ENTER TAINMENT BEYOND MOTION

GETTING STARTED WITH

VICON SHOGUN

WHAT'S INSIDE

About this guide 4

Introducing Vicon Shogun 5

Introducing Shogun Live 6
Introducing Shogun Post 23

Prepare your Vicon system 55

Create a folder hierarchy to store takes 57
Position the cameras and markers 59
Check the coverage of the capture volume 60
Adjust the focus and aperture 61
Optimize camera settings 65
Set timecode (optional step) 67
Prepare video cameras (optional step) 71

Calibrate cameras 75
Mask cameras 77
Capture a wand wave 81
Set the volume origin 84

© Copyright 2017–2021 Vicon Motion Systems Limited. All rights reserved.

Vicon Motion Systems Limited reserves the right to make changes to information or specifications in this document without notice.
Companies, names, and data used in examples are fictitious unless otherwise noted. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, by photocopying or recording, or otherwise without
the prior written permission of Vicon Motion Systems Ltd.
Vicon® is a registered trademark of Oxford Metrics plc. Vicon Blade™, Vicon Control™, Vicon Lock™, Vicon Lock+™, Vicon Lock Lab™,
Vicon Lock Studio™, Vicon Nexus™, Vicon MX™, Vicon Pegasus™, Vicon ProCalc™, Vicon Retarget™, Vicon Shōgun™, Vicon Studio™, T-
Series™, Vicon Tracker™, Vicon Vantage™, Vicon Vero™, Vicon Vertex™, and Vicon Vue™ are trademarks of Oxford Metrics plc.
VESA® is a registered trademark owned by VESA (www.vesa.org/about-vesa/). Other product and company names herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners. For full and up-to-date copyright and trademark acknowledgements, visit https://www.vicon.com/
vicon/copyright-information.
Vicon Motion Systems is an Oxford Metrics plc company.
Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.vicon.com
 ENTER TAINMENT BEYOND MOTION

Set the floor plane 91

Auto number cameras 94
Calibrate selected cameras 95

Create subjects 98
Load subjects and props via .mcp file 99
Choose a marker set 100
Add labeling clusters to the datastore (optional step) 101
Place markers on a performer 103
Create and calibrate a subject 109
Load a retargeting setup 118
Troubleshoot subject calibration 119

Create props 122

Load subjects and props via .mcp file 123
Place markers on props 124
Move props 128
Work with static meshes 130

Capture a take 132

Load subjects and props via .mcp file 137
MCP review in Shogun Live 138
Understand the system health icons 143
Fix bumped cameras 146
Transcode video files 151

Check data quality 153

Load mocap data files into Shogun Post 154
Review occlusion fixing 158
Check for swaps and other errors 162
Use video overlay to check accuracy 163
Get an overview with the time bar Issues map 166
Find issues using the Data Health view 168
Find issues using the Graph view 171
Work with time ranges 173

Clean up data 175

Find and fix bad data 176

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Find and fix noise 177

Use the Labeling panel 180
Fix common labeling issues 184
Processing during cleanup 200

Solve the data 201

Interactive solving 204

Retarget with Shogun Post 206

Set up a retarget 207
Modify a retarget 223
Interactive retargeting 225
Export the retarget setup 227

Export from Shogun Post 231

Frame rates supported by the FBX file format 233
Export an FBX file for use in Maya® software 234
BVH export 236

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About this guide

About this guide

This guide provides an introduction to Vicon Shogun and an end-to-end
workflow for capturing data with Vicon Shogun Live, and processing and
exporting it with Vicon Shogun Post.

Videos of the procedures described in this guide, including many additional tips
and examples, are available from the Vicon Shogun playlist on YouTube1, and
the Vicon Shogun channel on Vimeo2, beginning with 1 - Shogun Live -
Introduction3.

 Note
As some videos were recorded using an earlier version of Shogun, you
may notice minor differences in the user interface.

1 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxtdgDam3USVknig2N6QU1ARXR22LXJfJ
2 https://vimeo.com/channels/1249217
3 https://vimeo.com/218944959

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Introducing Vicon Shogun

Introducing Vicon Shogun

The information in this section helps you to get to know Shogun.

These topics are useful if you are new to Shogun and want to familiarize yourself
with the user interface, but if you're ready to start working straight away, go to
Prepare your Vicon system (page 55).

• Introducing Shogun Live (page 6)

• Introducing Shogun Post (page 23)

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Introducing Shogun Live

These topics provide a brief introduction to Vicon Shogun Live.

• Live - Customize views (page 7)

• Live - Work with panels (page 13)

• Live - Set preferences (page 17)

• Live - Hot keys and shortcuts (page 20)

See also the Vicon video: 1 - Shogun Live - Introduction4, which also
provides an introduction to Vicon Shogun Live.

 Note
As the videos were recorded using an earlier version of Shogun, you
may notice small differences in the user interface.

4 https://youtu.be/XrmM2KXiaPQ

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Live - Customize views

The default Vicon Shogun Live window is arranged in a way that is ready to use
for your first capture.

The System panel is displayed on the left (with the Processing panel
displayed as a tab below it).

On the right of the Shogun Live window, the Camera Calibration , Tracking,
and Capture panels are displayed as tabs. These tabs are displayed in the order
you are likely to want to use them (from left to right) and on each tab, the
sections are arranged in order of a typical workflow.

To find out more about working with views, see:

• Change the view type (page 8)

• Change the layout (page 9)

• Select displayed view options (page 10)

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Change the view type

In the Workspace, you can change the type of data that is displayed, as well as
the way in which the view is split, enabling you to view different types of data
simultaneously. To save time, you can save and reload frequently used layouts.

To change the view type:

1. In the Workspace, click the view menu.

2. Select the required view from the list.

• Cameras: 2D optical data from Vicon cameras.

• 3D Scene: 3D reconstructions of Vicon camera data.

When you choose the 3D Scene view, you can also select a Perspective
view, or orthogonal views:

• Perspective 3D view of data in the view pane

• Front, Back, Right, Left, Top, or Bottom: Orthogonal views of 3D data

• Subject: Visualization of the subject.

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Change the layout

In addition to selecting the type of view that is displayed in Shogun Live (see
Change the view type (page 8)), you can split the view horizontally or vertically,
with different view types in each part of the pane, and display different panels to
suit the current stage in your workflow. You can save any favorite layouts so that
you can quickly access them in future.

To select a layout for a view pane:

1. Click the required button at the top right of the view pane.

You can display a different view in each pane; for example, a Perspective view
in one and a Cameras view in the other.

2. To save a favorite layout, click the Save button to the right of the Load Saved
View list.

3. To return to the default layout, in the Load Saved View list, click Default.

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Select displayed view options

In the 3D Scene or Cameras views, you can display the View Filters to select and
save your preferred options.

• Select what is displayed in a selected view (page 10)

• Select snap option for rotating cameras (page 11)

• Set the marker reconstruction radius (page 12)

• Zoom in to grayscale markers (page 12)

Select what is displayed in a selected view

1. In a 3D Scene or Cameras view, click View Filters.

In a 3D Scene view, the view options are displayed in a matrix, with columns
for Labeling, Solving, Retargeting and Props, enabling you to choose a view
configuration that suits your current task.

The default view filter sets are for solving, retargeting, and labeling.
If required, you can add your own filter sets by clicking New Preset.

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2. To rename, copy or remove any filter sets, right-click on a filter set and then
click the required option.

Your settings, including any custom presets, are automatically saved, so that
you can easily re-use them for different workflows.

 Tip
In the View Filters, you can select Subjects options to display the
required data, for example, to view markers and bones through the
skin, select X-Ray.

Select snap option for rotating cameras

When cameras are physically rotated, Shogun Live adjusts to display the cameras
with the correct rotation.

After system calibration, the camera 'tunes' itself to update its rotation based on
calibration.

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To set the rotation to snap to the nearest 90 degrees, in the Cameras view,
display the View Filters and in the 2D Data section, select the Snap to 90° check
box.

Set the marker reconstruction radius

You can select an option to display markers based on their physical size, instead
of the default (7 mm) size. This is particularly useful if you have a high density of
small markers, for example for facial motion capture, or if you're using the latest
finger-marker sets.

To set the marker reconstruction radius:

1. In the 3D Scene view, display the View Filters.

2. To display markers based on their physical size, select the Use Reconstruction
Radius option.

Zoom in to grayscale markers

In the Cameras view, to zoom in to display any grayscale markers present, in the
View Filters, go to the 2D Data options and select Maximize Grayscale.

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Live - Work with panels

The Shogun Live window is fully customizable, enabling you to change the
position of the panels and to hide and re-display panels as required by your
workflow.

To find out more, see:

• Change the position of panels (page 13)

• Hide and display panels (page 14)

• Expand and collapse panel sections (page 15)

• View feedback in the System panel (page 15)

• Search for properties in the Processing panel (page 16)

Change the position of panels

In Shogun Live, you can position the panels to suit your way of working.

To move panels, drag them by their title bars and drop them into place using the
guides that overlay the main window:

If you prefer, instead of docking the panels as described above, you can leave
panels floating in an independent window.

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Hide and display panels

In addition to changing the position of panels (see Change the position of
panels), you can also hide some panels, to give you more space in which to work.

To hide/redisplay a panel:

• On the title bar of a docked panel, click the Pin button.

The panel is hidden as a vertical tab along an edge of the main window.

If you hide multiple panels, they are tabbed vertically along the edge of the main
window.

To re-display a pinned tab:

1. Click the required tab on the edge of the main window.

The panel is displayed in a floating window.

2. To dock it again, click its Pin button.

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Expand and collapse panel sections

Within each panel, you can expand and collapse sections, to make it easier to
access the controls you want to use.

Action Mouse

Expand section
Click the right-pointing arrow

Collapse section
Click the downward-pointing arrow

Show/hide further options

Click the ellipsis

To help you find the controls, panels also let you show and hide Advanced
settings, and where applicable, you can set the values to their defaults.

View feedback in the System panel

The System panel provides helpful feedback, which is especially useful for large
systems.

For more information about the status of your system components, hover the
mouse pointer over the relevant icon.

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Search for properties in the Processing panel

The Processing panel provides a search facility and other controls that determine
the visibility of the component properties.

To use the search, display the Advanced properties and enter the first few letters
of the property you want to find.

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Live - Set preferences

To access and change preferences such as data and capture folder locations, hot
keys and auto-save options, you use the Preferences dialog box.

This topic introduces some of the ways you can customize Live.

• Low disk space warning (page 18)

• Behavior of middle mouse button (page 19)

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Low disk space warning

Shogun Live warns you if your capture drive(s) reaches a specified capacity.

To change the amount of free space remaining before Shogun Live alerts you:

1. In the Preferences dialog box (Settings > Preferences, or Shift+P), click the
User tab.

2. In the Capture section, make the required changes.

The default free space remaining is:

• For optical data capture: 10 GB

• For video capture: 50 GB

You can also select or clear the check box to enable a warning if video cameras
are enabled, but video capture is disabled.

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Behavior of middle mouse button

You can scrub the timeline by holding down the middle mouse button. You can
use this shortcut in both the 3D Scene view and the Cameras view.

You can adjust the behavior of the middle mouse button with options in the
Preferences dialog box.

To change the settings for the middle mouse button or wheel:

1. Open the Preferences dialog box (Shift-P).

2. On the User tab, go to the General section and select/clear the required
settings.
Note that the effect of changing the Middle mouse button scrub sensitivity
(or the Mouse wheel jog in frames) option is exponential and is the same as
the equivalent setting in Post.

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Live - Hot keys and shortcuts

Tip
To see a list of all current hot keys, on the Settings menu, click Show Hot
Keys or press Shift+H.
To create your own hot keys, in the Command column, double-click the
required command and in the Set Hot Key dialog box, specify the hot keys.

Use the mouse and keyboard to speed up your work with Vicon Shogun Live with
the following commonly used shortcuts:

3D Scene view

Action Mouse

Rotate Click and drag

Translate Left- and right-click and drag

Zoom Right-click and drag

Scale the object manipulator Press + (scale up) or - (scale down)

Pause/resume live streaming Space bar

Scrub the timeline Middle mouse button

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Cameras view

Action Mouse

Zoom in or out Middle mouse button + drag, or rotate

the mouse wheel.

Enable the Grayscale view option for all G

or selected cameras

Disable the Grayscale view option Shift+G

Pause/resume live streaming Space bar

Scrub the timeline Middle mouse button

Select objects

Action Mouse/hotkey

Select Click or
Drag or
ALT+drag (3D Scene, Perspective view)

Multiple select/de-select CTRL+click or

SHIFT+click

Set hot keys in Live

If you want to change what happens when you press a particular key or
combination of keys, you can assign or un-assign commands to hot keys.

To assign or clear hot keys:

1. Open the Hot Keys dialog box (Settings > Show Hot Keys or Shift+H).

2. Double-click the required command to display the Set Hot Key dialog box,
where you can set or clear the hot key for it.

3. To save to disk the current hot keys, includiing any changes you've made,
click Save.

4. Click OK to close the Hot Keys dialog box.

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Selecting and the ALT key

To change the behavior of the ALT key:

1. On the Settings menu, click Preferences (or press SHIFT+P) and in the
Preferences dialog box, click the Preferences for userName tab.

2. In the Interface section, clear or select ALT key to select in views.

This sets the ALT key as required when selecting.

When ALT key to select in views is cleared, the default behavior is selection
without the ALT key.

Align a prop to the world axis

To align a selected prop to the world axis:

• With the prop selected, display the Object Manipulator, ensure it is set to
Global and change all the prop's values to zero.

For more information, see Move props (page 128).

Select Grayscale Mode for cameras

To cycle through the Grayscale Mode options:

1. Ensure the relevant cameras are selected.

2. Press Ctrl+G.
This saves you from having to select the option for the camera(s) on the
System tab.

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Introducing Shogun Post

These topics provide a brief introduction to Vicon Shogun Post.

• Post - Customize views (page 24)

• Post - Work with panels (page 31)

• Post - Set preferences (page 35)

• Post - File types (page 43)

• Post - Hot keys and shortcuts (page 47)

See also the Vicon video: 1 - Shogun Post - Introduction5, which also
introduces Vicon Shogun Post.

 Note
As the videos were recorded using an earlier version of Shogun Post,
you may notice small differences in the user interface.

5 https://youtu.be/A4cdCdaDTII

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Post - Customize views

The default Shogun Post window is arranged to view and process a capture.

The Processing tab is displayed on the ribbon. On the ribbon, the links to the
panels are displayed in the order you are likely to want to use them (from left to
right) and within each panel, the sections are arranged in order of a typical
workflow.

Below the ribbon, a 3D Scene (Perspective) view is displayed.

The default time bar , which displays an issues heat map (colored horizontal
bars that indicate gaps in your data) when you load a mocap file, is displayed at
the bottom of the window.

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To find out more about loading data into Shogun Post and using the time bar
issues map, see Load mocap data files into Shogun Post (page 154) and Get an
overview with the time bar Issues map (page 166).

For more information about how you can change the view pane in Shogun Post,
see:

• About the 3D Scene view (page 26)

• Change the display in the view pane (page 27)

• Move the camera view (page 28)

• Change the view type (page 29)

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About the 3D Scene view

The default view in Shogun Post is the 3D Scene view, which displays
reconstructed motion capture data from all active Vicon cameras in 3D
perspective.

The 3D Scene view consists of a view pane and a toolbar (along the top). The
toolbar contains buttons and menus to help you to manage the way 3D
reconstructed data is displayed in the view pane.

A context menu (ALT+right-click) provides additional options that are not

available from the toolbar.

To select a layout for the view, click a button at the top right of the quick access
toolbar.

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Change the display in the view pane

To change the type of data that is displayed in the view pane:

1. At the top of the view pane, click View Filters.

In the Subjects section, the view options are displayed in a matrix, with
columns for Labeling, Solving, Retargeting and Props.

2. Choose a view configuration that suits your current task.

The default view filter sets are for labeling, solving, retargeting, and props,
but you can add your own filter sets by clicking New Preset.

3. To rename, copy, remove or restore any filter set to its default value, right-
click on a filter set and then click the required option.

Your settings, including any custom presets, are automatically saved, so that
you can easily re-use them for different workflows.

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Move the camera view

In Perspective view panes, you can move the camera view in respect to the
objects in the scene in the following ways:

To Do this

Rotate (move the camera viewpoint around the Click and drag
focal point)

Translate (move the camera viewpoint along a Left- and right-click and drag
horizontal or vertical axis)

Zoom (move the camera viewpoint closer to or Right-click and drag

further away from the focal point)

The cursor changes shape for the intended navigation.

As you navigate the view pane, when the cursor reaches the edge of the pane, it
wraps around to the other side to maintain a continuous movement, so you can
keep dragging in one direction without having to release the mouse button.

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Change the view type

In the view pane, you can change the type of data that is displayed, as well as the
way in which the view is split, enabling you to view different types of data
simultaneously. To save time, you can save and reload frequently used layouts.

To change the view type:

1. To select a different type of view, click the view type button at the top left of
the view pane.

2. Select the required view from the list.

• 3D Scene: 3D reconstructions of Vicon camera data.

To select options that affect what is displayed in the 3D Scene, click View
Filters (see Change the display in the view pane (page 27)).

 Tips
• To view markers and bones through the skin, select the X-Ray view
option.

• To pre-select (ie highlight) objects, giving you an indication of

what is about to be selected, hover the mouse pointer over
objects in the workspace.

When you choose the 3D Scene view, you can also select a Perspective
view, or orthogonal views:

• Perspective 3D view of data in the view pane

• Front, Back, Right, Left, Top, or Bottom: Orthogonal views of 3D data

• Graph: Manage keys which control the position of one or more markers on
one or more frames

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• NLE (Non Linear Editor): Clips of multiple markers from multiple takes, or
subsets from a single session

• Hierarchy: Hierarchical view of objects in a scene, including markers,

bones, actors and rigid bodies, showing the relationships between the
objects.

• Video: Digital video data from video cameras

• Cameras: 2D optical data from Vicon cameras

• Data Health: Enables you to identify gaps (represented by gray bars) in

trajectory labeling for the currently selected markers

3. To select a layout for the view pane, click the required button at the right of
the Shogun Post toolbar.

You can display a different view in each pane; for example, a 3D Scene view
in one and a Cameras view in the other.

4. To save a favorite layout, on the Layouts menu, click Export Custom Layout.
By default, custom layouts (*.hsl files) are saved to C:
\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\ShogunPost1.x\Layouts.

 Tip
If you want to return to the default layout, re-start Shogun Post and
select the option Reset workspace to default layout.

For information on changing the layout and visibility of the panels, see Post -
Work with panels (page 31).

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Post - Work with panels

All the panels that you use for working with data in Vicon Shogun Post are
available from the ribbon at the top of the default layout.

When you first open Post, the Processing tab is selected, but you can view all the
panels by clicking on the Panels tab.

On the ribbon, the panels are grouped into tabs that represent an area of
activity. Each tab contains related panels and commands.

The tabs and the panels on them are arranged in the order you are likely to want
to use them, from left to right.

To perform a task, on the ribbon, click the button that displays the required
panel name, or click the equivalent command on the Vicon Post menu bar
(above the quick access bar).

 Note
The buttons toggle the display of the panels, so if you click on the
button for a panel that is already open, the panel closes.

To find out more about working with panels in Shogun Post, see:

• Rearrange panels (page 32)

• Hide/Display panels (page 33)

• Expand and collapse panel sections (page 34)

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Rearrange panels
You can re-position and hide or display the panels to suit your way of working.

To re-position the panels:

Drag the panels by their title bars and drop them into place using the guides
that overlay the main window:

If you prefer, instead of docking the panels as described above, you can leave
panels floating in an independent window.

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You can also hide panels, to give you more space in which to work.

Hide/Display panels
To auto hide/redisplay a panel:

• On the title bar of a docked panel, click the Pin button.

The panel is hidden as a vertical tab along an edge of the main window.

If you auto hide multiple panels, they are tabbed vertically along the edge of the
main window.

To re-display a pinned panel:

1. Click the required tab on the edge of the main window.

The panel is displayed in a floating window.

2. To dock it again, click its Pin button.

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Expand and collapse panel sections

Within each panel, you can expand and collapse sections, to make it easier to
access the controls you want to use.

Action Mouse

Expand section
Click the right-pointing arrow

Collapse section
Click the downward-pointing arrow

Show/hide further options

Click the ellipsis

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Post - Set preferences

To access and change preferences such as folder locations, hot keys and default
import and export options, as well as how you interact with the Shogun Post
interface, you use the Preferences dialog box.

These topics introduce some of the ways you can customize Post.

• Change Shogun Post folders (page 36)

• Set script folder locations (page 37)

• Set file names and folder locations (page 39)

• Set pre-selection options (page 40)

• Set a custom folder for saving subjects (page 41)

• Scale missing markers (page 41)

• Hold Ctrl to use the Manipulator (page 42)

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Change Shogun Post folders

You set the location of Shogun Post folders and files on the Directories tab in the
Preferences dialog box.

To open the Preferences dialog box:

1. On the General menu click Preferences.

2. In the Preferences dialog box click the Directories tab.

The Directories tab contains fields that enable you to specify the location of:

• Scripts folders. For more information, see Set script folder locations (page 37) .

• Marking Menu file, Hot key file, Button shelf file, Selection set file, Log file,
Temp directory, Startup script, Shutdown script, Python interpreter. For more
information, see Set file names and folder locations (page 39) .

Tip
The Marking Menu, Hot Key, Button Shelf, and Selection Set files are saved
as Shogun scripts (.hsl files). These default Shogun .hsl files are stored in the
Shogun Post folder (by default, C:
\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\ShogunPost#.#). You might find it useful to
create different .hsl files to store particular categories of these files and/or to
create your own folder for storing any of these files that you create or
customize. You can specify the location of this folder in the appropriate
fields on the Directories tab.

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Set script folder locations

The Shogun Post Scripts folder contains the default scripts supplied with Shogun
Post, organized by category into sub-folders. By default, the Scripts folder is
installed under the main Shogun Post program folder (C:\Program
Files\Vicon\ShogunPost#.#\Scripts). Scripts in this folder can be selected from
the Pipelines panel and the Script Viewer dialog box (available from the Script
Editor toolbar and the Shogun Post status bar).

You can specify more than one Scripts folder on the Directories tab, but Shogun
executes the first version of a given script file that it finds. That means that if you
have two script files named greatScript.hsl, Shogun will execute the first one it
finds as it searches the specified script folders in the order in which they appear
in this field. You can use this search order to control when customized scripts are
used over standard Shogun scripts.

Review the default scripts in the Scripts folder and all its sub-folders because
they may save you time. Each script supplied with Shogun is documented, so you
can quickly determine its function and modify its commands to meet your own
needs. Most Shogun Post users find that these scripts can streamline many
standard operations as written, and they also can be customized to meet other
needs as required. For more information on using scripts, see the HSL scripting
with Vicon Shogun.

 Important
Ensure you save a custom version of a Shogun script under a new file
name. This ensures that if your script doesn't work, you still have the
original.

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To specify additional script file locations:

1. On the General menu click Preferences.

2. In the Preferences dialog box, click the Directories tab and view the Script
directories section.

3. For each folder that you want to add, in the Script directories mini toolbar,
click the Add button.

4. In the Select folder dialog box, enter or browse to the desired location.

You can also perform the following operations:

• Remove a selected script directory from the Script directories list.

• If you have specified multiple directories, use the Move selected script up and
Move selected script down buttons to arrange the directories in the desired
order.

• To view folder contents, select a folder in the list and click the Open Folder
button on the toolbar.

• To update the contents of the selected folder, click the Reparse button.

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Set file names and folder locations

As well as specifying the location of scripts (see Set script folder locations (page
37) ), you can specify a different location for the following files (and temp folder)
on the Directories tab in the Preferences dialog box (General menu >
Preferences).

Field Description Default location Default file

Marking Default marking C: MarkingMenus

Menu file menus. \Users\Public\Documents\ .hsl
Vicon\ShogunPost#.#\

Hot key file Hot key mappings. C: HotKey.hsl

\Users\Public\Documents\
Vicon\ShogunPost#.#\

Button Script used by Shogun C: ScriptShelves.

shelf file Post to build the Button \Users\Public\Documents\ hsl
Shelf interface. The Vicon\ShogunPost#.#\
button shelf tabs are
displayed as custom
tabs on the ribbon.

Selection Script used by Shogun C: SelectionSets.

set file Post to store selection \Users\Public\Documents\ hsl
set settings. Vicon\ShogunPost#.#\

Log file Multi-session text log C: CommandLog.

file that contains the \Users\Public\Documents\ log
data displayed in the Vicon\ShogunPost#.#\Logs
Log window.

Temp Contains files that may C: NA

directory be used by \Users\<UserName>\AppD
Vicon Support ata\Local\Temp

Startup Script that runs when User-specified User-specified

script you start Shogun Post.

Shutdown Script that runs when User-specified User-specified

script you exit Shogun Post.

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Field Description Default location Default file

Python 64-bit version of Python C:\Program python.exe

interpreter used by Shogun Post. Files\Vicon\ShogunPost#.#\
For more information, Python\
see HSL scripting with
Vicon Shogun.

You may find it useful to create your own folder and/or filename for storing any
files you create or customize.

To specify a custom location:

1. Open the Preferences dialog box (see Specify Vicon Shogun Post
folders (page 36)).

2. Click the Directories tab, and view the relevant field.

3. To the right of the field, click the Open button.

4. In the dialog box, enter or navigate to and select the appropriate file or folder
that Shogun Post is to use and click Open.
You can click this Open button to open any previously saved .hsl files at any
time during a Shogun Post session.

Set pre-selection options

While pre-selection (the highlighting of the marker or object that the mouse
pointer is currently hovering over) is useful in some circumstances, in others it
may be distracting. In the Preferences dialog box (General > Preferences), an
option on the Interface tab enables you to choose whether to show pre-selection
in the 3D Scene view.

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A related option, Show selection pick menu, enables you to choose whether to
display the menu that is displayed when you hover the mouse pointer over
several markers or objects that are on top of each other. When selected, you can
quickly choose from a list of markers or objects, without having to use the
Selection filters.

When cleared, no menu is displayed and you can select only the object that is
directly under the mouse pointer.

See also Vicon Shogun 1.3 Post Tutorial - Selection Toggles6 on YouTube.

Set a custom folder for saving subjects

To change the default folder to which to save subjects, in the Preferences dialog
box, click the Subjects tab, where you can browse or specify the required folder.

You can also specify that the current Eclipse session is used by selecting Use
active session for subject I/O.

Scale missing markers

To scale the displayed size of missing markers, in the Preferences dialog box,
click the Interface tab and at the bottom, change the value of the Missing
Marker Size Multiplier (the default is 2.50).

6 https://youtu.be/i04aVAvYZ8w

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Hold Ctrl to use the Manipulator

To avoid accidentally manipulating objects when using the Alt key to select, you
can turn on the requirement for the Ctrl key be held down to manipulate objects
in the 3D Scene view by selecting this option on the Interface tab of the
Preferences dialog box.

By default, the option is set to off.

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Post - File types

The following tables list the different types of file that may be used in Shogun:

• Shogun Post export file types (page 44)

• Shogun Post import file types (page 45)

• Shogun Post internal file types (page 46)

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Shogun export file types

This table lists file types that you can export from Shogun Post.

File extension Description

BVH BioVision Hierarchy file

C3D Binary motion file

CSM Character Studio Motion file

FBX FBX motion file

MCP Vicon motion capture file

TRC Motion Analysis Trajectory file (marker data)

USD Pixar USD file

VSK Vicon Labeling Setup file

VSR Vicon Retargeting Setup file

VSS Vicon Solving Setup file

VST Vicon Labeling Setup file

XCP Vicon Extended Camera Parameter file

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Shogun import file types

This table lists file types that you can import into Shogun Post.

File extension Description

AMC Acclaim Motion file

ASF Acclaim Skeleton File

BVH BioVision Hierarchy file

C3D Binary motion file

CP Legacy (Vicon iQ) Vicon Camera Parameterization file

CSM Character Studio file

FBX FBX file

HCD Compressed Display file

HDF Blade Data File

HTR Motion Analysis Skeleton file

MCP Real-time data recorded with Vicon Shogun Live

MKR Marker Set file

OBJ Wavefront Object file

TRC Motion Analysis Trajectory file

TXT Camera Track file

USD Pixar USD file

VDF Shogun Post Data file

VSK Vicon Labeling Setup file

VSR Vicon Retargeting Setup file

VSS Vicon Solving Setup file

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File extension Description

VST Vicon Labeling Setup file

WAV Wave Audio file

X2D Vicon Video Data file

XCP Vicon Extended Camera Parameter file

Shogun Post internal file types

This table lists file types and files that are created and used within Shogun Post:

File name Description

*.hbc Batch configuration file

*.history Lists all commands executed since Shogun Post was

opened. Located in same folder as CommandLog.log.

*.hsl HSL script file

*.plf Pipeline file

CommandLog.log Log file. Located in the folder specified on the Directories

tab (by default, C:
\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\ShogunPost#.#\Logs). For
more information, see Post - Set preferences (page 36).

HardwareSettings.xml Hardware settings for each take. Can be loaded into

Shogun Post.

LatestCalibration.xcp Data about the last calibration. You may be asked for this
by Vicon Support to aid troubleshooting.

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Post - Hot keys and shortcuts

Tip
To see a list of all current hot keys, on the General menu, click Preferences
and then click the Hot Keys tab.
To create your own hot keys, in the Command/Script column, double-click
the required command or script and in the Set Hot Key dialog box, specify
the hot keys.

The following topics list commonly used shortcuts and explain working with
objects, selection, and the context-sensitive menus.

• Set hot keys in Post (page 48)

• Preserve your hot keys (page 49)

• 3D Scene view shortcuts (page 50)

• Data Health view shortcuts (page 51)

• Graph view shortcuts (page 52)

• Work with objects (page 53)

• Work with the ALT key (page 53)

• Selecting and context-sensitive menus (page 54)

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Set hot keys in Post

If you want to change what happens when you press a particular key or
combination of keys, you can assign or un-assign commands to hot keys. The
following instructions describe how to set or clear hot key for displaying the
marking menu, but can be applied to any command for which you want to set a
hot key.

To assign or clear hot keys:

1. Open the Preferences dialog box (General > Preferences).

2. Click the Hot Keys tab.

 Tip
If you are clearing a hot key, you can save time by showing only the
commands or scripts that have hot keys assigned to them. To do this,
at the top, select Show hot keyed only.

3. Click the required command, for example showMarkingMenu to select it and

then double-click to display the Set hot key dialog box, where you can set or
clear the hot key for it.

4. Close the Preferences dialog box.

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Preserve your hot keys

When you install Shogun Post, the latest hot key file (HotKey.hsl) is installed in:

C:\Program Files\Vicon\ShogunPost1.#\DefaultConfiguration

However, the hot key file (HotKey.hsl) that Post uses by default is in:

C:\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\ShogunPost1.x

To preserve any hot keys that you may have added, this file isn't modified by the
installation. Post only recreates the hot key file from \DefaultConfiguration if a
hot key file doesn't exist.

Update a hot key file

To install a later version of Post that includes updates to the hot key file:

1. Before installing the new hot key file as described in Step 2, save any hot keys
that you have added by copying to another location the hot key file
(HotKey.hsl) in:

C:\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\ShogunPost1.x

2. Install the new hot key file in either of these ways:

• Before installing the latest version of Shogun Post, to force Post to use the
new hot key file, delete HotKey.hsl in:

C:\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\ShogunPost1.x

or

• After installing the latest version of Shogun Post, copy HotKey.hsl from:

C:\Program Files\Vicon\ShogunPost1.#\DefaultConfiguration

over the old hot key file in:

C:\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\ShogunPost1.x

3. To restore your custom hot keys, open the file you saved in Step 1 and
manually copy your custom hot keys to the new HotKey.hsl file.

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3D Scene view shortcuts

Action Mouse/Hot key

Rotate Click and drag

Zoom Right-click and drag

Translate Left- and right-click and drag

Snap the 3D view to selected object(s) C

without tracking

Track the selected object(s) and enable X

you to change the selection without To stop tracking, click C.
stopping tracking the originally selected
object.

Scale the manipulator Press + (scale up) or - (scale down)

Switch between Label and Select modes L

when labeling a subject

Create a retargeting constraint between CTRL+T

the selected solving and retargeting
bones, or a solving constraint between
the selected solving bone and marker. (In
either case, the order of selection doesn't
matter.)

Create a retargeting rotation constraint CTRL+R

between the selected solving and
retargeting bones. (The order of selection
doesn't matter.)

In Labeling mode (in the Labeling panel, Shift+click to go up through the list
in the Manual Labeling Options, select Shift+right-click to go down through the
Label), with the mouse in the view pane list
and the Labeling panel open, move up
and down the list of labels.

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Data Health view shortcuts

Action Mouse/Hot key

Move current time indicator Middle mouse button and drag*

Step through time Middle mouse button (wheel) scroll

Zoom timeline Right-click and drag

Pan (horizontally and vertically) Click and drag or left- and right-click and
drag

Select a time range ALT+drag

Add time ranges to selection CTRL+ALT+drag

De-select within selected range SHIFT+ALT+drag

Select a gap (and marker) Double-click on a gap

Select a gap (and marker) in addition to CTRL+double-click on a gap

the currently selected gap

De-select gap and marker SHIFT+double-click selected gap

Select/deselect whole play range ALT+double-click

Sort markers ALT+right-click, then select required

sorting method

*Also scrubs timeline in Cameras view

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Use the following key combinations to select markers in the marker list at the left
of the Data Health view.

Action Mouse/Hot key

Select one or more markers ALT+click (drag to multi-select)

Add further markers to selected markers CTRL+ALT+click

De-select a selected marker SHIFT+ALT+click

De-select all markers ALT+double-click

Graph view shortcuts

Use the following key combinations to scrub and resize the graph axes:

Action Mouse/Hot key

Horizontal zoom (expand or collapse the Right-click+drag left or right

graph's time axis)

Vertical zoom (expand or collapse the Right-click+drag forward or backward

graph's value axis)

Translate right/left (scrub along the Click+drag left or right

graph's time axis)

Translate up/down (scrub along the Click+drag forward or backward

graph's value axis)

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Work with objects

Use the following key combinations to work with Shogun Post objects.

Action Mouse

Select Click on single object, CTRL+click and

SHIFT+click on multiple objects. You can
also drag to select (or if ALT key to select
in views is selected (see below),
ALT+drag)

Add to/Remove from selection CTRL+click or SHIFT+click on multiple

objects.

Manipulate object Click manipulator handle and drag

Duplicate objects Select object and press Ctrl+D

Select all child objects Right-click (or ALT+right-click) on an

object and then click Select Branch to
select all its child objects

Work with the ALT key

To change the behavior of the ALT key:

1. On the General menu, click Preferences and in the Preferences dialog box,
click the Interface tab.

2. In the Selection area, clear or select ALT key to select in views.

This sets the ALT key as required when selecting.

When ALT key to select in views is cleared, the default behavior is selection
without the ALT key.

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Selecting and context-sensitive menus

The context-sensitive menus in the Perspective and Graph views are sensitive to
selection. When objects are selected, the menu may list commands based on the
options available for the selected object. The list of available commands may
also depend on factors such as the state or condition of the data in a selected
object. For example, commands to fill a gap on a marker are displayed in a
context menu only if there is a gap at the current frame.

To access selection-sensitive context menus:

• When ALT key to select in views is selected in the Preferences dialog box, use
ALT+CTRL+ right-click.

• When ALT key to select in views is cleared in the Preferences dialog box, use
ALT+ right-click.

To avoid accidentally manipulating objects when using the ALT key to select:

You can turn on the requirement for the CTRL key be held down to manipulate
objects in the 3D Scene view by selecting this option on the Interface tab of the
Preferences dialog box. By default, the option is cleared (off).

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Prepare your Vicon system

It is assumed that your Vicon system hardware (including the Vicon cameras,
Vicon connectivity units, and any supported third-party devices) has been set up
and connected and that Shogun is installed and licensed.

If you're installing your Vicon system yourself, see the Vicon documentation that
was supplied with your hardware and Installing and licensing Vicon Shogun,
together with any relevant videos (see the video links below). If you need further
help with setting up your Vicon system, please contact Vicon Support7.

 Important
When you start Shogun Live or connect Vicon devices into your system,
Shogun checks to see whether the firmware for all your devices is up-to-
date. If your devices aren’t using the latest firmware, Shogun displays an
icon in the toolbar to let you know that a more up-to-date version of the
firmware is available. To benefit from the latest enhancements and bug
fixes for your Vicon system, click the icon and update your firmware.
(The Vicon Firmware Update Utility is installed with the latest version of
Shogun. If you don't have the Vicon Firmware Update Utility, download
it from the Vicon website8.)

To prepare your Vicon system for motion capture with Vicon Shogun Live, you'll
need to complete these procedures in this order:

• Create a folder hierarchy to store takes (page 57)

• Position the cameras and markers (page 59)

• Check the coverage of the capture volume (page 60)

• Adjust the focus and aperture (page 61)

• Optimize camera settings (page 65)

• Set timecode (optional step) (page 67)

• Prepare video cameras (optional step) (page 71)

7 mailto:[email protected]
8 https://www.vicon.com/software/camera-firmware/

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You can watch a Vicon video: 2 - Shogun Live - System Setup9, which shows
these steps. (If your system includes Vicon video cameras, see also 3 - Shogun
Live - Setting up Vue video camera10.)

9 https://vimeo.com/218944963
10 https://vimeo.com/218944968

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Create a folder hierarchy to store takes

Before you begin motion capture with Vicon Shogun Live, you must create a
hierarchy of folders in which to store the files associated with your motion
capture takes. You can do this either in Vicon Shogun Post or in Vicon Eclipse
running as a standalone application.

To create the folder hierarchy to store your takes:

1. Start Vicon Shogun Post or Vicon Eclipse .

2. If you are using Shogun Post, open the Data Management panel (press F2, or
on the Panels tab on the ribbon, click Data Management).

3. In the Data Management panel or in Eclipse, click the Create a new database

button . (Note that the the Eclipse buttons are slightly different from the
Data Management ones, but their function is the same.)

4. In the New Database dialog box:

a. In the Location field, browse to or enter the required location. This can be
anywhere where you normally save data, for example in your Documents
folder.

b. In the Name field, supply a name and (if required) a description in the
Description field.

c. In the Based on list, click Shogun Animation Template.eni.

5. Click Create and in the next dialog box, ensure your new database is selected
and click Open.

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6. In the Data Management pane, create the structure in which Shogun Live will
store your take:

a. Right-click in the window, point to New and then click Project and supply a
suitable name for your project.

b. Click in the Project line you just created, then right-click, point to New and
click Capture day.

c. Click in the new Capture day node, right-click, point to New and then click
Session.

7. Open Windows Explorer and view the folder structure you just created.

Note that the .enf file has the name you gave to your database. It contains the
file structure instructions to Eclipse that tells it which is the main folder and
which are the subfolders for this database. The subfolder structure reflects the
Project, Capture day and Session that you specified. Each subfolder contains
an .enf file that indicates to Eclipse where it belongs in the hierarchy.

You now have an active session, ready to store your Shogun Live takes.

Before you begin capturing, to save your captured takes into the newly created
folder hierarchy, you will specify the path to it in Shogun Live, as described in
Capture a take (page 132).

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Position the cameras and markers

With your Vicon system set up, installed and licensed, the first task in setting up
your capture space is to position the cameras and markers.

1. Position your cameras around the capture volume, ensuring that two or more
cameras can see every point in the volume in which you intend to capture
motion.

2. Place Vicon retroreflective markers around the floor to outline your capture
volume.

 Tip
You may find it helpful to create an asymmetrical pattern along the
perimeter, as shown above, to help orient your view. For example, for
a rectangular volume, place a different number of markers at each
corner. For an elliptical volume, vary the spacing between markers as
you place them around the perimeter.

3. Place five markers in a cross shape to identify the volume origin.

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Check the coverage of the capture volume

After you have positioned cameras and markers in the capture volume, the next
task is to ensure that the cameras can see the whole of the volume.

1. Ensure your cameras are physically connected to the system (for details, see
the hardware documentation supplied with your Vicon system).

2. Switch on your Vicon system and start Vicon Shogun Live.

3. In the System panel (by default located on the left of the Shogun Live
window), SHIFT+click to select all the cameras or, for a large number of
cameras, right-click and click the relevant Select All option.

4. In the Workspace ensure that the Cameras view is selected.

5. Keeping all the cameras selected, in the Optical Mode section below, change
Grayscale Mode to All.

6. Using the default lens settings on each camera, ensure that:

• You can see 2D marker images from each connected optical camera.

• Two or more cameras can see every point in the volume in which you
intend to capture motion.

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Adjust the focus and aperture

To achieve a good marker image you may need to adjust the camera lens.
Depending on your Vicon camera model, you may find two or three adjustment
rings on the lens. These control the focus and aperture, and if the camera has an
additional ring, the focal length.

Vicon MX T-Series:

Vicon Bonita:

Vicon Vantage:

For Vantage cameras (as with T-Series cameras),

for 8.5 and 12.5 mm lenses, the order of the
aperture and focus rings is the reverse of that
shown.

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Vicon Vero:

Vicon Viper: Vicon ViperX:

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To focus a camera:

1. To make focusing easier, in the View Filters, go to the 2D Data options and
select Maximize Grayscale, which zooms the view into any visible markers.

2. Fully open the Aperture ring.

3. Adjust the Focus ring so that the markers become round and clear. As you
rotate the focus ring, notice the marker images get smaller and then at some
point will begin to get larger again. Good focus is when the marker is at its
smallest size. Leaving this setting at infinity ∞ is normally suitable. Aim for a
marker image similar to the following:

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4. Close the Aperture ring so that as much background noise as possible is

removed without compromising the quality of the marker image. Try to obtain
good, clear images of markers even when they are close together, as shown
in the following image, where the markers on the left are touching. The
markers should not be too small, and the center should be just off-white (not
fully saturated) when viewed from the middle of the volume.

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Optimize camera settings

To ensure optimum marker recognition, you adjust the camera settings in
Shogun Live.

To optimize camera settings:

1. In Vicon Shogun Live, make sure you are viewing 2D data from your cameras
in one or more Cameras views. (To display the necessary layout, you can click
the Load saved view list in the menu bar near the top of the Shogun window,
then click System Setup.)

2. Have someone wave the calibration device around in the capture volume and
ensure you can see marker images moving in each Cameras view.

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3. In the System panel, SHIFT+click to select all the cameras, go to the Optical
Mode section below and adjust the following camera settings as necessary:

• Gain: To start with, leave the setting at the default of 1x to ensure 2D

marker images are bright enough to see clearly. If the markers appear too
faint or if the cameras have trouble distinguishing them, adjust this setting.

• Threshold: A good starting value is 0.2 to 0.3. This setting determines the
minimum value at which data is registered by pixels on the camera sensor
and considered for circle fitting. As this setting acts like a high-pass filter,
reducing this value increases the data that can pass through the sensor.

• Strobe Intensity: Adjust this setting to increase the effective brightness of

the strobe and therefore the distance at which and clarity with which it is
likely to illuminate. A good starting value is 1.0 (100%), which is why this is
the default setting.

If you need to further adjust any of the above settings for individual cameras, in
the System panel, click the name of the relevant camera and change the
required setting(s) in the Optical Mode section.

When you have finished focusing and optimizing the cameras, with all cameras
selected, in the Optical Mode section change Grayscale Mode back to Auto.

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Set timecode (optional step)

If your system includes an external timecode generator, before you calibrate the
cameras, you must set the required timecode in Shogun Live.

To set the timecode:

1. In the System panel, in the Connectivity section, click on your device to view
its current settings.

2. At the top of the System panel, view the system settings.

3. In the Frame Rate (Hz) list, select the required frame rate.

 If you're tracking fast-moving props, for best results, choose a

reasonably high frame rate (100–120 Hz ) and ensure the rate of
dropped frames is minimal.

(For information about using High Speed mode, which enables you to run
Vicon Vantage cameras at higher frames rates while maintaining the FOV, see
Use High Speed mode to run Vantage cameras at higher frame rates (page
69).)

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4. To use a genlock standard, ensure the Genlock Setup option is selected and
from the Genlock Setup list, select the standard you want to use. Similarly, if
required, enable the Timecode Setup option and select a timecode standard
from the Timecode Setup list. The following example shows the SDI standard
and a frame rate of 120 selected:

5. In the Genlock and Timecode section for the selected connectivity device, to
enable genlock, select the Genlock Enabled check box.

6. In the Timecode Source list, select the required option.

7. In the Data Capture panel (by default displayed at the bottom of the Camera
Calibration panel, on the right of the Shogun Live window), the timecode is
now displayed.

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It is also shown as part of the information displayed at the bottom of the

Workspace.

Use High Speed mode to run Vantage cameras at higher

frame rates
Shogun 1.5 and later supports the use of the Vantage+ firmware upgrade
(Firmware 725 and later), enabling you to use High Speed mode with your
Vantage cameras without having to change the field of view (FOV) or lens. When
you capture optical data, subsampling (selectively reducing the pixel count)
enables you to run at high camera frame rates without reducing the FOV (frame
size). You can change frame rates during capture and you don't need to set up
your cameras again when you increase the frame rate, as the FOV is unchanged.

Note that because the higher speeds are achieved through subsampling
(removing some pixels from the frames), some reduction in resolution is incurred.
For details, see High-speed mode in the Vicon Vantage Reference Guide.

To select high-speed mode:

1. In Vicon Shogun Live, in the System panel, click in the Frame Rate list and set
the system frame rate to the speed you want to use in High Speed mode.
A warning may temporarily be displayed, alerting you to the discrepancy
between the requested frame rate and the actual system frame rate, until you
select high speed mode for all the relevant cameras, as explained next.

2. In the System panel, select one or more cameras.

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3. In the camera properties below, ensure the Advanced properties are

displayed and in the Optical Setup section, click the Sensor Mode menu and
select High Speed.

In the Cameras view pane, notice that the High Speed mode icon is displayed

in the top left corner of the view, next to the other camera details .

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Prepare video cameras (optional step)

Vicon Vue and Vicon Bonita Video cameras can be calibrated as part of a Vicon
system, enabling you to see an accurate video overlay both during a live shoot
and offline.

If your Vicon system includes supported video cameras, ensure you have set up
your PC to work with the video cameras, physically connected the video cameras
to your Shogun system, and set an IP address for each video camera as
described in the Vicon video: 3 - Shogun Live - Setting up Vue video camera11.

Set up aliases for video capture

Shogun Live enables you to provides an alias and specify the location to which to
capture video. By having a dedicated disk (normally an SSD) for each video
camera, you avoid any impact on the main system resources.

Before you begin a capture that includes video, ensure you have specified the
required location for video capture, as described in the following steps.

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To specify the location to which to capture video:

1. On the Settings menu, click Show Preferences (or press SHIFT+P).

2. In the Preferences dialog box, set up a different alias for each video camera
in your system, each pointing to a different SSD as follows:

a. On the System Preferences tab, click New.

b. In the Create New Device Capture Folder dialog box, in the Alias field
enter a name for the folder and in the Capture Folder field, enter or
browse to the required location and click OK.

3. When you have finished, click Save Changes.

4. In the System panel, in the Video Cameras section, for each video camera,
ensure that the correct alias is selected from the Capture Directory list.

Configure video cameras in Shogun Live

After you initially connect your Vicon video camera(s), set up IP addresses and
open Shogun Live, icons that represent the cameras are displayed in the System
panel. However, when you click on a video camera, nothing is displayed in the
Cameras view. The yellow warning icon next to the video camera name indicates
that you need to configure the video camera.

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To configure video cameras:

In the System panel, select a video camera, and then set the following
attributes:

1. In the General section, ensure Enabled is selected and set the Stream IP
Address for the selected video camera. This must be the address that was set
for this video camera in the Windows Network and Sharing Center, as shown
in the Vicon video: Vicon Vue Configuration (see above). Ensure the camera’s
IP address is not the same as that used by any other optical or video camera,
or any other device. As the address ending in 192.168.10.1 is always reserved
for the system, normally video cameras take the next available IP addresses
(for example, 192.168.10.2, 192.168.10.3, etc).
The video stream is now displayed in the Cameras view of the selected video
camera.
You can now calibrate the video camera, along with the other cameras (see
Calibrate cameras (page 75)).

2. To configure the capture settings:

a. Note that for the best performance and to avoid running out of disk space,
in the Capture section, set the Capture Directory to a drive that is different
from that used by the Data Management or Eclipse database. If possible,
specify a different drive for each video camera, as described in Set up
aliases for video capture (page 71). If not, at least divide the video cameras
into separate groups, depending on the drive speed, and allocate a
separate drive to each group.
The folder structure created by setting the Capture Directory duplicates
the structure of the Data Management capture path.
b. To change the sampling rate for video cameras, in the System panel, in the
Video cameras section, click to select the required video camera and in
the General section select the required option from the Sub Sampling
Divisor list.
c. If you need to adjust the saturation, click Show Advanced and change the
relevant setting in the Video Mode section.

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Realtime video compression

In Shogun Live 1.5 and later, you can capture direct to .mov file format, using one
of five preset quality settings, enabling you to balance the file size against the
required quality.

To select .mov format for capture:

1. In the System panel, ensure the relevant video camera is selected (both Vue
and SDI are supported) and in the Capture section, click in the Container
Format list and select MOV.

2. To change the default quality setting, click in the Video Format list and select
one of:

• Lowest (lowest quality very small file)

• Low (low quality, small file)

• Medium (medium quality, medium size file)

• High (high quality, large file)

• Best (best quality, very large file)

File sizes can be much smaller, depending on the chosen quality setting.

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Calibrate cameras
When you first connect up your Vicon system and start Vicon Shogun Live, notice
that in both the System panel and in the Cameras view, icons give you feedback
on the current status of the cameras. The cyan icons indicate that although the
cameras are connected, they are not yet calibrated.

Tip
To make it easy to tell when cameras have been disconnected, camera views
for disconnected cameras display a red border.

To calibrate your Vicon cameras, complete these procedures in this order:

• Mask cameras (page 77)

• Capture a wand wave (page 81)

• Set the volume origin (page 84)

• Set the floor plane (page 91)

• Auto number cameras (page 94)

With Shogun Live 1.6 and later, to avoid having to recalibrate the whole system
when you make changes such as adding or moving some of the cameras, you
can Calibrate or recalibrate selected cameras (page 95).

See also the Vicon video: 4 - Shogun Live - System Calibration12.

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 Important - Before you begin camera calibration, ensure that:

• Cameras have fully warmed up to a stable operating temperature.
Vicon recommends a minimum 30–60 minute warm-up period. To
ensure strobe activity, which can accelerate the warm-up period,
connect up the Vicon system and run Vicon Shogun Live.

• The Grayscale Mode for all cameras is set to Auto. To do this, in the
System panel, click and drag or right-click to select all cameras and in
the Optical Mode section below, change Grayscale Mode to Auto.

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Mask cameras
You mask cameras, including supported video cameras, during camera
calibration to eliminate any unwanted reflections in the capture volume, so that
they are not mistaken for markers by the cameras. Before you start masking, you
can see these reflections represented by light pixels in the Camera views. During
masking, blue pixels are drawn in the Cameras views, enabling you to see how
much of the view is masked.

To mask reflections:

1. Ensure you have removed any objects likely to cause reflections, such as the
calibration device or markers, from the capture volume.

2. To display the required panels, in the Load Saved View list, click System
Setup.

3. In the System panel, SHIFT+click or drag to ensure all the cameras are
selected, including any video cameras in your Vicon system.

4. On the Camera Calibration tab, click Start Masking (All).

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The button displays Stop Masking and at the top of the workspace, Auto
Mask Active is displayed.

In the Cameras views, any video cameras are displayed as black, blank
screens.
Shogun Live starts recording the data visible to each of the connected
cameras. Any camera masks created are displayed as blue cells in the
Cameras views for affected cameras. If no data is visible to a particular
camera, Shogun Live does not create any masks for it. Both optical and video
cameras are masked.

5. After about 5–10 seconds, click Stop Masking.

6. In the Cameras view for each camera, ensure that any unwanted reflections
are eliminated. (Each view should either be completely blank or should
contain some blue pixels.)

When you've masked all the reflections, you can capture a wand wave (page 81).

If you need to add equipment or make other changes after you've finished
masking, see Change masking (page 79).

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Change masking
If you add equipment or markers into the volume after you’ve finished auto-
masking, or if you have an issue with specific camera(s), you'll need to add to any
masking that you've already completed. To do this, you can keep your original
masking and use further auto-masking to add to it and/or manually paint out any
additional reflections.

To add to existing auto-masking:

1. To display the required panels, in the Load Saved View list, click System
Setup.

2. If you want to apply additional masking to only some cameras, make sure
you've selected the relevant cameras.

3. On the Camera Calibration tab, ensure the Advanced options are displayed
and clear the Clear Previous Masks check box. This prevents your original
masking from being overwritten.

4. If you want to add the new masking to selected cameras only, in the Cameras
To Mask list, ensure Selected Cameras Only is selected.

5. Click Start Masking.

Auto Mask Active is displayed at the top of the Workspace.

6. When masking is complete, click Stop Masking.

In the Cameras views, observe the additional masking, which is displayed as
blue cells.

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To manually add masking:

1. To display the required panels, in the Load Saved View list, click System
Setup.

2. On the Camera Calibration tab, click Start Manual Mask Paint.

Manual Mask Painting Active is displayed at the top of the Workspace.

3. Use the following shortcuts to select and mask:

• To select an area: Alt+click and drag

• To apply masking: Click on the pencil icon next to the pin button or use the
shortcut Alt+E.

• To erase masking: Select the masked area (see above) and click the eraser
or use the shortcut Alt+R.

4. When you have finished manual masking, click Stop Manual Mask Paint.

When you've masked all the reflections, you can capture a wand wave (page 81).

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Capture a wand wave

During camera calibration, after you have masked any reflections, you calibrate
the cameras by waving a wand (the calibration device) throughout the volume to
enable the cameras to capture movements over the whole area.

 Important
• If you are calibrating one or more supported video cameras, the
calibration device must be an Active Wand.

• The minimum frame rate supported by the Active Wand is 50 Hz.

To capture a wand wave:

1. At the top of the Camera Calibration tab, in the Wand list, ensure the option
for the type of wand that you are using is selected (this will normally be one of
the Active Wand options).

2. To start collecting wand data, click Start Wave.

The button displays Stop Wave and in the menu bar, the text Camera
Calibration Active is displayed, next to a flashing red circle.

3. Have someone wave the wand throughout the capture volume, covering
depth as well as height, while you watch the Cameras views for all cameras to
ensure you get full coverage. Ensure that the markers (LEDs) on the wand
remain visible to all the cameras as much as possible while the wand is moved
throughout the volume.
As an indication that sufficient wand wave data has been collected for a
particular camera, the display in the each view changes from orange to blue.

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4. In the table in the bottom half of the Camera Calibration tab, notice that the
Wand Count column changes from red to green as sufficient data per camera
is captured. This helps you concentrate on waving the wand for cameras that
need more data.

 Tip
By default, camera calibration stops automatically when each camera
has seen enough of the wand to ensure calibration. To adjust this or
turn it off, at the top right of the Camera Calibration tab, click Show
Advanced and then click the ellipsis (…) to the right of the Start
Wave button.

5. In the Image Error column, in addition to displaying the values, Shogun Live
grades the status of each camera between red (poor) and green (excellent),
depending on how much the cameras see the wand.
In the volume, the display on Vicon optical cameras changes to indicate their
calibration status:

• Vantage, Vero, Viper and ViperX cameras: The status lights turn magenta
and blink during calibration, becoming green and then blue when fully
calibrated. On the OLED display (Vantage cameras only), a pie chart
indicates the fraction of the required wand data that has been received
from the camera.

• MX T-Series cameras: The status light on the front blink while you are
performing the wand wave, and then go solid blue when enough data has
been collected to calibrate the camera.

6. When enough data has been collected, Shogun Live starts processing the
wand wave data. Depending on the number of cameras and the length of
your wand wave capture, this may take a few minutes. The progress bar
indicates the calibration progress, and table below indicates the calibration
results.

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In the Log, you are warned if your wand wave has insufficient spread across
cameras to give a good calibration. The warning displays both the camera
User ID (the number you can provide for the camera in the camera's
properties, and URN (the Device ID, found in the camera's Advanced
properties).

7. When the wand wave is finished, an .xcp and an .x2d file is created in C:
\ProgramData\Vicon\Calibrations. If your calibration included Vicon video
cameras, two x2d files are created. The files are:

• LatestCalibration.x2d, which contains the wand wave without any Vicon

video cameras

• LatestCalibration_withVideo.x2d, which contains the wand wave including

Vicon video cameras.

 Note
After a wand wave, Vicon video cameras do not produce video files as
they are not needed for calibration.

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Set the volume origin

After you have captured a wand wave, you set the volume origin and axes so the
cameras and volume in Shogun Live reflect the actual positions of the cameras in
relation to the capture volume, as well as to each other.

1. To enable you to see the axes in relation to the volume, on the Workspace
tab, change the view to 3D Scene.

2. Place the calibration device on the capture volume floor in the position you
want the volume origin to be and in the orientation you want the axes to be
(reflected in the axes displayed in the 3D Scene view).

• X: red line

• Y: green line

• Z: blue line

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3. At the top of the Camera Calibration tab, in the Wand list, ensure the
appropriate Active Wand is selected.

 Tip
If you're using a Y-up wand, display the Advanced properties and in
the Set Volume Origin section, select Legacy Y-Up Scene
Orientation.

4. Click Start Set Origin.

The button displays Set Origin.

5. After a few seconds, click Set Origin.

6. In the 3D Scene, display the View Filters options and under the Volume
options, ensure that Cameras is selected.

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7. In the 3D Scene, Perspective view, all of the cameras shift as a group, so the
origin of the capture volume is aligned with the wand.

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Set the origin with a custom L-frame

To improve calibration stability and consistency over time, you can use a custom
L-frame to set the origin of your system.

As described in Set the volume origin (page 84), you can use a Vicon Active Wand
to set up your volume coordinate system quickly and easily. However, using a
larger, custom calibration object (in this case, markers embedded in the volume
floor and/or wall) can improve calibration stability and consistency over time.

A typical way to use a custom L-frame would be to keep markers on wall, hidden
during camera masking, then when you're ready to set the coordinate system for
your volume, make the markers visible and use the custom L-Frame as described
below.

See also:

Vicon Shogun 1.3 Live Tutorial - Custom L-Frame Workflow13 on YouTube.

To create a custom L-frame:

1. With the system calibrated, set the origin as normal (see Set the volume
origin (page 84)), including setting the floor offset (see Set the floor plane (page
91)), as required.

2. Position a number of markers on the edge of the volume and select them.

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3. On the Tracking tab (right), in the Prop field, enter a name for the custom L-
frame and click Create.

The new custom L-frame prop is displayed in the 3D Scene view.

4. Pause the real time and in the Tracking panel on the right, select the prop
you just created.

5. To display the Object Manipulator, press M. (For more information on the

Object Manipulator, see Move props (page 128).)
In the Workspace (3D Scene view), the Object Manipulator is displayed.

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6. In the Tracking panel on the right, ensure that the custom L-frame is still
selected, and with the Object Manipulator set to Global, change all the values
to zero, so the origin matches that of the L-frame.

7. In the Tracking panel, with the custom L-Frame selected, right-click and then
click Export.

8. Navigate to Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\CalibrationObjects and click

Select Folder. The custom L-frame is automatically saved as a VSK.

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To use the custom L-frame:

1. Click Play to resume the real time.

2. On the Camera Calibration tab (right), ensure the Advanced options are
displayed (if not, click Show Advanced, top right).

3. To the right of Start Set Origin, click the button for additional options.

4. In the L-Frame list, select the new custom L-frame.

5. Click Start Set Origin.

The new custom L-frame is used to set the origin.

6. When done, click Complete Set Origin.

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Set the floor plane

The final stage in calibrating your Vicon cameras is to set the floor plane, using
markers in the volume to automatically define it.

The position of the virtual floor that is derived during setting the origin is
extrapolated from the position of the wand in relation to floor of the volume. As
the wand is a small object compared with the size of the volume, any slight
discrepancy from the wand being level has a large effect over the rest of the
volume when you set the origin. To account for any discrepancy, you set a floor
plane, which takes a much larger area into account, so that the virtual floor lines
up correctly with the actual floor plane.

To set the floor plane:

1. Ensure you have completed the rest of the camera calibration procedure and
set the origin (see Set the volume origin (page 84) ).

2. Turn off the calibration object or remove it from the volume.

3. Place a minimum of four 14 mm Vicon markers across the floor of your

capture volume.
(If you are not using 14 mm markers or have changed the default 7 mm floor
plane setting, see Adjust the Set Floor Plane settings (page 93).)

4. On the Camera Calibration tab, click Start Set Floor Plane.

The button displays Set Floor Plane.

5. After a few seconds, click Set Floor Plane.

6. In the 3D Scene, display the View Filters options and under the Volume
options, ensure that Cameras is selected
In the Perspective view, note that the cameras shift as a group slightly along
one or more rotation axes to better reflect an average of the markers
scattered across the floor, taking into account any offsets that you specified.
In C:\ProgramData\Vicon\Calibrations, the LatestCalibration.xcp file is
updated. This file is automatically used for every subsequent capture.

 Tip
To more accurately visualize the size of your volume in Shogun Live,
you can change the size and shape of the floor grid. To do this, on
the Camera Calibration tab, click the ellipsis (...) next to Set Floor
Extents and change the values (in mm) to give the required result.

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If your system includes supported video cameras, you can now check that your
video calibration is accurate by viewing a video overlay.

To check a video overlay:

1. In the System panel, expand the Video Cameras section and click on one or
more video cameras.
The Cameras view displays the video data for the selected video camera(s).

2. In the Cameras view, click View Filters and in the 3D Data section, select the
3D option.
In the view pane, a 3D overlay is displayed. Because this displays a flat overlay
on a 3D Scene, the edges appear distorted.

3. To remove the distorted appearance, select Distort 3D.

The 3D perspective is flattened to match the video.

4. Check that the video of the markers and the 3D perspective line up
accurately.

 Tip
To check your calibration, from the View Filters options, select
Camera Rays. If you select one or more cameras, this displays lines
(rays) to everything the selected camera(s) can see. If you select one
or more markers, this option displays lines from all cameras that can
see the selected marker(s).

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Your Vicon cameras are now calibrated and ready to capture data.

Adjust the Set Floor Plane settings

If you are not using 14 mm markers, to enable you to set the floor plane
accurately, click Show Advanced, click the ellipsis next to Start Set Floor Plane,
and change the Height offset value to an appropriate value. The Height offset is
the amount (in mm) by which to adjust the floor plane (the default is 7 mm).
Because Shogun finds the centers of the markers, set a Height offset that
accounts for the size of the markers (for example, for 14 mm markers, the Height
offset is 7 mm). If the markers include a base, take this into account in your
calculations.

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Auto number cameras

The Auto Number Cameras feature numbers the currently connected Vicon
cameras in ascending order, according to their position in the capture volume.
You may want to do this after you calibrate your Vicon system, so that your
cameras are logically numbered before you begin capture.

Automatic numbering starts with the camera that is furthest from the volume
origin. The cameras are then numbered in a clockwise direction around the
volume. If your cameras are positioned at different levels, the cameras in the
level that contains the most cameras are numbered first.

To automatically number Vicon cameras:

1. Ensure that the cameras are positioned as required, and that you have
calibrated the cameras and set the volume origin.

2. To enable you to check the camera numbering for all cameras, in the System
panel, ensure that you can see the list of Vicon cameras.

3. In the Camera Calibration panel, click Auto Number Cameras.

The cameras are automatically numbered in ascending order, according to
their position in the volume.
In C:\ProgramData\Vicon\Calibrations, the LatestCalibration.xcp file is
updated.

4. In the volume, check that the cameras are now numbered as required.

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Calibrate selected cameras

WIth Shogun 1.6 and later, you can mask and calibrate or recalibrate multiple
selected Vicon optical cameras or Vicon video cameras, as well as SDI cameras,
without having to completely re-calibrate the whole system.

Any cameras that are not selected are locked, so that any existing calibration is
unaffected, and the global co-ordinate system is maintained.

To add new cameras to a calibration:

1. Connect the new cameras into the Vicon Shogun system that contains the
calibrated cameras.

2. In the System panel, select the new cameras that are not yet calibrated
(indicated by a cyan icon).

3. Instead of masking all the cameras, on the Camera Calibration tab, ensure the
Advanced options are displayed and in the Auto Masking section, change
Cameras To Mask to Selected Cameras and then click Start (Selected).

4. When the cameras are masked, click Stop.

5. In the same way, with the new cameras still selected, in the Calibration Wave
section, click Selected and, with Auto Stop selected, wave the wand for just
the selected cameras and wait for the calibration to finish.

You don’t need to re-set the origin as the world co-ordinate system remains
valid.

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SDI lens calibration example

You can use Shogun Live's ability to calibrate selected cameras to add an SDI
camera to your system.

With Shogun Live, you can obtain the camera extrinsics (the camera position
relative to the world) and the intrinsics (information about the lens, such as its
focal length and radial lens distortion). As this enables you to accurately overlay
3D data onto the 2D data, it provides a quick way to assess the quality of the
calibration.

To add an SDI camera to a calibration:

1. Connect the SDI camera into a Blackmagic Decklink card on the PC that is
part of a Vicon Shogun system.
It is displayed as Decklink in the Video Cameras section of the System panel.

2. Click Decklink to display the video stream.

3. As in Calibrate selected cameras (page 95), mask the selected additional

camera and complete a wand wave for it.

 Tip
When waving the wand for the new video camera, bear in mind that
you also need several other optical cameras to be able to gain
enough information from the wand wave to be able to position the
additional camera within 3D space successfully. You may find that
holding the wand at an angle may give a better result.

When the wand wave is complete, the SDI video camera is calibrated and
added into the existing calibration. It is displayed in the 3D Scene view.

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Because the calibration has provided extrinsics as well as intrinsic data about
the camera, you can accurately overlay 3D data on top of the 2D data. This
gives a quick way of assessing the quality of the calibration as, using the 3D
Opacity control in the View Filters, you can see how closely the 3D image
matches the 2D data beneath.

Because this process is so fast and consistent, you can make changes the lens
(eg, use a different focal distance) or even swap it entirely and produce a new
calibration very quickly.

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Create subjects
After you have calibrated your Vicon cameras, you are ready to create and
calibrate subjects and any props that you need.

To create and calibrate subjects, complete the following procedures as required:

• Choose a marker set (page 100)

• Add labeling clusters to the datastore (optional step) (page 101)

• Place markers on a performer (page 103)

• Create and calibrate a subject (page 109)

• Load a retargeting setup (page 118)

In addition to the following information, see also the Vicon video 6 - Shogun Live
- Subject Calibration14, which demonstrates how to place markers on a
performer and how to calibrate a subject using a T-pose and ROM. (Note that
the latest version of Shogun uses an A-pose for subject calibration, and includes
a cluster-picker to help with subject booting when using the high-density finger
marker sets.)

14 https://vimeo.com/218944987

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Load subjects and props via .mcp file

For an easy way to quickly load subjects and props from an existing scene, you
can load an .mcp file directly into Shogun Live.

To quickly load subjects and props from an .mcp:

1. At the top of the Tracking panel, click the Load tracking configuration button
.
2. From the Load Tracking Configuration dialog box, select or browse to the
required .mcp file.
The subjects and props are displayed in the Tracking panel as normal.

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Choose a marker set

Choose a marker set, depending on your requirements. Templates (labeling and
solving) for the following marker sets are supplied with the latest release of
Shogun:

Marker set Description

FrontWaist Standard 53-marker set

FrontWaist10Fingers Standard marker set plus 10 finger-markers

FrontWaist3Fingers Standard marker set plus three finger-markers

FrontWaist5Fingers Standard marker set plus five finger-markers

Production Production marker set, which helps with marker occlusion

and includes extra markers for the back and top of the
shoulders to help with gap-filling and solving

Production10Fingers Production marker set plus 10 finger-markers

Production3Fingers Production marker set plus three finger-markers

Production5Fingers Production marker set plus five finger-markers

SideWaist Alternative standard marker set, which avoids front waist

marker occlusion (useful if, for example, the front waist
marker is likely to be occluded due to a performer's hands
obstructing it or the performer bending forwards)

SideWaist10Fingers Standard marker set with side waist markers plus 10 finger-
markers

SideWaist3Fingers Standard marker set with side waist markers plus three
finger-markers

SideWaist5Fingers Standard marker set with side waist markers plus five finger-
markers

For the most realistic finger animation, the 10 finger-marker set is recommended.

It is assumed that you are using one of Shogun’s default labeling templates. If
you are using a different template, please contact Vicon Support15.

15 mailto:[email protected]

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Add labeling clusters to the datastore (optional step)

To help Shogun Live in booting the labeling setup and to uniquely

identify performers, you can use labeling clusters. Labeling clusters are
particularly useful in scenes with multiple performers.

Place one or more labeling clusters on each performer, with each cluster
containing five or more markers. Ensure labeling clusters are unique by varying
the position of the markers in each cluster.

Before you can use the labeling clusters for motion capture, you must add them
to the Shogun Live datastore, to enable Shogun Live to recognize them.

To create labeling clusters:

1. To save clusters, you can either use the default folder (C:
\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\Clusters), or to change the default location,
in the Preferences dialog box (Shift+P), on the User tab, go to the Folders
section and on the Labeling Clusters line, enter or browse to the required
folder.

2. Place the labeling cluster(s) in the volume and ensure all the markers are
visible to the cameras.

3. In the 3D Scene, ALT+drag to select a minimum of five markers for the new
cluster.

4. In the Tracking panel, ensure the Setup tab is selected and in the Labeling
Cluster field, enter a name for the new cluster and then click the adjacent
Create button.

A labeling cluster is created from the selected markers and a .vsk file (with the
same name as the labeling cluster) is created in the folder specified in Step 1.

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 Tip
To help you to identify a labeling cluster, in the tree at the top of the
Tracking panel, hover the mouse pointer over the cluster's icon. An
enlarged view of the cluster is displayed.

5. If you need to rename, detach, delete, or export a cluster, at the top of the
Tracking panel, right-click the cluster and from the menu, select the required
option. To rename you can also double-click the required cluster and then
enter the new name.

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Place markers on a performer

To place markers on a performer:

1. Place your chosen marker set on the performer(s).

The following images show the standard Vicon FrontWaist 53-marker set, and
also show the placement of a cluster.

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These images show the placement of markers for the Production marker set
(with 10 finger-markers):

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If you're using side waist markers, place the waist marker(s) at the sides of the
performer's waist:

2. Ensure that the foot markers are placed so that the toe marker is as far
forward as possible on the foot while still facing upward. Also ensure that the
three other markers (the heel marker and the two markers on either side of
the front of the foot) are in the same plane, and are as low (ie near to the
floor), as possible.

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3. If you're using finger markers, place them on the hands.

Follow these guidelines to ensure that the finger markers produce an
accurate solve:

• Wrists: The wrist marker placement is important because the foundation of

a good finger solve is a correctly solved wrist. Place the wrist markers on
either side of the wrist so that both markers are the same distance down
the arm and as close to the joint center as possible.

• Hands: Place the hand markers just before the knuckle of the index and
pinky finger.

• Fingers: For 3 finger-marker setups, place a marker just before the first
joint of the index, pinky, and thumb, so that it is not affected by rotation of
the second joint (see the photo of the 3 finger marker set (page 106)).
For 5 finger-marker setups, place the markers at the end of each of the five
fingers (see the photo of the 5 finger-marker set (page 107)).
For 10 finger-marker setups, place the markers at the end of each finger,
and mid markers on the second phalange apart from the mid (see the
photo of the 10 finger-marker set (page 107)).

• Upper arms and legs: To help with calibration, place offset markers on the
upper arms and legs.

These images show placement of the wrist, hand, and finger markers in a
three-finger setup:

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This image shows placement of the wrist, hand, and finger markers in a 5
finger-marker set:

This image shows placement of the wrist, hand, and finger markers in a 10
finger-marker set:

Placement for all the finger marker sets, as displayed in Shogun, is shown
below:

10 finger-marker set 3 finger-marker set 5 finger-marker set

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 Finger marker size

For a successful calibration, choose the correct size of markers for
the hands, fingers and wrists:

• Hand markers. Marker size is critical for the wrist rotation in the
A-pose. If you use large markers, this can cause an upward
rotation of the the wrist and downward rotation of the knuckles.
For the best results, we recommend that the markers' centers
are about 10 mm from the joint axis.

• Finger markers. Marker size is also important for calibration. For

the best results, we recommend that the markers' centers are
about 5 mm from the joint axis.

• Wrist markers. Marker size does not affect calibration, so you

can use normal body-size markers or finger-size markers.

4. If you're using clusters (see Add clusters to the Shogun Live datastore (page
101)), if you haven't already done so, place them on the performer(s).
Normally, a good location for the cluster is on the torso, but not too close to
other markers. This can be on the front, as shown in the following image, or
on the back, as shown in the illustrations in Step 1.

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Create and calibrate a subject

Calibrating a subject involves having a performer wearing the required marker
set stand in an A-pose and then perform a Range of Motion (ROM) in the capture
volume. During the ROM, ensure that the performer goes through a full range of
movement for every limb and joint that is to be captured.

Before you begin, to give the clearest view of the subject, at the top of the 3D
Scene view, ensure View Filters is selected, then under the Volume options, clear
Cameras. In the Subjects section, select Solve and in the options matrix, in the S
column, ensure Skin is selected (in addition to any other options that you may
want to use).

 Note
Live occlusion-fixing occurs by default. This ensures the skeleton
continues to behave correctly while markers are occluded. To ensure
occlusion fixing is displayed, display the View Filters, and in the Data
section, ensure Missing Markers is selected. In the Subjects section,
select Solve, and in the options matrix, in the S column, ensure Skin is
selected. Occlusion fixing is indicated by the red color and is also visible
when X-Ray is selected.
To turn off occlusion fixing, at the top of the Processing panel, click
Show Advanced and in the General section, clear Occlusion Fixing.

If you want to set aside a part of your volume for subject calibration, to avoid
having to clear the volume each time you have to calibrate or re-calibrate a
subject, see Create a subject calibration hotspot in Getting more from Vicon
Shogun.

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High fidelity fingers marker sets

If you're using a marker set that includes markers for high fidelity fingers, note
that labeling also makes use of this feature. To help the calibration, ensure you
have placed offset markers on the upper arms and legs.

 Note
Because the high-density marker set results in a greater demands on
processing, you may experience dropped frames, especially when using
more than one actor. Ideally, test first with a single actor on a high-spec,
multi-core machine.
To improve processing, you can run reconstruction, labeling, solving
and/or retargeting over multiple machines. For information, see Run
Shogun processing on multiple machines in Getting more from Vicon
Shogun.

To perform live subject calibration:

1. In the Tracking panel, on the Setup tab, in the Template field, choose the
appropriate template for your subject.
If you're using side waist markers and/or finger markers, make sure you
choose the templates that include side waist markers and/or fingers
(indicated by their names).

2. To choose a mesh, ensure the Advanced properties are displayed (if they
aren't, click Show Advanced at the top right of the Setup tab) and from the
Skin list, select the mesh that is to be used for the solving skeleton.

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3. To select a labeling cluster, for example, for a subject who is wearing a high
density marker set (ie finger markers or any other high density set), ensure the
Advanced properties are displayed and in the Labeling Cluster Selection
field, make the required selection:

• All Any currently unattached labeling cluster will be attached to the

subject.

• Selected Only the cluster(s) selected at the start of calibration will be

attached to the subject.

• None No labeling clusters are used for calibration.

4. In the Subject field, enter a name for the new subject and click Create.

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5. Have the performer wearing the correct marker set (see Place markers on a
performer (page 103)) enter the volume and stand in an A-pose, with the hands
flat.

If you're using a template that includes fingers, also ensure that:

• The wrists are straight, not bent to either side or up or down.

• The fingers are straight, with a natural spread, and no bend.

• The thumb is held tight against the index finger. Ensure that the thumb
and the fingers all point in the same direction.

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6. On the menu bar, above the workspace, Subject Calibration Active and a
flashing red circle is displayed.
In the 3D Scene view, the markers are labeled, and the labeling and solving
skeleton is displayed.
Look for feedback in top right of view pane, which shows the number of
markers found and the number of markers required, as well as other
calibration feedback.

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7. Visually check that all the markers have been labeled and everything looks
OK.

 Tip
To quickly check that all the required markers have been placed on
the performer, ensure the subject is selected and check the Marker
Selection counter (bottom right of the view pane). For more
information, see Check the marker count on the current
selection (page 116).

8. After waiting until you’re happy with the position of the joints, on the Setup
tab below the Subject field, click Accept A-Pose.

 Tip
If, despite using offset and left and right markers (see the guidance
on marker placement (page 106) for finger marker sets), you still
experience problems with subject booting, in the Tracking panel,
ensure the Setup tab is selected with Advanced options displayed,
and in the Capture section, select Capture Canceled Calibrations.
(This enables Support to troubleshoot your issue.)

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9. Get the performer to perform a ROM (Range Of Motion) that includes all the
required movement. If you're using one of the high-fidelity fingers templates,
include some finger movements as part of this process. Include bending and
spreading the fingers as well as poses of the hand that will be useful for
checking the accuracy of the labeling.
Include the following in your ROM:

• Fists

• Wiggle the fingers

• Touch the tip of the thumb against the tip of each digit of the same hand:

• Thumb to index finger

• Thumb to middle finger

• Thumb to ring finger

• Thumb to pinkie

10. When the ROM is complete, click Stop Calibrating.

In the 3D Scene, you can see the mesh and solving skeleton of the subject (if
you need to change the display, at the top left of the workspace, click View
Filters and choose the required options).
At the top of the Tracking panel, a subject with the name you supplied in
Step 1 above is displayed, together with a node representing its labeling
cluster (if any).

The subject is now fully calibrated and can be used in captures as required
(for example, if you're using it for retargeting, see Load retargeting
setup (page 118)).

If you have difficulty with calibrating your subject satisfactorily, see Troubleshoot
subject calibration (page 119).

 An alternative to live solving subject calibration

In Shogun 1.6 and later, if you find that after Live calibration the solve
requires much tweaking, for a post-processed alternative, try Auto-
Skeleton in Shogun Post. For information, see Use Auto-Skeleton in
Getting more from Vicon Shogun.

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Check the marker count of the current selection

The Marker Selection counter enables you to easily check the number of markers
currently selected. This is useful during subject calibration, if you need to check
that the required number of markers have all been placed on a subject, or within
a particular set of markers (for example, facial markers).

To display the number of selected markers:

1. In the 3D Scene view, ensure View Filters is selected and in the Overlays
section, select the Selected Marker Count option.

2. At the bottom right of the view pane, the Marker Selection count is displayed.
If no markers are currently selected, a zero is displayed.

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3. As you select markers in the view pane, the Marker Selection counter changes
to display the number of selected markers.

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Load a retargeting setup

If you're retargeting your fully calibrated subject onto a target FBX, you can now
load the retargeting setup file (VSR) and link it to your subject.

1. Ensure the retargeting setup files (.vsr) and skins (.fbx) that you want to use
are located in the relevant folders:

• VSR: C:\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\Retargets

• FBX: C:\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\Skins

2. To turn on retargeting in Shogun Live, in the Processing pane, go to the

General section and set the Processing Output Level to Retarget.

3. In the Tracking panel, ensure the relevant subject is selected and then click
on the Properties tab.

4. In Retarget field, select the required VSR file(s) and then click Reload .

Your character is now retargeted in the 3D workspace.

5. To select or change a skin for the retargeting, click the Retarget Skin field and
select the required skin.

6. If you notice discrepancies between the retargeted character and the

performer driving it, you will need to modify the retargeting.
For information on creating and modifying retargets, see Retarget with
Shogun Post (page 206).

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Troubleshoot subject calibration

This troubleshooting section covers the following aspects of creating and
calibrating a subject in Shogun Live:

• A-pose booting (page 119)

• Subject calibration (page 120)

A-pose booting
• My subject doesn’t pass the A-pose detection stage. (page 119)

• The system says “Awaiting boot”. (page 120)

My subject doesn’t pass the A-pose detection stage.

Look in the log for an explanation as to why the A-pose cannot be detected or
why it has been rejected.

• Are any markers reported as missing? If yes:

• Is the correct skeleton template being used?

• Are all the required markers are attached to the subject?

• Does the subject calibration volume include all the reconstructions?

• Does the subject also seem to have labeling issues? If yes:

• If labeling clusters are attached to the subject, have you created them in
Shogun? Have you verified that the labeling clusters you have created are
selected?

• Is the subject standing in a valid A-pose? A valid A-pose assumes that the
subject:

• Stands straight

• Has their feet pointing forward (ie, the feet are not splayed)

• Has their palms pointing to the floor

• Poses their arms at an angle of 45 degrees from the trunk

• Poses their arms in such a way that they lie in the plane of the torso.

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• Are there any joints reported as out-of-range? If yes:

• Is the A-pose valid (see the above criteria)?

• Is the A-pose still rejected after you've completed all the previous checks? If
yes:

• On the Tracking panel, go to the Subject Calibration section and increase

the value for A-Pose Joint Range Threshold (default value: 1.25) to 1.75 and
check if this solves the issue.
Note that subjects who cannot stand in an A-pose as well as small subjects
usually require the higher threshold. If you don’t need a higher threshold,
use the default value.

The system says “Awaiting boot”.

This message means that the A-pose has been detected and successfully sent to
the tracker subsystem. However the tracker subsystem is unable to label the
subject from the current pre-calibrated skeleton.

• Is the subject standing in a valid A-pose?

• Does the subject calibration volume correctly exclude marker reconstructions

that are not related to the subject under consideration?

Subject calibration
• Calibration of the solving skeleton is jittery. (page 120)

• The result of the solving skeleton calibration looks bad. (page 121)

• The labeling clusters won’t attach to the subject. (page 121)

• During subject re-calibration, the labeling clusters were detached from the
subject. (page 121)

Calibration of the solving skeleton is jittery.

During live subject calibration, jittery refinements of the solving skeleton may
occur with some subjects.

Jittery refinements are unimportant as long as the subject obtained at the end of
the calibration process is correct.

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The result of the solving skeleton calibration looks bad.

Capture a new ROM and ask the subject to:

• Spend more time moving the legs, waist and arms first. Make sure that the
motion includes all the joint capabilities. For example, lunging is not sufficient
to calibrate the legs. Think of side motion as well and, if possible,
intermediate poses obtained by rotating the thigh joints.

• Remember that the more time yhat is spent on these limbs, the more frames
the optimization process receives.

• Avoid a ROM where legs are constantly static and only move in a limited way
at the end of the ROM.

Still observing issues?

• Report the problem to Vicon Support16, with relevant data. In addition to

helping to find a solution to your issue, your input also helps to improve
solving skeleton calibration in future releases.

• Use Shogun Post’s Auto-Skeleton feature to obtain a new solving skeleton.

Issues with the solving skeleton do not affect the labeling process during live
subject calibration, so you can directly re-use the labeled ROM from Shogun
Live for Auto-Skeleton.

The labeling clusters won’t attach to the subject.

Ensure at least 10 calibration frames are collected. Shogun only collects these
frames if the ROM includes some motion.

During subject re-calibration, the labeling clusters were detached

from the subject.
This is expected behavior at the start of the re-calibration process. At least 10
calibration frames must be collected before labeling clusters are re-attached to
the subject. This is not possible unless the ROM includes some motion.

16 mailto:[email protected]

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Create props
In Shogun Live, you can create simple, single-segment (and therefore rigid)
props.

For information on working with props, see:

• Place markers on props (page 124)

• Move props (page 128)

• Work with static meshes (page 130)

For information on creating a prop as a custom L-frame, see Set the origin with a
custom L-frame (page 87).

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Load subjects and props via .mcp file

For an easy way to quickly load subjects and props from an existing scene, you
can load an .mcp file directly into Shogun Live.

To quickly load subjects and props from an .mcp:

1. At the top of the Tracking panel, click the Load tracking configuration button
.
2. From the Load Tracking Configuration dialog box, select or browse to the
required .mcp file.
The subjects and props are displayed in the Tracking panel as normal.

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Place markers on props

When placing markers on props, note that minimum of four markers is
recommended for each prop. Be sure to:

• Place the markers across the prop object to reach the extremities as far as
possible.

• Avoid placing markers in a straight line and/or on the same plane.

• Avoid placing markers symmetrically.

• Prevent marker swaps by avoiding placing prop markers too close to the
hands or where the actor will interact with the prop.
For example, if a performer will interact with a prop, place markers at the
extremities of the prop, but not directly in the location where the interaction
occurs, as shown below, where a performer holds a sword:

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To create a single-segment prop:

1. Ensure the markers are positioned on the prop as described above.

2. Place the prop in the volume.

3. In Shogun Live, in the Settings menu, click Preferences (or press SHIFT+P).

4. In the Preferences dialog box, on the User tab, go to the Folders section and
ensure that the Props folder is as required, or if not, click the button to the
right of the Props line to specify the appropriate folder.

5. In the 3D Scene, select a minimum of four reconstructed markers. To ensure

that Shogun Live places the bone logically within the prop, select
(CTRL+click) the markers in the following order:

• The first selected marker defines the origin (base) of the prop bone.

• The second selected marker defines the end of the prop bone.

• Any other markers can be selected in any order.

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6. In the Tracking panel, in the Prop field, enter a name for the prop and click
Create.

A single-segment prop is created from the selected markers and appears in

the 3D Scene in the orientation defined by the order in which you selected
the markers in the previous step.
The prop is displayed as a node on the Tracking panel on the right of the
Shogun Live window, under Props.

The prop's .mcp file is saved to the location specified in step 4 above.

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7. If required, to select a mesh for the prop, or to change its color, ensure that
the prop is selected in the Tracking panel and then choose a mesh and/or
color on the Properties tab. Prop meshes are FBX files, by default stored in:
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\PropMeshes.

8. To rename or to remove a prop from the current scene, in the Tracking panel,
right-click the prop and then click the relevant option. (You can also double-
click on the prop to rename it.)

After you have saved props, you can import them into subsequent takes as
required.

Note that in addition to creating simple, single-segment props, you can also
import both simple props and more complex, multi-segment props by clicking
the Import Subject button at the top of the Tracking panel.

Tip
An efficient way to evaluate filter performance to ensure the smoothest
possible tracking for selected objects is to create object presets with
different values for the filtering properties. You can then apply them to
selected objects using the saved object presets. For more information, see
Create and apply object presets in Getting more from Vicon Shogun.

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Move props
To move props in Shogun Live, you use the Object Manipulator, at the top of the
3D Scene view.

To use the Object Manipulator:

1. Pause the real time (press the spacebar or click the Pause button or the Play/
Stop button) and in the Tracking panel on the right, select the object that you
want to move.

2. If the Object Manipulator isn't displayed, click the Object Manipulator button
or press M

 Tip
To scale the manipulator, press the + or - keys.

3. Drag to move the prop in the 3D Scene view or enter the required values in
the Object Manipulator fields.

4. To change between global and local values, click the Object Manipulator
symbol:

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You can use the manipulator to quickly align a prop to the world axis.

To align a prop to the world axis:

1. Pause the real time and in the Tracking panel on the right, select the prop
you want to align and press M to display the Object Manipulator.
In the Workspace (3D Scene view), the Object Manipulator is displayed. By
clicking on the Object Manipulator symbol (top left), you can set it to Local
(values at zero) or Global (values relative to the scene origin).

2. To align the selected prop to the scene origin, ensure the Object Manipulator
is set Global and change all the values to zero.

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Work with static meshes

With Shogun Live 1.6 and later, you can import objects (FBX files) that represent
set pieces and LED display walls into Shogun Live and manipulate them within
your scene. This is useful when setting up your 3D environment, enabling you to:

• Calculate the positions of scenery and LED display walls within the tracked
space.

• Position actors within the tracked space.

• Approximately place cameras ahead of a shoot.

To import a static mesh into your scene:

• In Shogun Live, at the top of the Tracking panel, click the Import Mesh button
, locate the required FBX file, and click Open.
When meshes are imported, for convenience they are copied to C:
\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\SceneMeshes.

To change the mesh to a previously imported mesh:

• In the Tracking panel, select the object and on the Properties tab, click
the Mesh list and select the required mesh from the list.

You can translate and rotate the object mesh in the same way as you manipulate
other props (see Move props (page 128)).

After you have finished capturing your scene that contains a static mesh, you can
load the resulting MCP file into Shogun Post. For information, see Load static
meshes into Shogun Post (page 131).

 Note
To manipulate a static mesh, first pause the real time by pressing the
space bar or clicking Pause. Also note that after you move or remove
static meshes, the change is not displayed until you press the space bar
or click Pause again.

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Load static meshes into Shogun Post

In Shogun Post 1.6 and later, you can load an MCP file that was captured in Live
and contains a static mesh. When you load the MCP file into Post, the static
mesh is displayed as an object whose default translation and rotation values are
those that you specified in Shogun Live.

The default path to which static meshes are saved is:

• C:\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\SceneMesh\
As with other default locations, you can change the path by editing it in the
Preferences dialog box (on the General menu, click Preferences and on the
right of the Directories tab, click Scene Meshes).

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Capture a take
Vicon Shogun Live enables you to go straight from live capture to post
processing. Data is saved as a mocap file (.mcp), which contains a copy of the
current calibration, active subject, and real-time data, along with paths to
the .x2d (an XML file, which contains 2D camera data) and any video cameras in
the system. As soon as you’ve captured takes (.mcp files), you can replay and
review them without leaving Live. For cleanup, you open the .mcp file in Shogun
Post.

In addition to the following information about capturing with Shogun Live, see
also the Vicon video:

7 - Shogun Live - Capture Direct to Disk and Realtime Settings17

To find out about streaming real-time data from Shogun Live into Autodesk
MotionBuilder, Unity, or Unreal Engine 4, see the Vicon video:

8 - Shogun Live - Streaming to Game Engines18

 Note
If cameras are bumped after they have been calibrated, or if any other
issue with your system is detected, Shogun displays warning icons. For
more information, see Understand the system health icons (page 143).

17 https://vimeo.com/218944993
18 https://vimeo.com/218944997

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To capture a take:

Note that for capturing takes, you may find it easiest to use the Capture Data
layout to display the views and panels that you will use for motion capture. To do
this, in the Load Saved View list at the top right of the menu bar, click Capture
Data.

1. Ensure you have completed the necessary preparations, described in Create

subjects (page 98) and Create props (page 122).

2. At the top of the Processing panel, in the General section, make sure that the
Processing Output level is set to Retargeting (the default) or Solve,
depending on your requirements, and that Occlusion Fixing is selected.

 Important
To ensure you record the required data, always check the Processing
Output level before capturing. Normally, make sure it is set to
Retargeting (the default) or Solve. If you set it to Reconstruct, the
system will save only reconstructed data, and you will not see any
labels or a solving skeleton when you open the data in Shogun Post.
Similarly, if you select Label, you will not see a solving skeleton in
Post.

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3. On the right of the Shogun Live window, ensure the Capture tab is selected.

4. In the Take Info section, click the folder icon to the right of the Capture
Folder field and select the Session folder that you created as described in
Create a folder hierarchy to store takes (page 57). Anything you capture from
now on will be saved inside the database you created.

5. In the Capture Name field, enter a suitable name that will enable you to
identify the take.

6. If you will be capturing multiple takes, to append a number at the end of the
capture name for each take in the sequence, ensure Auto-increment capture
name is selected.

7. If required, add text to the Description field. Note that if preferred, you can
add comments after capture in the Eclipse database (also accessible in
Shogun Post in the Data Management panel).

8. In the Capture section, note the options to capture processed data and video
data. The option selected by default is Capture Processed Data. If the Solve
option is selected in Step 2 above, this includes 3D labels and solving bones.
To capture video from Vicon video cameras, select Capture Video. This lets
you view a video overlay to check your 3D data in Shogun Post.

 Tip
A fast SSD is required to capture large datasets to disk. If you’re
using live video, a second SSD is recommended.

The Capture Buffer Size is also displayed. This represents the amount of
memory allocated to Shogun Live’s capture. By default, this is set to 2 GB,
which should be enough for most situations. For multiple video cameras, you
may need to set it higher. You are recommended to always record your data
onto a fast SSD drive.

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9. Before capturing any data, you may want to reposition and/or resize the Data
Capture panel as required (to move it, drag its title bar).

10. In the Data Capture panel (by default at the bottom right of the Shogun Live
window), click Start Capture.
In both the panel and in the menu bar at the top of the view pane, a flashing
red circle and Capture Active are displayed.

 Tip
If possible, begin and end each take with the performer(s) in an A-
pose. This can help with labeling and retargeting.

Data is captured to disk at your source frame rate.

If you are using an external timecode generator, in the Data Capture panel
you can see the current timecode being received, and green icons, indicating
that the system is running at genlock at the specified standard. This panel
also displays any issues with the capture.

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The bar at the bottom of the Workspace displays red marks when the real-
time system cannot keep up with the target frame rate and has to drop a
frame. The percentage of dropped frames is also shown. Unless this number
becomes very high (above 30%), you can continue to capture. If it is above
30%, this normally indicates that your system is out of calibration, and can’t
keep up with amount of data currently being processed. In this case, you may
need to re-calibrate or even upgrade your PC.

The .x2d data from the cameras is also recorded. When you load the .mcp file
in Post, .x2d data can be used to fix dropped frames (for more information,
see Load mocap data files into Shogun Post (page 154)).

11. When you have captured the required take, click Stop Capture.
Shogun Live saves the necessary files to the folder specified in the Take Info
section (see Step 4 above).

12. Depending on whether you want to remain in Shogun Live to continue

capturing or move to Shogun Post for cleanup and further processing, you
can now do one of the following:

• Capture another take, as described above.

• Review the last take (or other recent takes) while remaining in Shogun Live.
(For more information, see MCP review in Shogun Live (page 138).); or

• Load the data into Shogun Post. For information, see Load mocap data
files into Shogun Post (page 154).

 An alternative to live solving subject calibration

In Shogun 1.6 and later, if you find that after Live calibration the solve
requires much tweaking, for a post-processed alternative, try Auto-
Skeleton in Shogun Post. For information, see Use Auto-Skeleton in
Getting more from Vicon Shogun.

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Load subjects and props via .mcp file

For an easy way to quickly load subjects and props from an existing scene, you
can load an .mcp file directly into Shogun Live.

To quickly load subjects and props from an .mcp:

1. At the top of the Tracking panel, click the Load tracking configuration button
.
2. From the Load Tracking Configuration dialog box, select or browse to the
required .mcp file.
The subjects and props are displayed in the Tracking panel as normal.

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MCP review in Shogun Live

Shogun Live enables you to replay takes as soon as you’ve captured them. MCP
review enables you to review a take (.mcp file), update your notes on a take, or
investigate technical issues, all without having to leave Live. When you’ve
finished reviewing the take, you can immediately resume capturing.

To review takes in Live:

1. Ensure that you have at least one take in the Session folder (see Capture a
take (page 132)).

2. On the Capture panel, in the Review section, click the required row.

3. If required, you can change the Description and Notes fields at the bottom of
the Review section.

4. To review the selected take, double-click the row.

At the top of the Shogun Live window, in the center of the menu bar, the
word Review is displayed, followed by the title of the selected take.
At the bottom of the screen a time bar displays information about the
selected take. It shows you the current frame, current timecode and duration.

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5. To play through the take, you can use the Play/Stop button and the Go to
beginning and Go to end buttons to the right of the time bar. You can also
press the default A and S hot keys to scrub back and forward one frame at a
time (to change hot keys, click Manage Hot Keys on the User Preferences tab
(Shift+P)).

6. To close review mode and return to capturing, click the exit button to the
right of the take title in the menu bar.

 Note
Shogun Live is either in capture mode (ie live) or in review mode for a
single take. You cannot view both live and captured data
simultaneously, or compare two takes.

For more information, see:

• Streaming via Vicon DataStream SDK (page 140)

• MCP review via Shogun Live SDK (page 141)

• Review Vicon Video and SDI video files (page 141)

• Review raw camera data (page 142)

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Streaming via Vicon DataStream SDK

The current data in Shogun Live is served to Vicon DataStream SDK clients over
port 801, so that MotionBuilder and Unreal show the reviewed clip when Shogun
Live is not capturing.

For clients that require uninterrupted live, an additional DataStream SDK server
sends the current live data over port 804.

Monitor datastream connections in the Connections panel

Shogun 1.6 and later enables you to display the current connections for the
datastream ports. To do this:

• On the View menu, click the new Connections option to display the
Connections panel.

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MCP review via Shogun Live SDK

You can launch and control MCP review using the Live SDK.

For more information, see the Live SDK sample script included in the API
package (by default installed in C:\Program Files\Vicon\ShogunLive1.#\SDK\)
and the information in the supplied code.

The sample script (playback.py), enables you to open an MCP for review in
Shogun Live by specifying a capture name, as shown in the following example, or
just review live data if no name is specified.

python playback.py --name Jack_Fin_2019-10-15_17-19-26

For more information on using Python with Shogun, see Python scripting with
Vicon Shogun.

Review Vicon Video and SDI video files

You can check your reference footage against what was captured, including any
overlay of the 3D mesh. To do this:

1. Load an .mcp file with video data into MCP review (see MCP Review in
Shogun Live (page 138)).

2. On the Capture tab, in the Review section, select Video. (Note that this
option is cleared by default, as performance may be affected in files with
multiple video cameras.)

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3. Play or scrub through the review of the take, which includes data from Vue or
SDI video cameras.

Review raw camera data

You can check raw data for captured takes. This can be useful when
troubleshooting or investigating possible issues. To do this:

1. Load an .mcp file into MCP review (see MCP Review in Shogun Live (page 138)).

2. Ensure the View Filters are set as required.

3. Play or scrub through the take and review the raw data as required.

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Understand the system health icons

In addition to the following information, see also the Vicon video 5 - Shogun Live
- System Health and Camera Fixing19, which covers how to monitor and maintain
the health of your Vicon Shogun system.

Throughout Shogun Live, the color red is used as a warning of possible issues,
the color green is used as an indicator of good system health, while the colors
between these extremes (orange, amber, yellow) are used to indicate an interim
state.

For example, the color of centroids that are displayed in the Cameras view
indicates the current state of camera calibration:

• Centroids that are not contributing are displayed in red in the Cameras views,
indicating that the relevant camera is not well calibrated.

• Centroids from uncalibrated cameras are displayed in gold.

• Centroids from calibrated cameras are green, indicating they are now
contributing.

In a 3D Scene view, the color of the markers shown in the representations of the
cameras also indicates whether or not the camera is contributing to the
reconstructions. As elsewhere in Shogun, the color red indicates an issue, and
helps you to identify a problematic camera.

19 https://vimeo.com/218944981

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On the System tab, the camera icons give you an overall indication of the
cameras' status.

Icon Meaning

Camera is active or connected (and calibrated)

Camera is not calibrated

Camera is (manually) disabled

Camera is connected but not contributing

Camera is disconnected

Camera has been bumped since calibration

General warning symbol indicating an error

To display more information about the status of a camera:

1. In the Workspace, select the Cameras view.

2. On the System tab, click a camera.

3. At the top of the Cameras view, hover the mouse pointer over the Centroid
connection score icon:

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Note that, as usual, the color of the icons at the top of the Cameras view
provides an additional indication of the camera status.

This icon represents the centroid connection score: for the selected camera,
the percentage of centroids that are contributing to reconstructions. A low
centroid connection score (as shown in the above example), indicates issues
with the selected camera.

4. Hover the mouse pointer over the Average reprojection error icon:

This icon represents the reprojection error: the distance between the 2D
image of the markers on the camera and the 3D reconstructions of those
markers projected back to the camera sensor.

5. To investigate camera status further, hover the mouse pointer over any
additional camera status icons to the left or right of the other two icons.
These additional icons provide further information about the state of the
camera: eg, a bumped camera icon and/or a camera temperature warning.

For information about bumped cameras, see Fix bumped cameras (page 146).
If one or more camera's operating temperature is inconsistent with its
temperature at calibration, re-calibration is necessary (see Calibrate
cameras (page 75)).

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Fix bumped cameras

In addition to the following information, see also the Vicon video: 5 - Shogun
Live - System Health and Camera Fixing20.
Vicon cameras with accelerometers (Vicon Vantage, Vero and Vue), provide a
bump detection feature. On these cameras, the status indicators flash red when
the camera is bumped and (on Vantage cameras only) the OLED display changes
to indicate a bumped camera. In the Vicon Shogun Live System panel, icons are
displayed to the right of the camera names to indicate a bump.

To prevent you from having to recalibrate the whole system after a camera has
received a minor bump, when a calibrated subject (or prop, or wand) moves
through the volume, cameras automatically detect whether further action is
necessary:

• If a calibrated subject moves through the volume and the cameras have
returned to their original position, the cameras’ bump status indicators
change from red back to blue and in the System panel, the bumped icons
disappear.

• If you need to take further action, the status indicators continue to display an
error and the bumped icons remain on the System panel.

20 https://vimeo.com/218944981

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As an additional check, in the System panel click the camera with the bumped
icon to select it and in a Cameras view, zoom in on the markers. When a camera
is bumped, red warning symbols are displayed, indicating the difference
between where the system expects the markers to be, and where they actually
are.

Shogun Live enables you to quickly correct a camera whose position has
changed due to having been bumped or moved, using any labeled object in the
volume – subject, prop, or wand, and the Recover Camera Position feature.

 Important
You can use Recover Camera Position to recover cameras that have
been either bumped or moved. This process relies on having enough
cameras within a calibrated system to act as a calibration anchor. For
this reason, it is recommended that it is run on only a small proportion of
the cameras in a system. A single camera or a small number of affected
cameras can be recovered with good results. If a larger number of
cameras is affected, perform a full camera calibration instead (see
Calibrate cameras (page 75) ).

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Correct a bumped or moved optical camera

The following procedure corrects a bumped optical camera (Vantage or Vero):
for bumped video cameras, see Correct a bumped Vicon Vue video or SDI video
camera (page 149).

1. On the System tab, select the camera that was bumped or moved.

2. On the Camera Calibration tab, click Start Recover Camera Position.

3. In the volume, have the subject move (or move the labeled object) in front of
the affected camera.
In the 3D Scene view and Cameras view, you can see orange trails as the
system determines the offset between the camera and the rest of the
calibration.

4. When enough of the view has been covered (indicated by orange trails that
thickly cover the affected camera view, as shown above), click Stop Recover
Camera Position.

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5. In the Cameras view, zoom in and check that the markers are now aligned,
with no red warning symbols.

The camera is now correctly aligned with the rest of the system. Note that
masking of the affected camera is not preserved, so for optimum results, you
may need to mask this camera again. For information, see Mask cameras (page
77).

Correct a bumped or moved Vicon Vue video or SDI

video camera
Note that to correct a Vue camera, you need to use active markers, so ensure
you have a Vicon Active Wand to use during the procedure.

1. On the System tab, select the video camera(s) that are bumped, or that have
been moved.

2. On the Camera Calibration tab, click Show Advanced.

3. With the video camera(s) still selected, in the Calibration Wave section, click
Start Wave (Selected) and, with Auto Stop selected, wave the wand for just
the selected cameras and wait for the calibration to finish.

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In the 3D Scene and the Cameras view, the camera view is covered with
orange trails.

4. In the Cameras view, zoom in and check that the markers are now aligned.

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Transcode video files

You can use Vicon Shogun Post's batch-processing feature to convert raw Vicon
video files (.vvid) captured from Vicon video cameras (Bonita Video or Vue)
to .mov files, using Bayer conversion. Batch transcoding to .mov produces
smaller video files that can be used in third-party applications as well as within
Shogun, and enables you to easily move the files to an appropriate location for
use in Post. In Shogun 1.5 and later, you can also batch-process auto
compressed .mov files in Post to un-distort the video and overlay the timecode.

(For information on setting up video cameras to capture directly in Shogun Live

to .mov format, see Realtime video compression (page 74).)

The following steps provide a quick introduction to using Shogun Post to

transcode video. For more information on batch processing with Shogun Post,
see the Vicon video: 8 - Shogun Post - Batch Processing Data21.
To transcode video files:

1. In Shogun Post, on the Processing tab of the ribbon, click Batching.

2. In the Batching panel, in the Mode field, select Process Video.

3. In the Settings section, ensure Export to Original Directory is selected (the

default). When this option is selected, the converted .mov files are saved to
the same location as the .x2d, whether your raw video files (.vvid) were saved
to a custom location (such as an SSD) or are already in the same location as
the .x2d.

21 https://vimeo.com/218945109

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4. Ensure the Quality field is as required.

5. In the Files and Processing section, below the Batch Progress line, ensure no
unwanted files remain from previous batch processes. (If you find any
unwanted files, click on their names and then click the Remove button.)

6. Click the Add Files button and in the Import dialog box, select the .x2d, .vvid
or .mov files that you want to transcode and click Open. (Use the .x2d option
if you have multiple Vicon video cameras, as it transcodes all the related video
files.)
The names of the files you added are displayed in the Files and Processing
section near the bottom of the Batching panel.

7. Click Start.

8. To check that your files have been transcoded, when the Batch Progress bar
turns blue and displays 100%, you can open the relevant folder (see Step 3
above) in Windows Explorer and see your transcoded file(s).

9. When you have checked that your files have all been transcoded and saved to
the specified folder, you can delete them from their original location (for
example, from an SSD).

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Check data quality

After you have loaded your captured data files into Vicon Shogun Post, you can
use its diagnostic tools to help you to identify any issues with the data. For more
information, see:

• Load mocap data files into Shogun Post (page 154)

• Review occlusion fixing (page 158)

• Check for swaps and other errors (page 162)

• Use video overlay to check accuracy (page 163)

• Get an overview with the time bar Issues map (page 166)

• Find issues using the Data Health view (page 168)

• Find issues using the Graph view (page 171)

• Work with time ranges (page 173)

See also the Vicon videos:

• 2 - Shogun Post - MCP Loading22

and

• 4 - Shogun Post - Checking Data Quality23

22 https://vimeo.com/218945087
23 https://vimeo.com/218945095

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Load mocap data files into Shogun Post

 Note
Shogun Live can record processed real-time data (.mcp files) along with
raw 2D camera data (.x2d files). You can use .mcp files as a starting point
for processing in Shogun Post. Because the frame rate during real time
can vary, .mcp files may contain missing (dropped) frames. When you
open an .mcp in Shogun Post, if dropped frames are detected, a dialog
box prompts you to confirm whether you want to reprocess the .mcp.
The fixing operation requires an .x2d with the same name as the .mcp
file to exist in the same folder.

1. To load mocap data files (.mcp that contains everything captured in Shogun
Live, or .vdf saved in Shogun Post) you can:

• Open Windows Explorer, locate the files you saved and drag and drop
them into the Shogun Post view pane; or

• On the the File menu, click Open and locate your files; or

• In the Data Management panel, locate the required file icon (an .mcp has a
purple icon) and double-click it.

Although the recommended workflow is to load an .mcp file (processed real-

time data), you can instead import an .x2d (raw 2D data), but in this case, you
must run reconstruct, label, and occlusion-fixing operations before
proceeding with any required cleanup.
If you chose an .mcp file and if dropped frames are detected, a dialog box
informs you of the percentage of dropped frames in the file and asks whether
you want to reprocess to fix them.

2. To automatically reprocess the file to fix the dropped frames, click Yes.
The .mcp file is opened into the scene and the entire take is reprocessed.
The dropped frames are reconstructed, labeled and solved, smoothly
integrating data from the related .x2d file into the existing data.

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(If you click No, processing is quicker as Shogun Post just interpolates
between the dropped frames, but note that no keys are created and you will
still need to fix the dropped frames.)

3. You can now decide if you want to save the scene.

Fast MCP reprocessing

With Shogun 1.4 and later, you can use the following fast and easy ways to
remove dropped frames from .mcp files in Shogun Post. This enables you to save
time by reprocessing the .mcp files without having to load them into the scene.

• Fast MCP reprocessing with HSL (page 155)

• Fast MCP reprocessing with ShogunPostCL (page 156)

• Fast MCP reprocessing in batch mode (page 157)

Fast MCP reprocessing with HSL

You can use the quickPost command options to perform drop frame fixing
directly to .mcp files. For details, see quickPost in the HSL Scripting with Vicon
Shogun.

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Fast MCP reprocessing with ShogunPostCL

You can also run the quickpost command to reprocess .mcp files directly from
ShogunPostCL, for example:

1. To open ShogunPostCL, navigate to: C:\Program Files\Vicon\ShogunPost1.7

and then double-click ShogunPostCL.exe to open the terminal.

2. In the ShogunPostCL terminal window, enter:

quickPost processingLevel -readMCP "C:\\myPath\

\myInputFile.mcp" -writeMCP "C:\\myPath\\myOutputFile.mcp";

Where:

• processingLevel = Any one of: reconstruct, label, solve or retarget

(Note that if you specify retarget, the relevant retargeting setup must
exist.)

• The path after -readMCP = The path to the .mcp file on which you want to
run drop frame fixing. Ensure that the related .x2d file is located in the
same folder.

• myInputFile.mcp = The name of the .mcp file on which you want to run
drop frame fixing

• The path after -writeMCP = The path to the fully processed output .mcp
file

• myOutputFile.mcp = A name for the fully processed .mcp file

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Fast MCP reprocessing in batch mode

If required, you can also fix dropped frames directly on multiple files in batch
mode, as follows.

To directly reprocess MCP files in batch mode:

1. In the Batching panel, set the mode to Post Process.

2. In the Settings section, ensure Reprocess MCP is selected.

3. Set the required file path and naming options.

4. In the Processing panel, set the required processing settings.

5. In the Batching panel, expland the Files and Procession section, click Add
Files and add the required .mcp files to the batch.

6. Click Start.
The .mcp files are processed without being loaded into Shogun Post.
When you load the new .mcp file into Post, it is fully processed, with no
dropped frames.

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Review occlusion fixing

When you import an .mcp file or perform any processing that includes occlusion
fixing, your first step is to review it to ensure that it is labeled correctly and that
the automatic occlusion fixing worked well.

To review occlusion fixing in Shogun Post, both of the following (default) settings
must be selected:

• In Shogun Live: Before capture, in the General section of the Processing

panel, Occlusion Fixing must be selected.

This normally produces higher quality results, especially during occlusion-

heavy moves such as interactions and when a subject is on the edge of the
volume. Occlusion fixing is stored as a layer when the .mcp data is recorded.

• In Shogun Post: Before importing the .mcp file that was captured with
Occlusion Fixing selected as described above, in the Preferences dialog box
(General > Preferences), on the File Import tab, in the File Format field,
select MCP File and ensure Apply Fixed Markers is selected.

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You can then compare the data before and after occlusion fixing in a 3D Scene
view (or any other 3D view) in Post.

Note that, by default, in the 3D Scene view Show All Clips is selected:

This is necessary to enable you to view data from the backup clip, which contains
the data before occlusion fixing, as well as the current (occlusion-fixed) clip.

 Important
If required, you can revert back to the raw data after loading the .mcp
file into Shogun Post by using the Restore section of the Marker Editing
panel.
Note that the occlusion fixing algorithm affects all the markers on a
subject. For this reason you should run occlusion fixing only once: either
during capture in Shogun Live, or at the end of data processing in
Shogun Post.

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Before you start your review, ensure you can recognize the various types of data
that may be displayed in the 3D Scene view, as listed below.

Symbol in 3D Description Data type

view

Circle Original labeled markers from the backup clip.

Displayed by default if the difference between the
position of the original marker and the occlusion-
fixed marker is greater than 1 cm.

Sphere Markers without gaps

Sphere with a Markers that have been occlusion-fixed during a

dot in the gap
center

Sphere with a Markers that have had a gap manually filled

cross in the
center

Red sphere Markers that are missing at the current frame

Wireframe box Constraint, showing expected location of marker

If circles are displayed for some markers during some time ranges, it indicates
that the marker position was changed by more than 1 cm by occlusion fixing.

In this case, check the position of the occlusion-fixed marker. If it doesn’t look
right, the cause is likely to be either a labeling mistake or an occlusion-fixing
error. To fix these problems, see Correcting labeling mistakes (page 161).

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Correcting labeling mistakes

If you notice any swaps, mis-labels or other issues with marker data and the file
has already been occlusion fixed, the recommended workflow is to restore the
data back to its original state before it was occlusion-fixed.

You can do this on a per subject basis using the Restore section of the Marker
Editing panel. Normally, restore the data across the whole take, because
occlusion fixing across a range leads to jumps in the data.

The recommended workflow for dealing with problematic occlusion-fixed data is:

1. From the Current Subject chooser, select the required subject, or if you want
to work on everything, select All.

2. In the Restore section of the Marker Editing panel, with selected subject
active, click Restore All Data.

3. Fix any labeling issues that are present in your data. For more information,
see Use the Labeling panel (page 180) and Fix common labeling issues (page
184).

4. Re-run occlusion fixing from the Processing panel.

5. Re-run Solve Solving to update the solving skeletons.

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Check for swaps and other errors

 Important
Before filling gaps, you must find and fix any labeling swaps or errors in
your data. Gap-filling in Shogun relies on the data before and after the
gaps to predict marker location, so any labeling errors will cause gap-
filling to fail.

To identify swaps and other errors, on the time bar, click the Play button to
view your data in the 3D Scene view. For a closer look, slowly scrub through the
whole take (drag the current time indicator along the timeline, or for finer
control, press the A or S key), carefully checking for any 'popping', unexpected
movement or obvious misalignment.

For a more detailed view, use the normal mouse actions to move around the
view: drag to rotate the view, right-click and drag to zoom in or out, left- and
right-click and drag to pan. If you need to view the image from a different angle,
you can use one of the orthogonal views.

Use the View Filters options in the 3D Scene view to make it easy to recognize
any issues. For more information on recognizing and correcting swaps and other
errors, see Fix common labeling issues (page 184).

 Tip
To snap a 3D view camera to selected object(s), press C or click the
Snap button in the 3D Scene view toolbar.

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Use video overlay to check accuracy

If your system includes Vicon video cameras, you can check your data accuracy
by comparing optical capture data with supported video data. You do this by
overlaying the 3D data onto the video (.vvid or .mov) data.

Shogun Post supports the following types of video files:

• .vvid files captured from Vicon Shogun Live using Vicon Bonita and Vicon Vue
cameras

• .mov files that have been transcoded using Shogun Post or the standalone
ViconVideoConverter tool (a command line tool that is installed with Vicon
Video Viewer, by default to C:\Program Files\Vicon\ViconVideoViewer).

To overlay 3D data onto video files in Shogun Post:

1. Ensure that the video files are in the same folder as the required 3D data (.x2d
or .mcp) file. If a different path was defined during capture (often an SSD per
pair of cameras), use the batch transcoding feature of Shogun Post to ensure
the files are moved to the correct location. For more information, see
Transcode video files (page 151).

 Tip
If video files are kept in a different folder from the 3D data files, when
you load an . x2d or . mcp file, Shogun Post warns you that the video
files cannot be located. To manually specify the video file path, in the
Selection panel (or 3D Scene view) select the video camera, then in
the Attributes panel, expand the Video (Offline) section and set its
Video_File attribute to the path of the file. This change is saved when
you save the scene in Shogun Post.

2. Open the .x2d or .mcp file (either from the Data Management panel, or click
Import on the File menu, or drag and drop the relevant file from Windows
Explorer, as described in Load mocap data files into Shogun Post (page 154)).
The video files are automatically loaded.

3. In the Selection panel, expand the System node and click the required
camera.

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4. At the top left of the view pane, click the current View type button, and then
click Cameras.

5. At the top of the Cameras view, ensure View Filters is selected.

6. Select the 3D check box.

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7. The video for each Vicon video camera is displayed in a 3D overlay.

Video is in black and white or color, depending on the video camera used.

8. To see the image plane of the camera corrected for lens distortion, select
Distort 3D.

The 3D overlay should line up with the subject in the Cameras view and the
grid should line up with the floor.
You can zoom and pan the video using normal Cameras view controls.
You can select or clear the View Filters to control which 3D elements are
displayed.

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Get an overview with the time bar Issues map

To enable you to identify frames with issues, between the play range (green
vertical) bars on the time bar, two horizontal colored bars are displayed. For each
frame:

• The top bar indicates the percentage of markers that are labeled.

• As the top bar percentage may include markers that are incorrectly labeled, to
help you identify issues further, the lower bar indicates the percentage of
markers that have a high solving constraint error (that is, the number of
markers whose solving constraint error is considered too large). This can
indicate issues like mislabels, swaps, or a poor solve due to an incorrect fill,
over filtering, etc.

For both bars, the color varies from yellow to red, depending on the number of
markers with issues at each frame. In each bar, the longer the yellow part exists,
the longer the issue exists, whereas the more red it turns, the more markers have
issues. To show more information about the errors found at a particular frame,
hover the mouse pointer over the relevant frame.

 Note
The issues map is all red if there is no labeled data in the current scene.

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You can use the mouse to work with the time bar as follows:

To Do this

Show a tooltip that explains the issues Hover the mouse pointer over the frame.
that are present at this frame

Set the current time Click on the time bar or drag the current
time indicator.

Set the current time (ie select a frame), Using the tooltip as a guide to where to
highlight the markers that are missing click on the time bar, double-click on it.
labels or have high constraint errors, and
snap the camera to them

Select a time range ALT+drag. See also Work with time

ranges (page 173).

After you have gained an overview of your data with the time bar, you can use
the Data Health view, the Graph view and/or the Marker Editing and Labeling
panels to further identify and correct any issues.

To enhance system performance when working on a scene that contains very

large amounts of data, you may want to turn off the Issues map.

To turn the issues map on and off:

Click the Issues map button to the left of the time bar.

To set the issues map to show all issues or only those for a specific subject:

From the Current Subject list, select the required option.

Note that you can snap the 3D view to the selected subject by clicking the Snap
3D view button to the right of the Current Subject list.

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Find issues using the Data Health view

The Data Health view enables you to view detailed information about the
labeling and gaps in the markers in the current scene.

To open a Data Health view, in any view pane, click the View type button and
then select Data Health.

By default, if a Backup clip exists, it is displayed, but if required, you can select a
different clip by clicking the arrow on the Display Gaps button. (Clips contain
keys for objects in your scene. The clip stores keys only; not markers, bones, or
any other objects.)

To display the time ranges for the gaps in the markers on the selected clip as
gray rectangles, ensure the Display Gaps button is selected.

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To view unlabeled markers, from the Show current subjects' markers list, select
Show Unlabeled.

To view the labeling for a different subject, from the Current Subject list at the
top of the Shogun Post window, select the required name.

Use the marker list on the left of the Data Health view to find the required
marker, then follow line along to see the gray rectangles that indicate gaps.

To select the range of a gap, in the Data Health view, double-click the relevant
gray rectangle. The following image shows a Data Health view and 3D Scene
view of a gap selected for a marker.

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 Note
The Show all markers button shows every marker in your scene.
Select this option only if you need to see all markers because if, for
example, someone is standing to one side but wearing a full marker set,
you’ll see all their markers listed, as well as the markers for the rest of
the volume. Normally, it is more useful to have the Show current
subject's markers button selected.

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Find issues using the Graph view

In the Graph view, you can see a graphical representation of the X, Y and Z
positions, as well as gaps, for selected marker(s). This is useful during gap-filling,
as it gives you another way of checking that the gap-filling looks reasonable for
the data.

To open a Graph view, in a view pane, click the View type button and then select
Graph.

To select and fill gaps in a marker:

1. To keep the Data Health view open as well as a 3D Scene view, split the
screen by clicking one of the three-way split buttons at the top right of the
window, such as the Three Views Split Left button .
2. As in the Data Health view, if there are multiple clips in your scene, you can
select the required clip by clicking the arrow on the Display Gaps on
Specified Clip button .
To display X, Y and Z values of the selected marker at the current position of
the time indicator in the graph, click the Show Display Channels button .
3. In the 3D Scene view, select the marker. In the Data Health view, double-click
a gap to select its range.

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The Graph view now displays all the keys for the selected marker.

As in the Data Health view, any gaps are clearly visible.

4. Zoom in by right-click and dragging for a clearer view or by using one of the
options under the Zoom button .
5. You can now use the Labeling panel or one of the options from the extended
context menu (press CTRL+ALT and right-click in the Graph view pane) as
required.

For further tips on using the Graph view to identify and fix data issues, see Fix
common labeling issues (page 184) .

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Work with time ranges

While identifying and fixing issues in your captured data, you will often need to
select a particular time range on which to work.

To select and clear time ranges:

1. On the main time bar, and in the Data Health and Graph views, select a range
(ALT+drag).
Green and red triangles that indicate the start and end of a selected range
are displayed.

2. To adjust the start or end of the time range, on the time bar, or in the Data
Health view or Graph, hover the mouse pointer over the required arrow and
drag it.

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 Tip
You can also update the range handles using hot keys:
, sets the start handle
. sets the end handle
To change these hot keys, on the General menu, click Preferences
and then click the Hot Keys tab.

3. To clear a selected range, ALT+double-click within the range.

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Clean up data
If your visual assessment and Vicon Shogun Post's diagnostic tools have revealed
issues with your recorded data (see Check data quality (page 153)), you can use its
cleanup tools to correct mislabels and fill any gaps.

 Important
Before filling gaps, you must find and fix any labeling swaps or errors in
your data. Gap-filling in Shogun relies on the data before and after the
gaps to predict marker location, so any labeling errors will cause gap-
filling to fail.

The following topics provide an introduction to fixing data issues:

• Find and fix bad data (page 176)

• Find and fix noise (page 177)

• Use the Labeling panel (page 180)

• Fix common labeling issues (page 184)

• Processing during cleanup (page 200)

See also the related Vicon videos: 5 - Shogun Post – Labeling Data24 and 6 -
Shogun Post - Marker Editing25.
Note that each time you finish cleaning up a range, you must check its solve (see
Solve during cleanup (page 200)).

24 https://vimeo.com/218945101
25 https://vimeo.com/218945104

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Find and fix bad data

To help you identify and fix bad data, you can use the Marker Editing panel.

To find and remove bad data:

1. To open the Marker Editing panel, in the Processing menu, click Marker
Editing (or click Marker Editing on the Processing tab of the ribbon).

2. In the Remove Bad Data section, go to the Find Bad Data button and notice
the options:

• Threshold Allowable deviation

• Cut-Off Data filter. Decreasing this value filters the data more heavily.

• Sensitivity Amplifies the effect of the Cut-Off filter.

3. Click Find Bad Data.

4. Experiment with these values to find out what works best for your data.

5. When you have identified the bad data, remove it by clicking the appropriate
Cut button, and apply a fill (see Gap-filling options (page 196)).

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Find and fix noise

Noise can be easily identified in a Graph view:

It also produces flickering as you play through a take in the 3D Scene view. You
can fix it with the filtering options in the Marker Editing panel.

To fix noisy data:

1. In a Graph view, ALT+drag to select it.

2. At the bottom of the Marker Editing panel, expand the Filter section, and
select whether filtering applies to Ranges, as above, or to Selected Keys.

3. If you're not sure how much filtering to apply to your data, keep the default
settings (Cut Off: 0.3 and Threshold: 15) and click Apply. You can reapply this
as many times as required.

4. In the Graph view and 3D Scene view, check that the trajectory is now smooth
over the selected range.

 Tip
To display a tooltip for any of the controls, hover the mouse pointer
over the relevant control.

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Ensure smooth start and end to filtered trajectories

When you apply filtering, the Smooth In/Out option in the Marker Editing panel
provides smooth blending at the start and end of the filtered section of a
trajectory curve.

The following example shows a Graph view of a trajectory curve that requires
smoothing.

With Smooth In/Out cleared, when filtering is applied, the curve is made
smoother, but the start and end does not take into account what is either side of
the smoothed section, resulting in a straight line, with an unwanted angle at the
end.

For details, see the following steps or watch Vicon Shogun 1.3 Post Tutorial
- Filter in/out Smoothing26 on YouTube.

26 https://youtu.be/0csCqSmKe9E

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To give a smoother start and end to the filtered section of a trajectory:

1. In the Marker Editing panel, expand the Filter section and select Smooth In/
Out.

2. If you want to change how much of the trajectory is affected on either side of
the gap, edit the value of the adjacent field. The default is 0.2 (20%).
Smoothing works by blending between the original and filtered result by
progressively more or less, across the smoothing range.

The filtered section is smoothed at the start and end.

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Use the Labeling panel

You can fix labeling issues using the tools in the Labeling panel. The following
steps introduce the main components of the labeling panel. To go straight to
examples of how to use it to fix labeling issues, see Fix common labeling
issues (page 184).

To use the Labeling panel:

1. On the Processing tab on ribbon, click Labeling.

2. In the toolbar at the top of the Shogun Post window, ensure that the required
subject is selected in the Current Subject list.

 Tip
By default, the selection in the Current Subject list at the top (middle)
of the Shogun Post window determines which subject to label.
If All is selected in the Current Subject list, the labeler uses the last
subject it was set to.
If you want to select a subject different from that specified in the
Current Subject list, in the Labeling panel, clear the Use Current
Subject box and select the required subject from the Subject list at
the left of the check box.

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On the left of the Labeling panel, a list of labels for the selected subject is
displayed. The color variations indicate marker issues:

• Yellow: Mislabels or missing labels (the depth of the color indicates the
severity of the issue, eg, more or fewer gaps)

• Red: Labels for this marker are missing from the current frame

3. To display a 3D representation of your labels for the current subject, click the
3D button at the top of the Labeling panel. The 3D view helps you to quickly
identify where the markers should be. You can drag and drop labels from the
3D Labeling view to the 3D Scene view pane (and vice versa).

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You can use the usual mouse actions (click and drag, right-click and drag, left-
and right-click and drag) in the 3D view, in the same way as in a 3D Scene
view.

4. At the top of the Labeling panel, in the Manual Labeling Options section,
select the Mode option (Select or Label), which affects the way in which you
select and label markers.

• Select Click a marker on your subject in a 3D Scene view and then click a
label name in the list in the Labeling panel.

• Label Click name of the label in the marker list and then click the required
marker on the subject in the 3D Scene view.

 Tip
To quickly switch between labeling and select modes when labeling
a subject, you can use the default hot key (L) that duplicates the
functionality of the Label and Select buttons at the top of the
Labeling panel.

5. In the Direction line, choose to label forward (through time)

or backward .
You can also select both options (ie, label both forward and backward), but to
help you avoid confusion, at least initially, choose either backward or forward
and use only that option.

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6. From the Type options, select the way in which labeling will be applied:

• Whole Labels entire trajectory.

• Fragment Labels the trajectory that intercepts the current frame.

• Cliff Labels the current frame and continues until a specified value is
encountered, which stops the labeling (see the text below in the Labeling
panel, for example, the default is to skip gaps smaller than 5 frames and
stop labeling at cliffs that are larger than 50 mm).

• Ranges Lets you select an area on your graph or timeline and label only the
selected time range.

In the Manual Labeling Tools section in the middle of the Labeling panel, you
can correct swaps, unlabel information, and unlabel markers.

In the Semi-Automated Labelers section, you can access the Velocity Labeler,
which is normally used after automated labeling, on a partially labeled take. You
can use it to correct labeling where the path of a single marker consists of
multiple trajectories that are consecutive in time with a small gap in between
where the marker is unlabeled over part of its trajectory. The Velocity Label
option is useful when a marker has been labeled for a range of time, and then
becomes unlabeled, yet going forward or backward in time there are multiple
trajectories that do not have a large gap between them and are all the same
marker. It is best suited for cases when unlabeled trajectories are not many
frames away from the labeled marker and the velocity of the marker around the
end of the labeled marker and the start of the unlabeled trajectory is fairly
constant.

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Fix common labeling issues

The following basic procedures are just a few of the ways in which you can use
Shogun Post to clean up data.

• Identify issues (page 185)

• Correct a swap (page 186)

• Label an unlabeled marker (page 188)

• View and select gaps (page 189)

• Auto-fill with intelligent rigid fill (page 190)

• Manually fill gaps (page 193)

See also:

Vicon Shogun 1.3 Post Tutorial - Gap List & Auto Rigid Fill27 on YouTube.

27 https://youtu.be/U3jmKTqykOE

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Identify issues
1. To help you identify issues, in the 3D Scene view, click View Filters, and
ensure that in the Scene section, Missing Markers is selected. Also ensure
that in the Subjects section, Label is selected and that in the L(abeling)
column of the views matrix, Constraints is selected.

2. In 3D Scene view, scrub through the whole take (drag the current time
indicator along the timeline, or for finer control, press the A or S key), noting
times when markers are likely to be occluded (sitting, crouching, subjects
interacting, etc).

3. In the marker list in the Labeling panel, note any missing (red) markers and
watch for ‘popping’ or moving in the 3D Scene view. Look for any swapped
markers (for an example, see the Vicon video 5 - Shogun Post – Labeling
Data28, which shows an example of a swap of knee and heel markers).

Missing markers are clearly visible, highlighted in red. However, after you’ve
identified the erroneous markers, it may help with labeling to clear Missing
Markers and Labeling Constraints.

28 https://vimeo.com/218945101

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Correct a swap
1. Ensure the Labeling panel is displayed.

2. Split the 3D Scene view (at the top right of the Shogun Post window, click the
vertical split button ) and in one of the panes, change to a Graph view, so
that you can now see a 3D Scene view, a Graph view and the Labeling panel.

3. In the Labeling panel, ensure Select mode, Forward direction (>), and Cliff are
selected.

4. In the 3D Scene view, select a marker that is incorrectly labeled and in the
Graph view, zoom in (right-click and drag) and go to the start of the where the
swap happens (this should be identifiable on the graph by a sharp change).

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5. From the position of the marker in the 3D Scene view, decide which is the
correct marker and click it in the 3D view.
In the marker list, its name is displayed in heavier text, and at the top left of
the 3D Scene view, the Selection text displays the name of the selected
marker.

6. Click the wrongly labeled marker in the 3D Scene view and then click the
correct marker name in the Labeling panel list.
The marker is now correctly labeled. To check, scrub back and forward in the
3D Scene view and check that the marker is now behaving correctly.

However, you now have a previously incorrectly labeled marker that is unlabeled
from this point forward.

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Label an unlabeled marker

1. In the 3D Scene view, click on the unlabeled marker to select it. Scrub back
and forward to identify where it is correctly labeled. This is the point at which
it is correctly colored in the 3D Scene view and the Labeling panel marker list.
You can also observe this on the Graph.

2. To label a marker using the tools in the Labeling panel, do one of the
following, depending on your chosen Mode:
If you prefer to label using Label mode:

a. In the Manual Labeling Options section, in the Mode line, click Label.

b. In the marker list in the Labeling panel, click the name of the marker and
then in the 3D Scene view, click the marker that is currently unlabeled.

Or, if you prefer to label by dragging, using Select mode:

a. In the Manual Labeling Options section, in the Mode line, ensure Select
mode is selected.

b. In the Labeling panel, click to select the required marker in the 3D view.

c. SHIFT+CTRL then click+drag from the selected marker in the Labeling

panel to the unlabeled marker in the 3D Scene view.

3. As before, to check the labeling, scrub back and forward in the 3D Scene view
and check that the marker is now behaving correctly.

After you have corrected any swaps, you may want to use Shogun Post's
diagnostic tools to help to identify gaps (see Check data quality (page 153)).

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View and select gaps

You can view all the gaps in your scene in the Marker Editing panel, in the Fill
Gaps section, by looking at the Gap List. (If you can't see the list, at the top of
the Marker Editing panel, click the Gap List button.)

To make it easy to find the longest gaps, click the Length column heading to
rearrange the list, with the longest gap at the top.

When you select a gap in the list, it is automatically displayed in the Graph view,
enabling you to edit it.

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You can then decide the best approach for filling the gaps:

• As a first step, try automatically filling as many gaps as possible (see Auto-fill
with intelligent rigid fill (page 190)).

• If your scene still contains gaps after using the automatic fill, or if auto-fill is
unsuitable, try manually filling the gaps (see Manually fill gaps (page 193)).

 Tip
To undo unwanted gap-filling, click Undo on the quick access toolbar
.

Auto-fill with intelligent rigid fill

Shogun Post enables you to automatically fill gaps using a rigid fill operation.
This looks at all the markers in your scene and then compares them against the
marker you are trying to fill. It then uses a combination of similarly moving
markers to fill the gap. Finally, it checks the fill to make sure it looks correct and if
not, it chooses another set of markers.

This process is also available via scripting, using the selectMarkersForRigidFill

command to select the markers and the autoFillGaps command to fill them. For
information on these commands, see HSL scripting with Vicon Shogun.

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To auto-fill a selected marker:

The following procedure for rigid gap-filling is semi-automated, in that you

choose a marker for the fill:

1. In the Marker Editing panel, expand the Fill Gaps section and in the Fill Rigid
area, select the Auto-select markers for fill check box.
To change the default options for auto-selection, click the Show Options
button next to the check box. The options are:

• Max Deviation: Specifies in mm how rigid the set of markers used to fill
must be, as the maximum deviation in distance between all pairs in the set.
For example, a value of 60 enables the markers to flex in rigidity by 6 cm.

• Max Distance: Specifies in mm how far away the candidate can be from the
selected marker. The default of 900 is just under 3 feet (1 m), because a
greater distance is likely to be another subject or body part, which is
unlikely to move rigidly during the gap.

• Percent Time Rigid: Specifies the percentage of time over the adjacent
fragment ranges that the selected marker must be rigid with the chosen
set. The default of 0.75 means 75% of the time.

2. Select a marker with a gap.

3. Ensure the current time is in the gap.

4. Click Fill Rigid.

Gaps are filled using the intelligent rigid fill.

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To auto-fill selected markers or all markers:

In addition to the semi-automated procedure described above, you can also

automatically fill all gaps on either all markers, or only those currently selected.
To do this:

1. Depending on which markers you want to fill:

• Only selected markers. Ensure you have selected the required markers.

• All markers. Ensure no markers are selected.

2. In the Marker Editing panel, expand the Fill Gaps section and in the Fill Rigid
area, select the Current Frame, Selected Ranges or All Time option.

3. Select Auto-select markers for fill and ensure the options are as required (see
above).

4. Click Fill Rigid.

All gaps on the selected markers, or on all markers if no markers are selected,
are filled over the play range, or selected ranges.
Note that in the case of all markers, only labeled markers are filled, though
unlabeled markers can be auto-selected for filling the labeled marker.

 Note
After running automated gap-filling, if Shogun did not find a set of rigid
markers based on the settings, you may find that not all gaps are filled.
You can either fill the remaining gaps manually, or you can try changing
the settings, specifically by increasing Max Deviation from the default.

You can run automated gap-filling multiple times to achieve the required results,
in particular when:

• After first run, it either made an unwanted fill or wasn't able to fill a gap due to
a mislabel. Fix the mislabel and then run it again to fill the remaining gaps.
• After first run, it either made an unwanted fill or wasn't able to fill a gap due to
the gap being too complex. Fill the gap manually, then run automated gap-
filling again to fill any remaining gaps. These can now can be filled due to
more data being available.
• After first run, some gaps remain. Loosen the rigidity settings (see Note
above) and run it again.

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Manually fill gaps

You fill gaps using the Marker Editing panel, normally in conjunction with the
Data Health view and/or a Graph view. The Marker Editing panel contains all the
tools necessary to fill gaps, alter trajectory keys and filter your data.

For example, you might first notice a gap from the display on the time bar Issues
map, then note which marker is affected in the 3D Scene view:

1. To quickly gap-fill the selected marker, on the time bar double-click to move
the current time indicator to the relevant frame.
The affected marker is automatically highlighted in the 3D Scene view (you
can right-click and drag to zoom in further to check the marker).

2. To open a Data Health view and a Graph view, as well as a 3D Scene view,
split the screen by clicking the Three Views Split Left button at the top of
the Shogun Post window and change the views in the new panes.

3. If the Marker Editing panel is not already open, on the Processing tab on the
ribbon, click Marker Editing.

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4. In the Data Health view, find the relevant marker's line, which shows a gray
rectangle that represents the gap.

5. In the Data Health view, double-click to select the range of the gap.

6. In the Marker Editing panel, expand the Fill Gaps section. In the Fill Using
Interpolation area, select Selected Ranges (to fill only the current selection),
and then click Fill Using Interpolation.

This looks at the keys on either side of the gap and fills it by interpolating
between them. It works well for small gaps.

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7. In the 3D Scene view and Graph view, check that your fill has given the
required result.

8. If the fill does not give an appropriate result, you can click Undo on the quick
access toolbar , and try other gap-filling options in the Marker Editing
panel (see Options for gap filling (page 196)).

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Options for manual gap-filling

The appropriate option to use depends on the type of gap that you want to fill.

Short gaps
1. Manually select a short gap by double-clicking in a Graph view or Data Health
view, and in the Marker Editing panel, expand the Fill Gaps section and click
Fill Using Interpolation.
This looks at data before and after the gap and uses a spline fill to interpolate
between them.

2. Check that the result looks reasonable in a 3D Scene view and Graph view.

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Sequence of short gaps

1. For a sequence of small gaps with a smooth line running through the gap in
the Graph view, ALT+drag to select the affected data.

2. In the Fill Using Interpolation area, select Selected Ranges, and then click Fill
Using Interpolation.

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Non-linear motion
For non-linear motion, for example, where rotational movement is involved, as
interpolation does not account for this kind of motion, a different approach is
needed. If a missing marker is part of set of markers that are rigid (ie, remain in
the same relation to each other, for example, a pelvis), you can use three or more
markers in the rigid object (three in addition to the marker that has the gap is
recommended) to help fill in the data for the missing marker.

1. To select the range of the gap, double-click in a Graph view or Data Health
view, then select (CTRL+click) the three other markers in the rigid object.

2. In the Marker Editing panel, expand the Fill Gaps section.

3. In the Fill Rigid area, select Selected Ranges and click Fill Rigid.
The pattern of the present markers is copied onto the missing marker.

4. As usual, check in the Graph view and in a 3D Scene view that the fill looks
sensible.

Other rigid objects you can use in default marker set include hands, forearm,
upper arm, shoulders, thorax, and head.

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Non-linear motion where rigid fill impossible

In cases where the motion is non-linear, but a rigid fill is not possible due to all
the related markers being absent, you can use the Fill Using Constraints option.
This uses the labeling or solving skeleton to produce the fill. It requires a
skeleton be present, the skeleton to be constrained by markers, and enough
markers to have data that the solve is fairly good. The marker being filled must
be constrained to the skeleton because it is the constraint offset that is used to
determine where the marker should be during the fill.

Before using this type of fill, check that the bones and missing markers (by
default displayed in red in the 3D Scene view), are in sensible locations.

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Processing during cleanup

Note that the previous steps for fixing data issues assume that your existing .mcp
data is largely of acceptable quality. However, in some circumstances (for
example when you are trying to produce better quality data), rather than
persisting in trying to fix a problematic .mcp file, you may need to clear the
scene and start from the .x2d file, or unlabel all the data first. In this case, do not
just open the Processing panel and click Reconstruct or Label or run other
Combined Processing operations as this will not fix problems with the underlying
data.

Clear existing data

To remove all unlabeled data and clear existing labels and solves, at the top of
the Processing panel, select the Reset Scene check box. You can then run
Reconstruct, etc. Note that you can't undo the reset.

To remove existing labels from the current file, on the Labeling tab of the
Processing panel, select Clear Existing Labels and then run Labeling as required.

To remove occlusion fixing from your data, in the Marker Editing panel, expand
the Restore section and select the required option.

Solve during cleanup

During the cleanup operation, each time you finish cleaning up a range, check its
solve. To do this:

1. Ensure the range you cleaned up is selected.

2. On the Processing tab on the ribbon, click the arrow on the Solve Solving
button.

3. Click Solve Solving Ranges.

The selected range is solved, enabling you to quickly check that your cleanup
has been successful, without having to solve the whole take.
4. Proceed to clean up the next range that contains mislabels, gaps or noisy
markers, etc.
After you have completed all the cleanup required, finish by solving the entire
take. For more information see Solve the data (page 201).

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Solve the data

When you have finished any necessary cleanup of your data, run a final solve to
produce the finished file ready for export.

In addition to the following information, see also the Vicon video 3 - Shogun
Post - Processing and Solving29, which covers using the Processing panel,
editing a solving skeleton, and solving.

Even if you only had to clean up a single frame or a small range of frames, always
run a final solve on the entire play range. You can run solves on smaller ranges so
that you can review the results of your cleanup while you are working (depending
on your requirements, you would probably use the Solve Labeling and/or Solve
Solving options on the ribbon or in the Processing panel), but to avoid any jumps
at the start and end of the solved range(s), when you have finished editing, you
must run a solve of the whole play range.

To solve your data:

1. On the Processing tab of the ribbon, click Processing.

2. At the top of the Processing panel, ensure the required options are selected
from the Time Range list (for example, to affect the whole play range, select
All, as shown in the following illustration).

3. In the Processing panel, ensure the options for Reconstruct, Label, and Fix
Occlusion are cleared (for more information, see About occlusion fixing (page
203)), but Solve is selected.

29 https://vimeo.com/218945089

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4. On the Solving tab, ensure the settings are as required.

If you are using any of the high fidelity fingers templates:

• Ensure that the Plausibility importance option is set to a suitable value. The
default, 25, is normally a good starting point. Smaller values produce
better data fidelity (ie, the markers will better fit their constraints), but the
pose likelihood may be weaker. Larger values produce better pose
likelihood, but weaker data fidelity.

• Note that the Mean pose ratio, which affects the entire skeleton, has a
strong impact on the final hand poses. The default, 0.75, is normally a
good starting point, but if you need to adjust it (for example, if there is too
much noise), try a lower value.

5. Click Run Checked Operations.

Any changes you have made to the labeling skeleton and the solving skeleton
are included in this final solve.

6. Review your solved data and perform any further cleanup needed.

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About occlusion fixing

 Note for Blade users:

Occlusion fixing in Shogun is similar to that available in Blade. However,
by default, the .mcp files that are produced in Shogun Live are
automatically occlusion fixed, so are unlikely to need further occlusion
fixing when opened and processed in Shogun Post.

Occlusion fixing uses data from non-occluded markers to supply the missing
data for the occluded markers. To give the best results and the smoothest
trajectories, occlusion fixing may affect non-occluded markers throughout the
take, even if you have selected a range before applying it. If you repeatedly run
occlusion fixing in Post, the effect may be cumulative, resulting in greater
(possibly unwanted) smoothing.

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Interactive solving
If you want to perform a simple manipulation of a solving bone, you can save
time and a lot of manual tweaking by using the interactive solving feature. This
immediately updates the offsets for the constraints that drive the bone that
you're adjusting as soon as you release the mouse button.

To manipulate a solving bone:

1. Ensure you have loaded the subject, which must have a solving skeleton.

2. In the Subject Setup panel, click the Solving tab, and on the Modify Setup
tab, expand Constraints in Current Subject.

3. In the 3D Scene, select the joint you want to rotate.

4. On the right of the the Subject Setup panel toolbar, click the Enable
interactive solving of the solving subject button .
At the top of the 3D Scene view, the text Interactive Solving is displayed.

5. Using the manipulator, rotate the subject's joint.

6. When you're happy with the new position of the joint, release the mouse
button.
The offsets for the constraints which drive the bone are updated.

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 Note
Interactive solving works best when you want to apply a rotation in a
single axis, for example, correcting head aim, hand flatness, etc.

You can follow a similar procedure to manipulate retargeting bones: see

Interactive retargeting (page 225).

For information on the relevant HSL commands, see the following commands in
HSL Scripting with Vicon Shogun.

• getInteractiveSolveLabeling

• getInteractiveSolveSolving

• setInteractiveSolveLabeling

• setInteractiveSolveSolving

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Retarget with Shogun Post

Shogun Post's full retargeting pipeline enables you to create and solve motion
capture data onto any custom FBX/USD biped.

You can use the resulting VSR file in Shogun Live and stream it to a game engine,
or solve and export from Shogun Post for use in a CG app.

You can use either Shogun Post or the Vicon Retarget app for retargeting:

• Use Shogun Post for retargeting instead of Vicon Retarget if you want script
the process, need to align the source skeleton to the target skeleton or
change the bone lengths of your target skeleton to better match the source.

• Use the Vicon Retarget app if you need Joint Symmetry or Target Symmetry.

The current retargeting implementation is Phase 1 of a longer planned roadmap.

Use the retargeting workflow as a first step in the retargeting process, and as a
quick and easy way to get your custom characters driven by Vicon mocap.

• Set up a retarget (page 207)

• Modify a retarget (page 223)

• Interactive retargeting (page 225)

• Export the retarget setup (page 227)

See also:

Vicon Shogun 1.3 Post Tutorial - Retargeting Setup30

Vicon Shogun 1.3 Post Tutorial - Retargeting Test31

Vicon Shogun 1.3 Post Tutorial - Streaming Retargets into Unreal32

30 https://youtu.be/S5otK-hx8QM
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Set up a retarget
To set up a retarget in Shogun Post, see the following information.

• Create an optimal target skeleton (page 208)

• Import the target skeleton into Shogun Post (page 211)

• Prepare the skeleton before posing (page 213)

• Pose the skeleton (page 215)

• Create constraints (page 216)

• Test the retarget setup (page 222)

Retargeting terms:
• Source skeleton: Solving skeleton

• Target skeleton: Retargeting skeleton (game skeleton)

• Map pose: The pose that is used for mapping (creating constraints between
the source (solving) and target (retargeting) skeletons and setting the offsets).
For more information, see Map pose and best rig practices in Getting more
from Vicon Shogun.

• Base pose: The pose of the skeleton when all keys are deleted and the
rotation channel for all bones is set to zeros. It's defined by the pre-rotation,
which is known as ‘joint orient’ in Autodesk® Maya®.

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Create an optimal target skeleton

The following tips help you to ensure that your FBX, USD or VSR file works well
as a target.

• Use pre-rotation, not keys (page 208)

• Pay attention to degrees of freedom (DoFs) (page 208)

• Be aware of dummy bones (page 209)

• Know what's above the root bone (page 210)

• Know how to use scaling (page 210)

Use pre-rotation, not keys

It's best to define the base pose of a skeleton using pre-rotation, not keys.

If keys put the skeleton into a T-pose, A-pose, or another suitable pose, and pre-
rotations don't exist, you can still use the skeleton, but you'll need to know what
the base pose looks like and use the map pose to both retain the pose used for
mapping and to get best results. See About map mode (page 214) and, if your
skeleton uses keys rather than pre-rotations, see also Map pose and best rig
practices in Getting more from Vicon Shogun.

Pay attention to degrees of freedom (DoFs)

Most skeletons have Degrees of Freedom (DoFs), and generally, skeletons work
best when they have them.

• FBX files: After you import an FBX, check that the DoFs are set correctly
before setting up retargeting.

• USD files: The USD format doesn't currently support DoFs. If you want to use
DoFs with a USD skeleton, set them in Post after importing the USD skeleton.

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Be aware of dummy bones

End joints that are dummy bones (bones with zero DoFs) are ignored by
retargeting in that any keys they may have aren't retained and a map pose isn't
stored for them.

• For extremities like the ends of hands, toes, and fingers, this is fine because
the end bones must be zero DoF dummy bones with no keys.

• For parts of a skeleton that define things such as face, hair, and clothes, this
can be problematic if these bones don't use pre-rotation to define their base
pose. If you use keys to define a pose that is required for the skin to look right,
note that these keys are not stored in the VSR/map pose because all of these
bones are treated as dummy bones. If they aren't dummy bones already,
change them to dummy bones because they have no data and setting them
to dummy bones enables retargeting to ignore them and therefore to run
faster.

To convert unused bones to dummy bones in Shogun Post, either:

• If your bones have pre-rotation values that you want to keep, note their values.
In the Subject Setup panel, on the Retargeting tab, click the Prep Unused
Bones button. This ensures all unused bones have zero DoFs and moves their
rotations from channels to pre-rotations. You can enter the pre-rotation values
that you noted to manually reset them.

or

• Manually set the DoFs to off. To do this, in the table on the Retargeting tab,
select the bones you want to be dummy bones and clear the Active check
box.

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Know what's above the root bone

On import:
Sometimes, skeletons in CG apps like Autodesk® Maya® or Autodesk®
MotionBuilder® contain one or many bones, locators, groups, etc, above the
root. Generally Vicon Shogun doesn't support this. Aim to have no extra nodes
between the Retargeting node and the root bone in Shogun Post. Dummy bones
can exist above the root. These must have zero DoFs and the root must have six
DoFs. If this isn't already the case on import, in the Target Root field, specify the
correct root, which switches DoFs.

On export:
In Shogun Post, on the Retargeting tab, you can select or clear the Preserve
dummies above root check box, which controls whether the dummy bones
above the root are exported in the VSR.

If any objects above the root have non-zero transforms, they can be successfully
imported in FBX format, but you'll probably need to modify the hierarchy in Post
to set them aside during setup. If you need them to exist in the exported FBX
because it will be merged into the original file, you must restore the hierarchy to
its original form after you finish retargeting. You can create export scripts to do
this via batching.

Know how to use scaling

Scale (values in the Scale channel) is not supported on bones or anything above
them.

Retargeting enables you to scale each joint so that it better matches the source
skeleton. You can revert this back to the original scale on export, if desired (see
Export FBX (page 227)).

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Import the target skeleton into Shogun Post

You can import the target skeleton as an FBX or USD file, or VSR, if a setup
already exists. Ideally the imported file will contain just the skeleton and skin and
as little else as possible.

To import the target skeleton:

1. In Post, open the relevant .MCP file and ensure that the required solving
skeleton is selected in the Current Subject field.

2. To check that no target skeleton has been imported, open the Subject
Management panel.
The Retargeting column displays a red circle, indicating that no retargeting
setup is present.

For more information on the Subject Management panel, watch Vicon

Shogun 1.3 Post Tutorial - Subject Management33 on YouTube.
3. Do either of the following:

• In the Subject Setup panel, select the Retargeting tab, click the Load
button and select the required target.
Or

• Drag the target skeleton file into the Shogun Post view pane.
When you are prompted, choose Skeleton.

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The target skeleton is imported into the current subject hierarchy with the
topmost bone of the target skeleton parented to a Retargeting node.

 Note
When you import an FBX, it sometimes isn't added under the
Retargeting node. In this case, manually parent the skeleton to the node
(select the required nodes and on the Objects menu, click Parent).

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Prepare the skeleton before posing

1. Hide any unnecessary joints. To do this, select the bone, and in the Attributes
panel, clear the Showing box.

2. On the Retargeting tab, click Map Mode (see About map mode (page 214)) to
enable this mode.
This creates a separate clip that you use to pose the target skeleton relative
to the source skeleton.

3. In the Target Root field, specify which bone is the root. This ensures the root
has six DoFs and any bones above it have zero DoFs.

4. Confirm the target skeleton's DoFs were imported or set them as required.

5. If the source and target skeletons don’t have roots in the same position or
have differing orientation, on the Retargeting tab, click Align Skeletons.
Shogun Post tries to put the skeletons into the same positions and root pose.
You can more closely align the skeletons using the Translate and Rotate
manipulators (not the Special manipulator).

Be sure to move the root, not any dummy bones above it.

6. If you need to globally scale the target skeleton to be the same size as the
source skeleton, on the Retargeting tab, change the Target Scale value.
Ensure that the ankles and clavicles in the target and source skeletons match.

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About map mode

The process of creating the constraints between the source (solving) and target
(retargeting) skeleton and setting the offsets is called mapping. Before mapping,
both skeletons must be in the same pose. This involves posing the target
skeleton to match the source (which is its base pose) and you do this in map
mode. First you pose the target, then you create the constraints. At the time a
constraint is created, its offset is calculated. The offset is the difference in pose
between the source and target.

If you need to tweak the setup, or just check how it was set up, you can return to
map mode. When making any adjustments, the target must be in the same pose
it was when it was mapped. The map pose makes this possible. If constraints
exist, implying a map pose is likely to exist, entering map mode automatically
places the target skeleton in the map pose. If needed, you can also use the Go
to Map Pose button (on the Retargeting tab of the Subject Setup panel) to set
the retarget skeleton's pose to the map pose.

After you've finished posing, to define the map pose, click Set Map Pose.

In addition to restoring the pose you used for mapping, the map pose is also
useful for retargeting. Retargeting is faster and easier if the map pose is set
because it uses the map pose as a starting point instead of the base pose, which,
for some skeletons, may differ widely from the map pose.

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Pose the skeleton

1. Make sure that the target skeleton is keyed in the same pose as the source
skeleton.

2. Start with the root. Make sure that you’ve selected the actual root and not any
dummy bones above it. Using the Translate and Rotate manipulators (not the
Special manipulator), move it to the same place as the source skeleton.

3. Use the Rotate manipulator (or enter values in the Channels panel) to rotate
all the target bones to the same pose as the source skeleton.
Note you can also rotate the source skeleton to match the target skeleton or
a mix of the two.

4. If you need to change bone length to make the target skeleton exactly the
same proportion as the source (assuming your pipeline both allows this), use
the Special manipulator. Note that you must remove the GlobalScale
retargeting parameter. This removes the ability to perform global scaling and
unscaling (using the Unscale button), so ensure you've scaled your target
skeleton first.

5. When you have finished posing the skeleton, in the Subject Setup panel, on
the Retargeting tab, click the Set Map Pose button to store the matching
pose. If you later modify the pose, remember to click this button again so that
the map pose is updated.

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Create constraints

Tip
When creating constraints in Shogun Post 1.6 and later, note the following
shortcuts:

• CTRL+T creates a retargeting constraint between the selected solving and

retargeting bones, or a solving constraint between the selected solving
bone and marker.

• CTRL+R creates a retargeting rotation constraint between the selected

solving and retargeting bones.

1. In the lists on the right of the Retargeting tab (or anywhere else in Shogun
Post), select a matching source and target bone, then click Add Position or
Add Rotation to create a constraint between them. The order of selection
does not matter.

2. As a starting point for the constraints, add a position on hands, feet and hips;
and rotation on all joints.
If your target skeleton has more joints than the Vicon source skeleton, you can
constrain multiple target joints to the same Vicon source joint.

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 Tip
You can use HSL scripting to speed up creating constraints. For
information and examples, see attach in HSL scripting with Vicon
Shogun.
Another way to speed things up is to mirror the changes you make to
one side of the source and target skeletons onto the other side. See
Mirror constraints (page 219) and Mirror joint manipulation (page 220).

3. You can alter multiple constraint weights in the table on the Retargeting tab.
To enable you to immediately see the changes you're making, in the toolbar

at the top, ensure the Enable interactive retargeting button is selected

(green).
You can also select or clear Active to turn constraints on or off.

4. To check targets, ensure that the View Filters option for Constraints (for
Retarget) is selected.

5. Set weights for all rotations. The recommended value for Rotation weights is
200. To set multiple rotations to 200, on the Retargeting tab, drag to select
the required rows in the table and then in the Weight column, set the value of
one of them to 200.
All the selected rotation weights are updated to 200.

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 Tip
If you want to automatically copy your changes to weights from one
side of the skeleton to the other, ensure the Mirror Weight Changes
option is also selected (see Mirror weights (page 221)).

6. To add keys, select the relevant line(s), right-click and select Set Key.
To fine-tune keyframes, you can use the controls in the Graph view. For
example, you can use the right-click (context) menu in the Graph view to to
cut or insert sparse keys. You can also change the time of a key by clicking
and dragging on the Graph view.

7. To save the VSR mapping file, at the top right of the Retargeting tab, click the
Save button.
By default, VSR files are saved to C:
\Users\Public\Documents\Vicon\Retargets.

For information on the relevant HSL commands, see the following commands in
HSL Scripting with Vicon Shogun.

• getInteractiveRetargetCmd

• setInteractiveRetargeting

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Mirror constraints
To make the creation of retargeting constraints faster and less error prone, you
can choose to mirror the changes you make to one side of the source and target
skeletons onto the other side.

The same option enables you to mirror edits to retargeting constraints.

To mirror retargeting constraints:

1. In the Subject Setup panel, click the Regargeting tab.

2. When you create or edit retargeting constraints, at the top of the Constraints
section, ensure the Mirror Creation check box is selected (the default setting).
The constraints created between the source and target skeletons on one side
are automatically mirrored on the opposite side.

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Mirror joint manipulation

When posing a target or source skeleton during retarget setup, you often need
to make the same adjustment to each side. To speed up pose adjustments, you
can automatically mirror the change you've made to one side to the other side.
You can use the same mirroring option when setting up a solve to mirror
changes to the pose or bone length. A new button in the manipulator toolbar
enables you to do this.

To mirror changes to the pose or bone length of a skeleton:

• In the Manipulator toolbar on the left of the view pane, ensure the Mirror

manipulation button is selected (green).

When you create make changes to one side of the subject, they are
automatically copied to the other side.

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Mirror weights
When you're adding or editing weights, you can use the mirroring option, Mirror
Weight Changes. to make the same changes on both sides of the skeleton
simultaneously.

To mirror weight constraints:

1. In the Subject Setup panel, click the Regargeting tab.

2. At the top of the Constraints section, ensure the Mirror Weight Changes
check box is selected (the default setting).
When you adjust the weight values between the source and target skeletons
on one side, they are automatically mirrored on the opposite side, so that
weight values adjusted between, for example, the left lower arm on the
source and target skeletons, are mirrored on the right lower arm of the source
and target skeletons.

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Test the retarget setup

You can test the retarget setup in Shogun Post or in Shogun Live.

To test the retarget setup in Post:

1. When you have finished setup, click Map Mode again to turn it off.
You are returned to the motion in the file, ideally a ROM.

2. In the Subject Setup toolbar, click the Retarget Play Range button.

3. Review the retarget.

To test the retarget setup in Live:

1. Load the VSR. To do this, on the Processing tab, in the Retarget section
supply the required names:

• Filenames. Enter or browse to the required VSR files. You can select or
enter multiple files, separated with a comma.

• Names Enter the subject name(s). You can enter multiple subject names,
separated with a comma. Ensure that the order of multiple names matches
that of the VSR file names.

2. In the General section, ensure that the Processing Output Level is set to
Retarget.
Your FBX is displayed and is driven by the source skeleton. The retarget
skeleton is recorded as part of the MCP capture.

If after testing, you find that further changes are needed, return to map mode
and modify the setup (see Modify a retarget (page 223)).

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Modify a retarget
To check and modify your retargeting:

1. In Shogun Post, make sure you have turned off Map Mode and then run
Retarget from the Processing menu.

2. Assess the results.

When checking the solve, if you need to reduce arm pull, try adding position
targets on the clavicles. If the hands need to match more closely, consider
zeroing the hand position offsets.
To see any changes, re-run Retarget from the Processing menu.

3. Pay particular attention to the finger solve. Make sure the hands look correct.

4. If necessary, update the joint placement to get a better fit.

For more information, see:

Vicon Shogun 1.3 Post Tutorial - Finger Solve Adjustments34 on

YouTube.

34 https://youtu.be/lU4BMD1-5lU

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5. When you have finished updating the joint placement, in the Subject Setup
panel, on the Retargeting tab, click Update Offsets to use the new joint
positions.

6. Re-solve the range and check the updated target.

7. Save the final VDF and export the updated VSR.

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Interactive retargeting
If you want to perform a simple manipulation of a retargeting bone, you can save
time and a lot of manual tweaking by using the interactive retargeting feature.
This immediately updates the offsets for the constraints that drive the bone that
you're adjusting as soon as you release the mouse button.

To manipulate a retargeting bone:

1. Ensure you have loaded the subject, which must have a retargeted skeleton.

2. In the Subject Setup panel, click the Retargeting tab and expand Constraints.

3. In the 3D Scene, select the joint you want to rotate.

4. From the buttons on Subject Setup panel toolbar, select the Enable
interactive retargeting button .
At the top of the 3D Scene view, the text Interactive Retargeting is displayed.

5. Using the manipulator, rotate the subject's joint.

6. When you're happy with the new position of the joint, release the mouse
button.
The offsets for the constraints which drive the bone are updated.

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You can follow a similar procedure to manipulate solving bones: see Interactive
solving (page 204).

For information on the relevant HSL commands, see the following commands in
HSL Scripting with Vicon Shogun.

• getInteractiveRetargetCmd

• setInteractiveRetargeting

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Export the retarget setup

When you're happy with the setup, or if you'd like to see how it works on other
motions, export the file, which contains the retarget skeleton, the retargeting
constraints, and the map pose.

For more information, see:

• Export VSR (page 227)

• Export FBX (page 227)

• Export retarget constraints to HSL (page 228)

Export VSR
When you export in VSR format, you can:

• Load the VSR into other takes that only have a solving skeleton and then run
retargeting.

• Load the VSR into Shogun Live to use it in real time.

Export FBX
1. To export in FBX format, select the Retargeting node, then right-click and
click Select Branch.
This selects the target skeleton, so that you can choose to export Selected
objects only in the next step.

2. To choose what is exported and whether to reset scaling on export, open the
Preferences dialog box (on the General menu, click Preferences), click the
File Export tab and in the File Format box, select FBX Motion.

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3. If you want to reset scaling on export, ensure that the Unscale retargeting
skeletons option is selected.

See also Export from Shogun Post (page 231).

You can now test the exported FBX in your CG app.

Export retarget constraints to HSL

You can export your retargeting setup to an HSL file so that you can re-use it,
using the Export Constraints feature (Shogun Post 1.6 and later). You do this in a
similar way to the current process for exporting solving constraints.

To export retargeting constraints and weights:

1. Load a trial with a fully processed subject (VSK and VSS), which has an
associated target skeleton (FBX) with a full set of constraints and weights.

2. In the Subject Setup panel, click the Retargeting tab and expand the
Constraints section.
All the configured constraints and weights are listed.

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3. To export constraints, click Export Constraints, which is on the right,

underneath the list of constraints.

4. In the dialog box, enter or browse to a location and name for the constraints
HSL file, and then click Save to export the constraints.

5. To export weights, click Export Weights, which is on the left, underneath the
list of constraints.

6. In the dialog box, enter or browse to a location and name for the weights HSL
file, and then click Save to export the weights.

To import the exported constraints and weights:

1. Load the MCP file in which you want to use the exported constraints. Ensure
that the source bone names that affect constraints and weights are the same
as those used in the original MCP file.

The subject and its solving skeleton are displayed in the 3D Scene view.

2. Load the associated FBX file. Ensure that the target bone names that affect
constraints and weights are the same as those used in the original FBX file.

The FBX target skeleton is displayed in the 3D Scene view.

 To set the subject's view filter for retargeting, in the 3D Scene view,
click View Filters and under Subjects, select Retarget.

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3. To import the constraints from the HSL file that you exported earlier, in the
Constraints section of the Retargeting tab, click Import Constraints, which is
on the right, underneath the constraint list.

4. In the dialog box, enter or browse to the required location and select the
constraints HSL file.

5. To import weights, click Import Weights, which is on the left, underneath the
constraint list). Note that you must import the constraints first, before you
import the weights.

6. In the dialog box, enter or browse to the required location and select the
weights HSL file. Ensure the same target root bone is set, and a similar target
scale is used as before.
The constraints and weights are listed in the Constraints section of the
Retargeting tab.

7. Run the usual retargeting process.

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Export from Shogun Post

When you are happy with the quality of your data, you can export it from Shogun
Post in a format that is appropriate for your chosen animation software.

If you are exporting to FBX, to ensure you choose an appropriate frame rate, see
also Frame rates supported by the FBX file format (page 233).

If you are exporting an FBX file for use in Maya® software, see also Export an
FBX file for use in Maya® software (page 234).

To export a take:

1. If you want to export only particular aspects of your take (eg bones), select
them in your preferred way (eg, in the Selection panel, or by using the
Selection Filters options in the 3D Scene view, etc).

2. To specify the required options for your export, on the General menu, click
Preferences, and in the Preferences dialog box, click the File Export tab.

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3. Select the required export file format and, if you made a selection for export
in Step 1, be sure to select the Selected objects only box. Select any other
options needed, such as the appropriate frame rate (for FBX, see Frame rates
supported by the FBX file format (page 233)), and then click Close.

4. On the File menu, click Export.

5. In the Export dialog box, if necessary, change the location of the export and
enter a name for your exported file.

6. Select the appropriate file type (e.g. FBX).

7. Click Save to export your file to the specified location.

For more information see:

• Frame rates supported by the FBX file format (page 233)

• Export an FBX file for use in Maya® software (page 234)

• BVH export (page 236)

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Frame rates supported by the FBX file format

The following are the frame rates supported by the FBX file format and so are
the only frame rates that can be exported from Vicon Post to this format.

• 120 fps

• 100 fps

• 60 fps

• 50 fps

• 48 fps

• 30 fps (black and white NTSC)

• 30 fps (use when display in frame is selected in MotionBuilder, equivalent to

NTSC drop)

• ~29.97 fps (drop color NTSC)

• ~29.97 fps (color NTSC)

• 25 fps (PAL/SECAM)

• 24 fps (Film/Cinema)

• 1000 milli/s (use for date time)

• ~23.976 fps

• 96 fps

• 72 fps

• ~59.94 fps

• 119.88 fps (requires custom MotionBuilder version)

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Export an FBX file for use in Maya® software

When exporting an FBX file for use in Maya® software, note the following points.
If a timecode is used in Post, the FBX export writes out a JSON file to the same
location as the exported FBX file.

In the Preferences dialog box, the Export data starting at timecode offset frame
option for FBX export also enables you to choose whether the exported data
starts at the timecode start or from frame 1.

When the option is selected, the exported data starts at the timecode start.
When the option is cleared (the default), the exported data starts at frame 1. By
running a supplied Python script, you can then use the exported JSON file to set
the timecode in Maya, provided a timecode was used in Post.

To use the FBX in Maya:

1. In Maya open (don't import) the FBX file.

2. With the file open, run the CleanupFBXImport.py script, by default found in:
C:\Program Files\Vicon\ShogunPost1.#\Scripts\Maya\

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The script sets the scene in a number of ways (see the following list) including
setting the correct timecode and linking the MOV file to the correct camera.

 Tip
To get Maya to show the video as time changes, you may need to
click in Overlay view or select the camera in the Outliner and in the
Attributes panel, select the texture tab (see following image).

3. Set the playback speed to the same speed as the video capture rate (eg, 30
fps, as shown in the following image).

In total, the script does the following:

• Sets the timecode start in Maya using the JSON file that is saved with the FBX
if timecode was present in Post.
This allows the animation and video overlay to start at frame 1, yet maintains
the timecode.

• Switches image planes to movie mode.

• Switches image planes to point to MOV files instead of image sequences.

• Switches image planes to only show when looking through the camera.

• Locks the transforms of image plane cameras.

• Sets the Frame Offset attribute on video texture to account for video starting
at frame 0 and the start offset from the JSON file.

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BVH export
With Shogun Post 1.6 and later, you can export takes in BVH format.

If a retargeting skeleton is present, it is exported. If no retargeting skeleton

exists, the solving skeleton is exported, if present. As the BVH format permits
only one skeleton per file, before you export the scene, ensure that it contains
only a single subject/skeleton.

If errors are displayed when you import the resulting BVH, ensure all bones have
at least one active DoF before export. (It doesn't matter if they have no keys to
go with the DoF(s).)

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