Resolutions Light Field Imaging .... Help

General help with ISIS and MCP

These files have been compiled as a result of talking to people that are currently using ISIS and MCP.

It was suggested that we include them on this website in addition to the main tutorial, and add to them as the need arises.

We thought that as every little helps when it comes to getting started, they would be appreciated.

We hope they help.

Setting up the video camera and lighting.

Guidelines for new users

Connecting to your capture device

Start ISIS and open ‘Video Device Settings’ in the first window. You should see in the top left window either your camera name (if it’s digital) or Cameo Grabster if you’re using the Grabster via USB2. If you have any other devices installed such as a PCI TV card, you will see these also.

Digital: If digital, click on your camera name and select ‘Video output’ in the top right box. This should then show you the resolution formats available in the bottom box. In this case it will be 720 x 576. Click this followed by ‘Save/Close’.

Analogue: If analogue, click ‘Cameo Grabster’ or your prefered device and select ‘Capture (Output)’ in the top right box. This will show you the formats available in the bottom box. Always choose 24bit RGB 727 x 576 and then click ‘Save/Close’.

If any of the above fails to show as described, you have a problem between your camera and computer. Double check everything mentioned above.

If you see everything as described, then open ‘CAM Mode’ and click ‘Connect’.

The Four MODES

The first area where some help is called for is switching between Modes. As this lies at the very heart of operating ISIS, we shall go into a little detail.

It is actually easier if you think of the four modes as only two types….. 'Movies' and 'Stills'. CAM and AVI are both movies and IMAGE and REPORT are both stills. When we want to capture images from a movie we must be in either CAM or AVI mode. If we want to select or print out an image or report (stills) we must be in either IMAGE or REPORT mode.

You can only select CAM or AVI mode from the main control window, as they require you to select or create a new Project before you start a new session. REPORT and IMAGE mode are very different as you will probably (but not necessarily) already be within a project. Switching between these two modes is quick and simple using the buttons on the right hand panel.

The pictures above show REPORT mode (top) and IMAGE mode (bottom). On the right hand side, the two images are shown as they are printed out from their respective Mode. Report mode prints a full A4 (portrait) report and Image mode prints a 6 x 4 (landscape) postcard size print. These print sizes and orientations are fixed as the defaults.

Projects and project folders

Keep seeing this?
'You cannot open the Main ISIS Projects folder or create a new folder outside of it. Please open or create a folder within the Main Project folder'.

This means that you're not selecting or creating a project correctly..........

We will explain ...... The 'Main Project folder' is referring to the Project folder that lives in the Resolutions folder on your hard drive. When you create a project (folder), you have to create it within this main folder. This keeps everything neat and tidy so that ISIS knows where to go when it needs the project's images.

		Create/Open Project window When ISIS asks you to select or create a new project, a dialog box (window) is displayed showing you the Main Project folder high lighted (selected). If it isn't selected, just click on it (once) or close the window (Cancel) and try again. If for any reason you want to keep your main 'Projects' folder somewhere other than within the 'Resolutions' folder, you can. You can set the default location of all the main folders by clicking 'Directory Preferences' in the main 'Control' window.

		Creating and naming a new project To create a new project just click 'Make New Folder' and a new folder will appear within the Project folder tree. To name this folder (usually the clients name), just right click this new folder and select 'Rename' from the drop down menu. Click..... and type in the new name. Before you can click OK, there's one more thing You have to either, have this new project folder or another project folder selected (high lighted) ...... then click OK. There is more information about this subject here.

Once you've done it a few times it does become easier. We hope all this helps everyone……..and please, do persevere. It’s will be well worth it!

Hints and Tips

Printing images at a different size

If you ever need to print out an image at a different size than ISIS allows, you can do it as follows: Navigate to your 'Projects' folder (by default, this is '\Program files\Resolutions\Projects'), and make a shortcut to it from your desktop. Do this by right clicking on the folder and dragging the cursor to your desktop, release and select 'Create Shortcuts Here'.

You can now, without ISIS running, open your main 'Projects' folder and select a 'Project'. When this project folder opens you will see all your bitmaps and data files. It is very important not to delete or rename any of these files. If you do, you will find that ISIS will not be able to open your files correctly. You can now open an image (.bmp) in your favourite graphics program and print it at any size you want. This can be useful if you need to print out a page of thumbnails to show to your client etc ........

Renaming ISIS Folders

DON'T !

Whilst talking of renaming files, we must stress that you MUST NOT rename any of the files or folders within the Resolutions directory. This will cause ISIS to malfunction.