PTZ FR7 and Vive Mars together | Forum

PTZ FR7 and Vive Mars together can AX mix two different sets of Free D tracking data into one tracked camera

Apologies in advance if this question has already been covered elsewhere in the forum. (Please direct us to it if it has). Is there a suggested work flow to ingest the PTZ Free D tracking data from (for example) a Sony FR7 for head and lens position/rotation etc and mix it with the Free D tracking data from (for example) a Vive Mars tracker to track the cameras physical position in 3D space? The picture below shows a rig we've been experimenting with for a client for a green screen shoot next month. The jib is motorized and on a rotating 360 base. The FR7 is calibrated and mapped to a tracked camera in Broadcast DE. It's Free D data is on a different port to the The Vive Mars tracker, which is also calibrated and on it's own profile. Our question, is there a simple way to have the tracked camera use two different profiles? One for the PTZ data and the other for the PTZ's physical position in space? Or are we going about this all wrong and have 'engineered' ourselves into a weird corner. The end use case is to have two FR7s one on a floor mounted motorized slider and the other on a grid mounted slider, both attached to separate tracked cameras in our scene.

PTZ FR7 and Vive Mars together can AX mix two different sets of Free D tracking data into one tracked camera

NYShine

... Just noticed that the picture shows us using a Vive Mars FizTrack with this setup. Please ignore, we're using it as a FIZ motor only for remote Zoom control on this manual G Series lens, the servo lens for this kit went out on a job and we had to get creative with what was to hand. We're only interested in repurposing the Vive Trackers data and overlaying the PTZ data from the FR7.

NYShine

I know we're probably asking the wrong question here but if there's any guidance on whether this is possible or if we should rephrase the request please let us know. (Client is becomming persistent).

Eifert@Aximmetry

Hi,

If I am right, I think you want to add the jibs tracking together with the PTZ's tracking. For that, we have ready made solution, where you set the jib's tracking as the Tracking Device and you set the PTZ's tracking as the Zoom Device (you will have to set the PTZ up as an Zoom Encoder in the Manage Devices window):

It sounds like you're looking to integrate the jib's tracking with the PTZ's tracking. We have a ready-made solution for that.
You can set the jib's tracking as the Tracking Device and the PTZ's tracking as the Zoom Device. Make sure to configure the PTZ as a Zoom Encoder in the Manage Devices window.

This setup will combine the positions of the jib and PTZ.

If the PTZ does not report changes to the lens's zoom made by the FIZ motor, you'll need to edit the camera compound. I can help you with that, but keep in mind that any zoom calibration will not function correctly in this scenario.

Warmest regards,

NYShine

Thank you Eifert, this is exactly what we needed, all makes perfect sense. We were getting in our own way trying to figure this out. Appreciate the offer to help with the camera compound. I 'think' we're ok... We used the Basic Calibrator to set up a profile for the Sony FR7. The Pan / Tilt / Rotate / Focus and Zoom data was captured into the profile. The Sony G Master lens reports the zoom data back to the camera, we just needed the FIZ unit to act as a servo. (The FR7 Kit lens is usually the Sony FE PZ 28-135 f/4 Full Frame Power Zoom lens which has an integrated servo motor - making the FR7 behave like a true PTZ package that can be driven by the Sony IPM RM-500 controller). We've started testing the workflow you describe above. Using the Mars Vive tracker and it's profile as the tracking device for the jib is working well and we're getting positional data now in our AX project. We've relocated the tracker to a fixed mount on the jib head rather than on the top of the PTZ.

PTZ FR7 and Vive Mars together can AX mix two different sets of Free D tracking data into one tracked camera

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