Volumetric Capture Stage Preparation In this article, all steps for volumetric capture will be introduced to you. For your own comfort, before you start make sure you have all the items from the list in hand. In this tutorial, we will explain how to connect 2 cameras to a single…
Volumetric Capture Stage Preparation
In this article, all steps for volumetric capture will be introduced to you. For your own comfort, before you start make sure you have all the items from the list in hand. In this tutorial, we will explain how to connect 2 cameras to a single PC. Later on, we will describe how to connect 4 cameras to 2 PCs, running on a network.
As for any volumetric capture, the most important thing is to have at least two cameras. The standard setup is two cameras placed in 90 degrees angle to one another and facing a square meter capture stage:

Diagram of EF EVE VolCapp Stage Setup for two Kinect Azure.
First of all, we recommend using a masking tape for the capture stage set up on the ground. 1m x 1m square is enough to start.
- Mark the center of the stage with a + sign, as well as the middle points of all boarders. This will help you to position the cameras easier.

- Secondly, you should mark the place on the ground, where you will put your cameras. It has to be 2 meters from the center (+) in the same line with your middle point mark of the border.

Preparing the Capture Setup Equipment
Firstly, make sure you have everything from your equipment list and your purchase list. We will begin with mounting the cameras on the stands.
- Unfold your tripod stand and attach the clamp ball-head mount on the top of the stand.

Clamp Ball-Head Mount attached to the stand
- Remove the plastic cover from your Kinect Azure camera because it covers your synchronization cable input and output:

Kinect Azure plastic cover removed
- Attach the camera to the Clamp Ball-Head mount:

- Use a cable tie to attach the USB cable to the camera stand to keep the camera in a stable position.

- Use another cable tie to attach the power cable extension to the same camera stand. It’s needed because the Kinect Azure original power cable is quite short.

Markers
Another important thing for Volumetric Capture Setup is to prepare your markers which you will need later for depth camera calibration.
- Print out one copy of marker 1 and two copies of marker 2 which you received in your email.
- Print your markers on a thick matte paper as recommended here.

Stand markers
- Print two copies of marker number 2.
- Put both copies of marker #2 inside the marker frame, both facing different sides.
- Put frame with markers on the tripod stand.

Connecting cameras
When your cameras are already on the stands and in places, it’s time to connect the cables. First of all, you need to select your master camera.

Data Transmission Cable
- Plug in the data transmission cable (e.g. USB C to USB 3) to your master camera

USB C Cable into the depth camera
- Connect it to the USB card on your computer.

Power cable
- Then plug in the power cable to the camera and a power cable extension outlet that you’ve mounted to the stand before.

Synchronization cable
- You also have a synchronization cable. This one should go to the sync out port on the master camera, and sync in port of the slave camera.

The second camera will be your slave camera. You need to do the same steps as you did with the master camera. Except for this one, make sure that the data transmission cable goes into the different controller of the motherboard USB port.

Additional cameras (Network feature)
If you have more than two cameras, you will need two computers. One PC is for two cameras maximum. Every camera that you connect additionally will be a slave camera, as the master camera is already set on the first PC. Your first PC (where the master camera is connected, will be your Server, and the second PC will be your Client)

You should connect your next camera with a synchronization cable clockwise to the slave camera that you already have.
- Plug in the data transmission cable to the new PC
- Plug in the power cable
- Plug in the synchronization cable.
For every new camera you connect, the set up goes in the same order as described above.
Hi! Two issues.
Should I keep on doing the proceedings with the calibration markers 3-6?
It is physically possible to sequence cameras creating a master-slave-slave hierarchy through input-output conections. Shouldn’t it be a feature on the near future? Is it a data amount issue?
Thanks
Hi, Lucas, sorry for a late reply 🙈
Regarding calibration markers: The marker number doesn’t matter – what matters is how many times you will collect those markers. We updated our software and you can collect your markers up to 20 times now. But the markers should always be the same.
As for master-slave hierarchy: We have this feature and you can sync the cameras. That’s why synchronization cable is needed. You can manage the sync delay in the VolCapp Dashboard. Kinect Azure sync section in this article: https://ef-eve.com/help/knowledge-base/volcapp-features-dashboard/#volumetric-capture-quality
Let me know if you have some more questions – I’ll be happy to help! 😉
hi, I have 2 kinect 2. Could I connect them?
Hi, Nahuel, thanks for your question!
Yes, you can. But we always recommend Azure Kinect, because not all functions are supported with Kinect V2
You can send us a message if you want more specifics support@ef-eve.com
Looking forward to hearing from you 🙂
Hello Liepa,
We would like to connect 2 x Kinnect v.2 as well (until I have Azures!), I’ll email you at: support@ef-eve.com.
Thanks in advance
Olivia and Marc (Milieux Institute)