adjust the position of the rotary table to the starting point for the stack. You can adjust the number of steps (motor moves) by pressing the “# Steps” button and then entering the number of steps. You can also adjust the number of degrees the rotary table should rotate each step by pressing the “Deg/Step”...

  • Page 40: Starting The Stack/Rotate Stack

    That results in the following screen: Everything looks good! Press “Ok” to return to the main screen. 5.2.4 Starting the Stack/Rotate Stack Continuing with our example our main screen now looks like the following: There is green for both the X-axis and Y-axis. It also shows the number of photos. These numbers will be important when adding them to your focus stacking software.

  • Page 41: Stacking: X-Y Scanning

    X-axis moving left to right (handling rows) and the Y-axis moving top to bottom (handling columns). These individual photos can then be stitched together. The process for setting up the StackShot 3X is the same regardless of which final result you desire.
  • Page 42 As you can see the X and Y-axis are not ready – the start and end positions need to be set. The X-axis icon at top has a forward/back arrow next to it and the Y-axis has a left/right arrow. These are completely arbitrary and are just shown to indicate a difference between the two.

  • Page 43: Starting The X-Y Scan

    You are also prompted to choose the start and stop position. First let’s choose the starting position of this stack. Use the slider on the left side of the screen to position the rail at the starting position of the stack and then press the “Select Start” button. The “Select Start” button text will turn green.
  • Page 44 In this example the X-axis will take 20 photos deep, and the Y-axis will take 2 across. To start the stacking process press the “Start” button. You will then see the following screen: Here the current axis (“X” in this case) is in red indicating it active. The green bar-graph will increase as the stack progresses.

  • Page 45: Stacking: X-Y-Z Scanning/Stacking

    5.4 Stacking: X-Y-Z Scanning/Stacking This mode is for focus-stacking large objects using three macro-rails. The X-axis is for focus stacking, where the Y and Z-axis are intended for scanning across the surface being stacked. This will allow you to stitch together focus-stacked images for a giga-pixel extended depth of field image.

  • Page 46: Panoramic

    6. Panoramic A panorama is a sequence of images stitched together using photo stitching software. StackShot 3X can automate panoramic image collection when coupled with the Cognisys rotary table. There are three panoramic modes supported: 1. Single-Axis – Merge a single row of images using rotation.

  • Page 47: Setting The Aspect Ratio

    If your lens has image stabilization be sure to turn it off. 6.1.1.6 Exposure bracketing (HDR) and mirror lock-up You can easily take HDR panoramas using your StackShot 3X controller. First you would need to enable exposure bracketing in your camera. Your camera then expects to see a fixed number of shutter presses to cycle through all the exposures.

  • Page 48: Setting The Overlap

    3. Then you’ll be asked to move it so that it is on the right side of the viewfinder/display. 4. Done! Now StackShot 3X knows how much your camera can “see” per frame. You only have to set the width because the aspect ratio you set previously lets the controller know the ratio of width to height.
  • Page 49 Here we can see the “Use prev FOV” is grayed out. You’ll see this if you haven’t set the field of view yet (there is no previous!). To set the FOV use the position slider at the top and move the camera so the object is on the left of the viewfinder.

  • Page 50: Checklist

    6.1.5 Checklist Here are some is a list of gotchya’s to check before starting a panorama. These are all “obvious” yet somehow we still skip one of the items on this list and have to reshoot a scene. o Tripod stable for all camera positions o Camera set to “Manual”...
  • Page 51 Use the slider at the top to adjust the rotary table to the end position of the panorama and then press the “Next” button. You will then see a summary of the panorama before it begins: For this example, during the FOV setup the rotary table was rotated about five degrees, and the panorama was over roughly 90 degrees of rotation.

  • Page 52: Panoramic : 360

    6.3 Panoramic: 360 This mode is similar to the single-axis with the exception that you do not have to choose both a start and stop position. You only have to choose where the panorama will start. Just like the single-axis mode, the rotary table must be attached to the X-axis. Once the field of view is set you are prompted to move to the start of the panorama: Use the slider at the top to adjust the rotary table to the beginning of the panorama.
  • Page 53 It’s not quite a giga-pixel image – only 75 million pixels! While collecting the images StackShot 3X will start at your initial selection and then zig-zag toward the final location. This reduces the time spent moving the rotary system. In the above...
  • Page 54 As you can see, even though the starting point for the panorama was in the upper-left and the end in the bottom-right, StackShot 3X ended in the bottom-left. It still captured the bottom-right frame but the optimum motor path was to end in the bottom- left.
  • Page 55 Here you can see you have two position sliders. The X-axis (left/right) allows you to pan and the Y-axis (up/down) lets you tilt the position of your camera. You can adjust the position simultaneously of both axes by touching a position between any point on the axes. You have the option to lock the pan or tilt axis as well.
  • Page 56 Here we can see the pan rotary table will move 3.9 degrees across for a total of 11 pictures, and tilt for 8 pictures tall (88 total). If this setup looks acceptable press the “Start” button. The system will return to the beginning position and begin the collection of photographs. While the process is running you will see the current status: When the panorama successfully completes it will return to the beginning position.

  • Page 57: Motion Control

    7. Motion Control StackShot 3X is capable of several different motion control methods. They provide completely fluid motion on all three axes in either real-time or time lapse operation. There are four motion control modes that will be discussed in this section: Video: Continuous.

  • Page 58: Motion Control: Initial Setup

    7.1 Motion Control: Initial Setup 7.1.1 Camera Settings Before we get into how to use the controller let’s review some strategies for getting that perfect video. Some of this may be obvious so apologies in advance! These are only guidelines and certain shooting situations will require deviations from these suggestions.

  • Page 59: Checklist

    Exposure tested at different locations of the panorama o Camera in single-shot only (continuous mode turned off) o Camera shutter cable firmly attached to camera and StackShot 3X (do a test-shot!) 7.2 Motion Home Screen The “Home” screen for the motion modes is identical (except for Dragon Frame control). From here you can see all three axes and the path they will follow: Here you are presented with the standard controls along the right-hand side.

  • Page 60: Motion Helper

    5. Goto Zero All: This will send all axes to their zero position. It will not follow the motion profile to do this and will get to the zero location in a hurry. 6. Start: Begins the motion profile. Now let’s discuss the curves and what they mean. Time is going left to right. The motors start at time zero and run for the duration you specify (we’ll get to that in a bit).
  • Page 61 You’ll then be prompted for how many axes you plan to control: We’re going to use all three for this example so we’ll press the “Three” button. If at any time you want to abort the helper press the “Home” button. Once we’ve pressed the “Three”...
  • Page 62 If you’re happy with the duration press the “Okay” button to continue to the next screen. Now that the timing is set you’ll be asked about the specific axes: At the top of this screen you can see that this question is about the “X-Axis” (can’t miss that!). The helper is asking you which type of motion profile you would like to follow.
  • Page 63 In this example we’ll choose the “Smooth start and finish”. We’ll then be asked the following: StackShot 3X needs to know what type of gear you have connected to each axis. Double-check your cables since it is easy to swap the pan/tilt. In this example, we have the X-Axis attached to a rotary table so we’ll press the “Rotary”...
  • Page 64 Z-axis: Smooth start and finish Z-axis: Slider Once we’ve selected the motion profile and the attached gear for each axis we’re prompted with the following: Here we are asked to choose the start position for all axes. You have to adjust the start position for all three (or as many as you selected) axes.
  • Page 65 Now we need to set the end position for all axes. There are two options for choosing the end position for all three axes (or as many as you have selected). If you press the “Move” button, the three-axis slider will appear and you can adjust the position visually. If, however, you know how many millimeters or degrees you want an axis to move you can press the “Manual Entry”...

  • Page 66: Shoot-Move-Shoot

    So what happens if you want to just change the start and end points now? Do you have to go through all of that over again? No! The next time you press “Helper” you will see: If you choose “New Profile” you will start from the beginning of the helper screen like above. If, however, you press “Change Start/Stop”...
  • Page 67 You will need to enter the final duration (playback duration) and the frames per second. This will calculate the number of frames required. For this example we’ll set the duration to 30 seconds (of playback), and have the frames per second (FPS) set to 24: You’ll see a summary once both the duration and FPS are set: Here you can see in this example a total of 720 frames will be required to get a 30 second video at 24 frames per second.
  • Page 68 So if you would like the time lapse to run over 8 hours you would press: StackShot 3X will calculate what the interval time should be, which in this case is 40 seconds. Sometimes you don’t care how long the time lapse video will take but you do know how often you would like it to take a photograph.

  • Page 69: Changing Axes

    If everything looks good then you can press the “Okay” button. From this point the process is exactly the same as section “7.3.1 - Video: Continuous”. You will be prompted for the profile type, what is connected, and the start/end positions. 7.4 Changing Axes In the above screen you can see all three axes motion profile.

  • Page 70: Time Settings

    plot window is zero, which makes sense for this plot. The motor is going to start at speed zero. You can see that the speed curve is highest in the middle – meaning that the speed is fastest in the middle. Since we chose “Smooth start and finish”, this speed profile is expected. It starts off slow, gets faster in the middle, and then slows down at the end.

  • Page 71: Lead-In

    And here is the “Shoot-Move-Shoot” screen (two pages): 7.6.1 Lead-In “Lead-In” is the time that will elapse before the motors start following their motion profile. For video mode, the shutter will activate and then wait this duration before starting to move. For “Shoot-Move-Shoot”...

  • Page 72: Video Duration (Sms Only)

    If you plan on using the same equipment setup but will have to disconnect power from StackShot 3X, it is a good idea to send all the motors to their zero (home) position first. The reason: If you finish a motion profile and then remove power, the controller will use that final...

  • Page 73: Start (And Preview)

    Ideally you would use live-view on your camera and record a video. This short and simple step could save you a night (and 1000 frames!) of wasted effort. If StackShot 3X can’t run the profile because it exceeds the maximum speed for an axis the real-time motion will last slightly longer.

  • Page 74: Edit Axis

    Press this button to just start shooting the lead-out frames from this current position. StackShot 3X won’t go to the end position – it will just start shooting the lead-outs from the current position. This is useful when you’ve realized you’ve moved too far, the sun is rising/setting, or something else is going on that will certainly ruin the rest of your time lapse –...

  • Page 75: Rotary / Rail / Slider

    Using the same examples used previously, if we press the “Edit Axis” button we will see this screen: Here we only see the motion profile for a single axis. The button shows that we are currently looking at the X-axis. If you press the button you can cycle through all three.

  • Page 76: Move To

    StackShot 3X. Why does it matter? A rotary table, rail, and slider have different parameters (speed, torque, etc). They are initially set by the helper. 7.11.2 Move to… Pressing the “Move to…” button brings up a pop-up window with two options: The two options are “Keyframe”...

  • Page 77: Add Key Frame

    7.11.3 Add Key frame StackShot 3X supports up to five key frames per axis. Pressing the “Add keyframe” button brings up a pop-up window asking for some additional information: Here we have a few additional buttons: 7.11.3.1 Set Time / Set Frame This is an optional setting.

  • Page 78: Edit Key Frame

    7.11.4 Edit Key frame This button lets you edit a specific key frame. Use the “<<” and “>>” buttons to select the key frame you would like to edit. Continuing with our example, we added a key frame at 15 seconds by doing: “Move To…”->15 seconds “Add Keyframe”->”Add X Keyframe”...
  • Page 79 7.11.4.1 Delete This will delete the currently selected key frame. This is only available if the number of key frames is larger than two. 7.11.4.2 Change Position This will bring up the three-axis sliders for adjusting the position of the motor. After you change the position and return to this pop-up screen you will need to confirm your new position by pressing the “Use Current Position”...
  • Page 80 7.11.4.7 Ease In “Ease In” means the velocity will decrease to zero going into the key frame (on the left side). This is a great way to stop the motion part way through a frame. Since it will only apply to the left side you can get a sharp change in velocity at the key frame.

  • Page 81: Dragon Frame Dfmoco

    StackShot 3X is compatible with Dragon Frame when you select the “DragonFrame – DfMoco” mode. Once in this mode the screen will show “DfMoco”. At this point StackShot 3X must be controlled by your computer. To exit the “DfMoco” mode, touch the screen and select a different operating mode.

  • Page 82: Dragon Frame Connecting To Stackshot 3X

    7.12.1 Dragon Frame connecting to StackShot 3X The first step in using Dragon Frame is to set up the software to communicate with StackShot First, click on the “Arc Motion Control” in the upper-right hand corner of the program. This will bring up the velocity and position graph.

  • Page 83: Configuring The Axes

    This will depend on other devices connected to your computer. In this case StackShot 3X shows up as serial port 19. Select the correct serial port and press OK. You will then see ArcMoco #1 show: Once connected click the “OK” button at the bottom to close this window.
  • Page 84 7.12.2.1 Rotary Table Settings Here are the parameters that need to be changed: Name: Rotary (or pan/tilt to make things easier to follow) Connect: Leave at ArcMoco #1 Channel: 1 (This is the X-axis, the first motor available) Steps Per Unit: -711.11 / deg (Yes, that is a negative in front! Otherwise it will go backward) Settle Time: Whatever your application requires (one second in this example) Swap Jog direction: Checked Press OK!
  • Page 85 7.12.2.2 Macro-Rail Settings We’ll add a second axis for the macro-rail by clicking the “Add Axis” icon: Here are the parameters that need to be changed: Name: Rail Connect: Leave at ArcMoco #1 Channel: 2 (This is the Y-axis, the second motor available) Steps Per Unit: 2015.7480315 / mm Settle Time: Whatever your application requires Swap Jog direction: NOT Checked...
  • Page 86 7.12.2.3 Slider Retrofit Now we will add a third axis for the slider by clicking the “Add Axis” icon: Here are the parameters that need to be changed: Name: Slider Connect: Leave at ArcMoco #1 Channel: 3 (This is the Z-axis, the third motor available) Steps Per Unit: 138.187296 / mm Settle Time: Whatever your application requires Swap Jog direction: NOT Checked...

  • Page 87: Settings

    To adjust the settings simply touch the display when you see the setting you need to adjust. The available settings are discussed below. 8.1 Global Mode This is the current mode for StackShot 3X. The different modes are discussed in the section “4 - Changing Operating Modes”. 8.2 Axis settings Each axis can have its own unique settings for its function (rail, slider, or rotary table), speed, settle time, etc.

  • Page 88: Save Settings

    8.3.1 Save Settings To save your settings, press the “Save Settings” button. This will bring up the following screen: Here the first four “slots” are shown for storing your settings. Use the arrows to scroll up or down to the other locations for storing your settings. In this example there are currently no settings stored.

  • Page 89: Load Settings

    8.3.2 Load Settings This will load previously saved settings. In this example we’ll show the above saved off “MOTION” setting: To load the “MOTION” setting, press the “Load 1: MOTION” button. To exit the load screen press the return or home button. 8.3.3 Load Factory Defaults Pressing this button will load the factory defaults for the controller.

  • Page 90: Shutter Output Settings

    8.5 Shutter Output Settings Virtually every aspect of the shutter outputs are adjustable. The two shutter outputs can be independently set – Output 1 can activate multiple times where Output 2 can be set to only activate once. The settings are quite flexible but need some thorough explaining. Shutter outputs consist of four parts: 1.

  • Page 91: Final Off Time

    8.5.2 Final Off Time Each “activation” of the shutter output consists of the time it is on and the time it is off. If you have more than one “Pics Per Move”, you might not want to wait that final off time. The default is to wait the final off time.

  • Page 92: Pre-Trigger Delay

    What can you do with Shutter 1 set as an input? You can remotely trigger StackShot 3X to begin its current mode (if the current mode is ready to start). It doesn’t matter if you’re in stacking or motion control mode – If the Shutter 1 connector is shorted to ground it will start (or stop) its current operation.

  • Page 93: Shutter On/Off Time 2

    8.5.6 Shutter On/Off Time 2+ If (and only if) the “Pics Per Move” is set to greater than one, this on/off time determines how long the shutter output will be on or off for the second and subsequent shutter activations. 8.6 Time Lapse The “Time Lapse”...

  • Page 94: Lcd Brightness

    In this example we will walk through calibrating the macro rail. StackShot 3X ships with a default backlash setting that is based off of a sample of rails. Due to manufacturing tolerances and your specific application, the backlash may need to be adjusted.
  • Page 95 That will bring up the following screen: There are three buttons at the top: “Start”, “End”, and “Incrm”. What happens during backlash calibration is that the motor will rock back and forth and then pause. It will then add the increment and repeat.

  • Page 96: Axis Linking (Focus Stacking Only)

    “Access Point” and “Client”. 8.10.1.1 Wireless Mode: Access Point When StackShot 3X is set as an access point you will see a screen similar to this: “Wireless mode: Access Point”, and below it are two pieces of information. You will see...

  • Page 97: Scan For Network

    StackShot’s local IP address: In this case StackShot 3X is connected to a router called “Quicksilver”, and the controller’s IP address is 192.168.1.116. 8.10.2 Scan for network This button will start scanning for new wireless networks.

  • Page 98: Saved Connections

    If the connection is successful it will be saved for future use. See section “8.10.3 – Saved Connections“ for connecting to saved networks. Note: Scanning for a network will disconnect any active connection. 8.10.3 Saved Connections StackShot 3X lets you save up to four wireless connections for future use:...

  • Page 99: Regulatory Domain

    To connect to a network in the future, press the “Saved Connections” button, and the above screen will show up. Touch the button that corresponds to the network you want to connect to. If you would like to erase a previously stored network press the down arrow to get to the next page: On this page you can press the “Erase”...

  • Page 100: Ap Security

    8.10.5 AP Security “AP Security” refers to what security method StackShot 3X should use when configured as an “Access Point”. It defaults to using “WPA2” security and encryption. Older network cards may not support the enhanced security of “WPA2”. If you press the “AP Security” button the security will toggle between “WPA2”...

  • Page 101: Motor Power Save

    Normally when the motors are not moving a small amount of holding torque is applied to maintain positional accuracy. StackShot 3X defaults to having the power save setting set to “No” (holding torque will be applied). This holding torque consumes current which reduces the duration that you will be able to run on battery power.

  • Page 102: Axis Settings

    9. Axis Settings There are several settings that you can adjust on an axis-by-axis basis. For most applications you won’t have to adjust these settings but there are some occasions where it would be nice to fine- tune the behavior of a certain axis. It’s easy! To get to the axis settings, first press the “Settings”...

  • Page 103: Stack Speed

    9.6 Torque Torque is how much “power” the motors have. A valid setting is from 1 – 10. If StackShot 3X is having difficulty moving your setup you may have to increase this torque setting. Why not just run at maximum torque all of the time? Two reasons: If you’re running from battery it will...

  • Page 104: Polarity

    When the motor reverses direction there (in most applications) will be some “play” in the mechanical drive mechanism. StackShot 3X has the capability to compensate for this gear backlash “play”. Backlash compensation will apply any time the motor changes direction. This backlash setting is based off of an average of rails.

  • Page 105: Rotary Gear Ratio

    a motor can deliver decreases the faster it goes. So if you have a beast of a load on the rotary table you may want to decrease this “rotary speed”. The torque setting is discussed in section “9.6 – Torque“. 9.14 Rotary Gear Ratio Our rotary table is not a direct-drive –...

  • Page 106: Slider Ramp Time

    9.20 Slider Ramp Time “Slider Ramp Time” is how long the motor will spend accelerating to its final speed for a move or position adjustment. Stepper motors don’t like instantaneous acceleration – so it’s good to have a bit of ramp time. Also, increasing the ramp time will reduce the vibration introduced into your camera setup.

  • Page 107: Examples

    In the following sections we will walk you through some real-world examples of using the different modes in StackShot 3X. Be sure to check out our website and follow us on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/CognisysInc/) for video examples. Sometimes watching a video makes the whole process much easier to understand! 10.1...
  • Page 108 That will bring up the single-axis stacking mode: Here you can see that the axis indicator on the right hand side of the screen says we’re controlling the “X” axis. If you have the macro rail attached to a different axis you can touch this button to select that axis.
  • Page 109 For our setup we’re using Canon’s MP-E 65 lens – which happens to be one of the few lenses on the market that specifies the depth of field (DOF) for a given aperture at a certain magnification. If you are unsure of your DOF you can try an online calculator such as DOFMaster (http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html) or you can determine it through experimentation.
  • Page 110 We can now see the motor will have to move 35 times (“# steps”) to go from the start position to the end position. Because StackShot 3X takes a picture before moving you would end up with 36 pictures total for this stack.
  • Page 111 You can abort the stack at any time by touching the display. Once the stack finishes you see: You are presented with two options: “Change Start/Stop” which is starting over with new start and end positions. You can also press the “Run Again” button to run the stack another time. This is useful if you finish a stack and realize the lighting isn’t quite the way you want.

  • Page 113: Focus Stacking - Virtual Objects

    What is a virtual object?!? It’s a high-resolution 3D rotation of a subject. Creating a virtual object is easy with StackShot 3X. This will require a macro-rail attached to the X-axis and a rotary table attached to the Y-axis. The process is a stack/rotate/stack until it reaches the end position desired.
  • Page 114 That is going to be where the focus-stack is the longest – in our case the wing-span. Since the Y- axis controls the rotary table we use the Y-slider to rotate the bee so that its wing-span is parallel with the camera. Once the bee is set to the proper (worst-case / longest travel) position press the red “return”...
  • Page 115 Now we use the slider on the left to adjust the macro rail to the beginning of the focus stack. Once you are happy with the position of the camera press the “Select Start” button (the button text will turn green). You will then be prompted to select the end position. Use the slider again to find the end of the stack.
  • Page 116 First we’ll use the slider on the left to adjust the rotary table to where we want to start the stack at. We already set it for the worst-case stack depth – now just choose where you would like to start the stack from.
  • Page 117 That’s 540 photos total! That’s why doing a preview on the X-axis is a good idea. We’re talking a serious commitment here. When you press the “Start” button the image collection process will begin and you’ll see the current frame, progress bar, and time remaining: It’s time for a cup of coffee while the equipment does the work!

  • Page 118: Motion - Shoot-Move-Shoot

    10.3 Motion – Shoot-Move-Shoot Here we will walk through an example of shooting a motion-controlled time lapse with the pan/tilt system. The subject: The milky-way galaxy and mountains off in the distance. Here are the camera settings we will be using in this example: ISO: 1000 Shutter: 20 second exposure Lens: 24mm manual aperture set at f/1.4...
  • Page 119 Once we press “Two”, we’re asked to enter the final duration of the video and the frames per second. This final duration is the playback duration and will be used to calculate the total number of frames required. In our example we want a 15 second video at 24 frames per second.
  • Page 120 Here we’re given two options. StackShot 3X needs to know how long to wait between photographs. There are two ways to enter this – the total “real world” duration (how long you want the time lapse to take in real life) or you can set the interval directly. In this case since we know our exposure is set to 20 seconds on the camera so the interval had best be longer than that! Otherwise we’ll be moving while the camera is still open.
  • Page 121 Here the controller is asking us what type of motion profile to use. In this example we’re going to go with “Linear” so that the movement from one frame to the next will be identical. Press the “Linear” button to set that motion profile. We’re then asked what type of motorized gear is attached to the X-axis: We’re doing a pan on the X-axis, so we press the “Rotary”...
  • Page 122 Here we have two options: “Move” where we can move everything to the starting position, or “Current” which will use the current position of the gear for the start. We’re not quite where we want to be for this, so we’ll press the “Move” button. This will bring up the 3-axis control: The sliders for the X-axis and Y-axis are pressed to get the start position to right where we want it.
  • Page 123 To do that, we’ll press the “Manual Entry” button, choose which axis we want to set, and then enter the 20 degrees: Great! The X-axis is set. Since we don’t exactly know the degrees for the Y-axis (tilt), we’ll have to look at the live-view on our camera and adjust the position until it looks right (photography isn’t always about the numbers, is it?!?).
  • Page 124 It looks kind of boring, but that is what you get with a linear-style motion profile. The X- axis is in yellow and the Y-axis in blue. The X-axis is taller than the Y-axis simply because it is moving further: Time is left to right, distance from bottom to top. The green line is the velocity –...
  • Page 125 Now we see that our lead-in and lead-out frames are set to 10, we can press the home button to take us back to the main screen. Are we done? Maybe. Our motion profile is set, the lead-in/lead-out is set. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a real-time video of what our time lapse framing would look like? No problem! To do this we’ll first send the pan/tilt setup to its starting position.
  • Page 126 When the preview completes and everything looks good you can press the “Start” button. StackShot 3X will ask you if you want to return to the beginning (answer “Okay” here or else it won’t start!). Once you press “Start” you’ll see the progress updated on the display.

  • Page 127: Installing The Reflash Software (Optional)

    What is “reflash”? It’s a small program that allows you to update the firmware on your StackShot 3X controller. You do not need this program to use your StackShot 3X controller. Rest assured if you just purchased your controller it ships with the latest software available. If, however, new firmware becomes available you may want to upgrade your controller.
  • Page 128 For OS X prior to 10.9: Be sure that the StackShot 3X controller is not plugged into your computer. OS X installations require that the FTDI drivers be installed first. You can download these drivers in the above link in section “11 - Installing the Reflash software”. There will be two versions of the FTDI drivers.

  • Page 129: Troubleshooting

    StackShot 3X module: 12VDC minimum 2amp (2000 mAh) Power button not pressed StackShot 3X has a small power button next to the power jack. Press and release to turn on. LCD keeps turning off LCD Power Save mode is See section “8.15 - LCD Power...
  • Page 130 See section “8.3.3 - Load Factory Defaults”. If you cannot resolve a problem with StackShot 3X, please contact us at support@cognisys- inc.com. We want to make sure that you are completely satisfied!

  • Page 131: Specifications

    Specifications Specifications are intended for reference only. The design may be modified to improve features or functionality without notice. Specifications MIN NOM MAX UNITS Input Voltage Input Current (12Vdc in) 6000 mAdc Input Current – Power-saving modes active mAdc Shutter Output Current Sink Operating Temperature ARM Processor •...

  • Page 132: Warranty

    All electronic products are warranted to be free from defects in materials or workmanship for two (2) years from the date of purchase. Within this period, Cognisys Inc. will, at its sole option, repair or replace any components which fail in normal use. Such repairs or replacement will be made at no charge to the customer for parts or labor, provided that the customer shall be responsible for any transportation cost.

  • Page 133: Glossary

    To connect two wires together. Provide a path for current to flow with low resistance. Output This is what you attach the equipment to. StackShot 3X can control these outputs to do various tasks. Abbreviation for microseconds. A millionth of a second.

  • Page 134: Revision History

    Revision History Revision Date Change 10/17/2014 Initial Release...

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