Vernier Tech Info Library TIL #1464

Question

How do I collect good videos for Logger Pro?

Answer

1. Brighter is better. Don�t just use the room light if better lights are available.
2. Check your focus if using a web cam. The focusing ring is easy to move by accident.
3. Use a tripod or other support. Use a remote for digital still cameras to avoid shaking the camera.
4. Check your frame to see if there are extraneous objects in the video. Half a person on the edge? Part of a table? Get rid of them. The background should be as plain as possible, with no motion passing from a bright background to a dark background, and so forth.
5. Position the camera so that it is looking square at the wall behind. Even if the wall is not part of the information, non-parallel lines in the video will be very distracting to the user. The user might even conclude that the video is distorted. This is especially important if the video is to be used for video analysis. See next point.
6. If the video is to be used for video analysis, be sure that the motion is in a plane parallel to the camera plane.
7. If you are going to sync the video to sensor data, don�t rely only on experimental sensor data to accomplish the sync. This is correctly seen as circular by many teachers. Instead, include some non-experiment-related event, like a toe tapping a force plate, to accomplish the sync. Sound may also be useful.
8. Before distributing a video, you may want to compress it additionally.

Additional info about cameras is available in our Getting Started with Videos Guide at:
http://www2.vernier.com/manuals/video_and_logger_pro.pdf

Related TILs:
TIL 1644: Why do objects in my video appear striped when I advance frame-by-frame?

Created by: jgastineau on September 01 2005
Last updated by: jhopkins on April 17 2007