Optimizing Your PC
Hardware for DSV Recording
By Bill Mollon, Digital Imaging
Product Manager, Gatan, Pleasanton, CA
Part II. Recording Parameters
Procedure (DigitalMicrograph)
Now that the hardware components have
been identified and optimized you will need to make sure there
is a proper “match” between the hardware and software
settings within DigitalMicrograph. Use the following steps
to setup your recording session:
| 1. |
In the Camera View dialog window select
the “setup” icon |
| |
| a |
Set the CCD active
area so that it is the proper size(720x 480)
|
|
| b |
Optimize the frame
rate by selecting the defined exposure time for
the camera being used (highest frame rate with max.
duty cycle)
 |
|
| |
| c. |
Open
the DSV window, select the setup icon and match
the settings for the CCD active area you entered
in step 1 (720 x 480). This will be the “Video
Size” to be recorded. Failure
to do this “matching” will affect
the processing speed of your movie authoring software.
A mismatch will force the software to interpolate
the unmatched frame area and result in dropped
frames
|
|
| d. |
The
interval timing allows for the frame rate of the
camera to be captured by the digital stream (50ms
= 20frames/sec)
|
| e. |
User
can also choose to include annotations such as
scale bar in the digital stream. Some of the annotations
can be in color. Generating BW video stream will
shorten the processing time, hence it reduces
dropped frames
|
| f. |
Click the OK button
and start the stream by clicking “Start
Video”
|
| |
|
|
2. Switch your attention now to your 3rd party
software that will act as the Movie creation or Authoring
program. We now want to “match” certain settings
in the Authoring Software (ex. VideoStudio). Locate the setup
section for recording/capture and make sure the following
settings are in place:
| a. |
Capture size must match streaming video size (720x480)
|
| b. |
Make sure “save to” path points to your
RAID drive. Your RAID drive will be assigned a drive letter
(ex. Drive F). Failure to point to the RAID drive will
defeat the purpose of having the captured data being saved
to the fast access/speed drives
|
| c. |
Set working folder (temp) to RAID drive letter (Most
authoring software uses a temporary/swap space on the
drive during processing)
|
| d. |
Start your recording…operate TEM…..stop
recording. Your authoring program will now capture the
video stream that is being produced by DigitalMicrograph
and display it in a “monitor” window. You
can use this window in your authoring software as your
viewport while recording your TEM events (heating/cooling/strain,
stage movement, etc.) |
3. Edit your recording
| a. |
Clip, delete frames
|
| b. |
Add annotations, transitions, titles
|
| c. |
Add sound, music, etc |
4. Render the recording
| a. |
This step takes the raw video data which is usually
in AVI format and prepares it for saving to your hard
drive depending on the save format you require
|
| b. |
Save formats, compressed,
uncompressed (AVI, MPEG1, MPEG2,
WMV, DVD) |
5. Save and share your work with others
Summary
Digital video as compared to analog video is higher quality,
more flexible, more convenient, faster and cost effective.
Key components to consider in creating your Recording System
are Speed of the digital acquisition, RAM memory in the PC,
Hard drive space in the PC, Hard drive read/write speed, and
application software for editing and authoring your movies.
A RAID 0 or 5 array is necessary to give fast access and write
capability for your data save that will help preserve the
frame rate that is being captured by the acquisition camera.
Camera System(s) Used
| • |
Erlangshen and Orius camera
systems (ES1000W, SC1000, SC600) |
| • |
DigitalMIcrograph GMS 1.6 |
| • |
Digital Streaming Video plug-in for DM |
Authoring Software
| • |
ULEAD® VideoStudio®
9 |
| |
o |
VideoStudio Editor |
| |
o |
Movie Wizard |
| |
o |
DV to DVD Wizard |
| |
o |
Menus and Authoring |
| |
o |
Output File Format Support |
| |
|
 |
Video: AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, Real Media*,
Windows Media Format, 3GPP*, 3GPP2* |
| |
|
|
Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo, MPA, WAV, Windows Media
Format |
| |
|
|
Images: BMP, JPG/JPEG/JPE |
| |
|
|
Disc: DVD, Video CD (VCD), Super Video CD (SVCD) movie
title |
| |
|
|
Media: CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R Dual Layer,
DVD+R Double Layer, DVD-RAM (CPRM) |
Other 3rd Party Software Tested
| • |
VirtualDub (http://www.virtualdub.org/) |
| |
o |
GNU license product (public domain) |
| |
o |
Low level diagnostics for analyzing frame rate data |
| • |
Microsoft® NetMeeting |
| |
o |
Free videoconferencing software that is part of Windows
OS |
| |
o |
Allows sharing of the host desktop and applications. |
| |
o |
Capable of using a digital video stream if present |
| |
o |
Valuable tool for multi-user type of facilities that
might want to share a TEM session with others on a network |
| |
o |
No movie capability or saving of video stream |
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Gatan
Inc. Corporate Headquarters, 5933 Coronado Lane, Pleasanton,
CA 94588
Tel. (925) 463 0200 Fax. (925) 463 0204
Contact: info@gatan.com
|
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