1. What is IVision
LabVIEW toolkit at all?
IVision LabVIEW toolkit is a developer
SDK for LabVIEW language. It has over 380vis, covers functions of video
capturing, image processing, avi/media file read and write, video blending etc.
The video capturing devices can be USB webcam, firewire/IEEE cameras, DV
camcorder and TV tuner etc. It’s based on DirectX/DirectShow for video
capturing and OpenCV for image processing, work on Windows platform.
2. Do the vi icons
mean anything?
For image processing functions, a
vi icon with yellow background means they work on color images. With gray
background means they only work on single channel image. With half yellow and
half gray background means they work on both color and single channel image.
Other vi icon backgrounds are for either examples or high level vis
3. Where can I get
help document of your IVision vis?
For controls and vi descriptions,
you can use LabVIEW context help window (ctrl+H) and move the mouse over the
controls and vi icons to see the descriptions. There are also some comments on
the example’s front panels and in the block diagram. You can also find html
format documents in our website, but they are not always updated. In future
version, we will compile into help file.
4. I download the
Ivision LabVIEW toolkit, but when I try to open the IVision_All_vis.llb, it
says “missing d3d9.dll” and I’m not able to open any vis. Why?
You need to upgrade your computer
system to directx 9.0 runtime. Please go here to get it:
5. What is
development license, what is runtime license for IVision LabVIEW toolkit?
The development license for IVision LabVIEW toolkit
is needed when you design LabVIEW code, which means you need to load IVision
into LabVIEW. The runtime license is needed when you distribute your standalone
application that does not need LabVIEW design environment, but only LabVIEW
runtime engine. Users always need to first purchase development license before
they can order runtime licenses.
6.
I got error at
the end of IVision installation when it tries to use” regsvr32.exe” to register
the directshow filters, I have the newest Winxp sp2, why?
This does not occur for every Winxp sp2
computers. Most work just fine, but there are exceptions. In case the filter
registration failed, that could mean that your computer has DEP enabled. Prefered
Solution is: reboot the computer and press F8 to go to Safe Mode, then
manually register the .ax (directshow filter file) by going to Start->Run…,
in command window, type in “regsvr32.exe CalibFilter.ax” to register
CalibFilter.ax file, when finish type in “regsvr32.exe ProxyTrans.ax” to
register the “ProxyTrans.ax” file. When both registrations succeed, reboot
the computer and go back to normal mode.
Below
are some more information and solutions that you can also try.
A: Your newest winxp is a
64-bit edition. If this is the case, microsoft has a solution. Please read this
link for help:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;282747
B: You happen to have the new
processor that supports DEP (Data
execution prevention). You need to add “regsvr32.exe”, “CalibFilter.ax” and “ProxyTrans.ax” (they
are in your system’s directory after installing the IVision) to exception list
of DEP. This is how:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/windowsxp/depcnfxp.mspx
7. How do I get
started quickly with IVision?
The best and quick way to start is by looking
at the examples in IVision. The first vi to load is “IVision_All_vis.vi”, it’s
block diagram organizes all IVision vis into different groups. There are many
examples and usually you just need to run it, you should see the results. For
camera/video capture devices, the best example to start with is
IVision_CameraDemo1.vi. Browsing through all the vis description will also give
you some ideas of what IVision’s capabilities are.
8. I have installed
IVision older version, should I delete it?
Yes, it’s recommended that you uninstall or delete
or backup the previous IVision toolkit to avoid confusing of maintaining
multiple copies of vis. It’s always good practice to save your vis in different
names if you modify some of the IVision vis, so that the upgraded version will
not overwrite your modified vis.
9. Does IVision work
with USB webcam?
Yes, as long as you have
installed the WDM or VFW driver provided by the camera vendors.
10. Does IVision work
with firewire/IEEE1394 cameras?
Yes, as long as you have
installed the WDM or VFW driver provided by the camera vendors.
11. Does IVision work
with DV camcorder?
Yes, luckily you don’t need any
driver for DV camcorder.
12. . Does IVision
work with TV tuner?
Yes, as long as you have
installed the WDM driver provided by the device vendors.
13. Does IVision work
with frame grabber?
Maybe, as long as you have
installed the WDM or VFW driver provided by the card vendors.
14. Does IVision work
with ATI All In Wonder (with TV tuner)?
Yes, as long as you have the
proper driver installed. ATI All In Wonder can be used as TV tuner or as frame
grabber.
15. I got an error
saying “A system resource is being used by another program” when I try to open
the ATI TV tuner session, why?
Either the device is in use by other WebTV
program or sometimes even you just click on an avi file in the windows explore,
it also uses the ATI hardware resource. You just need to click on any other
file such as txt file and it’ll fix the problem.
16. Can I access the
image frame from live video?
Yes, you can use the “snap”
functions to grab one image at one time, or you can use callback vi to process
the image continuously while video is streaming.
17. Can I play back
AVI file, mpeg, DV format or asf file?
Yes, there are two ways to playback avi file,
using the legacy VFW based AVI functions or media file functions in IVision,
VFW based AVI functions can only play uncompressed or certain compression
format avi files while media file functions can play almost any modern format
avi files.
18. Can I record live
video into avi files?
There are two ways to record video into avi
files. The first way is using the legacy VFW based AVI functions, you can snap
an image, and write to avi file frame by frame. The second and better way to
record video into avi file is using the media file functions, it’ll record continuously,
you can record audio along with video too. Both methods provide selectable
compressions.
19. I want to show
two camera’s live video side by side or picture in picture, can I do that with
IVision LabVIEW toolkit?
Yes, see the example IVision_Blend2Cameras_Example.vi.
You can adjust alpha channel for each video as well as position and size of
each video.
20. I want to
playback two avi files side by side or picture in picture, can I do that with
IVision LabVIEW toolkit?
Yes, see the example IVision_Blend2AVIs_Example.vi.
You can adjust alpha channel for each video as well as position and size of
each video.
21. How can I
distinguish two cameras with the same model?
Using the IVision_GetCameraDeviceID.vi.
22. Can I control the
camera settings and video format?
Yes, there are always functions to bring out
dialog window for settings, but there are also many camera functions in IVision
to set these settings programmatically. Check the video capture device function
group in Ivision_All_Vis.llb.
23. Why my camera is
listed under the ni-imaq for 1394, not in “Imaging devices” in the device
manager and IVision does not work?
The problem is if you have ni1394 driver
installed, some IEEE1394/firewire camera will be forced to be listed under the
ni-imaq 1394 camera rather than normally under the “Imaging devices” group in
the device manager. This will prevent any applications that use DirectShow to
work for these cameras. So you need to change the configuration in the MAX to
let cameras registered as it’s original name rather than ni1394 camera..
Important is making sure your 1394 cameras are listed under the “Imaging
devices” group in the device manager.
24. Where can I get
the WDM driver for Basler IEEE1394 camera?
Many camera vendors today provide their own
DirectShow compliant WDM drivers. But Basler does not provide this for their
firewire cameras. A third party software “fire-i software” from Unibrain
provide this WDM drivers for the Basler cameras. It seems that this WDM driver
also works for other vendors such as Unibrain®,
ADS®, AVT®, Basler®, Hamamatsu®, JVC®, MicroPix®, OrangeMicro®, PointGrey®,
Sony®, Teli®, Victor®. Check out the link:
http://www.unibrain.com/1394_products/fire-i_software/fire-i_software.htm
25. Why my second
camera does not work when I unplugged the first one and plug in my second one?
You need to first call the
“IVision_ExitCam.vi” to erase the record of existing cameras in the system,
then you can try your program again. Because once you call the
“IVision_CameraCounts.vi” once, it will keep the records of the existing
cameras, so when you unplug and plug in a new one, it won’t auto detect the
changes until you call the “IVision_ExitCam.vi” to erase the memory, then call
the “IVision_CameraCounts.vi” again to initialize the camera system.
26. I prefer to use
IMAQ-Vision for image processing, can I convert IVision image format to IMAQ?
Yes, you can. We have functions in IVision
can do that. Try out the example "Acquire Camera Image2IMAQ.vi" in
IVisionToIMAQ.llb.
27. I got a memory
access error when I exit LabVIEW while there is still an image window not
closed?
You should close down all IVision image
windows before exit LabVIEW to avoid error message. IVision_DestroyWindow.vi
can be used.
28. LabVIEW crashes
when I try to use some image processing functions, why?
Please make sure the image type is correct. Some
image functions work for both color and gray, some only work for color or gray
image and some functions require binary image. Please use the right type image.
Besides the vi description, there are controls descriptions for image
functions. Please move your mouse over these controls and see the document in LabVIEW context window.
Windows Vista Compatibility:
29.
How do I make Ivision work under Window’s vista (32bit)?
Right click on the application
that calls Ivision LabVIEW toolkit, select
"Property", go to "Compatibility" tab, check the box
"Run this programin compatibility mode for", select "Windows XP
(Service Pack2)" and also check the box "Run this program as an administrator". click on "Apply" and "OK".