Step-By-Step Guide

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-Watching videos - Specifying a working zone

-Increasing image size - Slowing down playback speed

-Observing Motion - Using overlay grids

-Tracking objects or body joints - Measuring time

-Comparing and synchronizing analysis data

- Saving/Loading and Sharing two videos

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Watching Videos

1. Opening and playing a video

Use the file explorer to navigate to the folder where your video is stored. The thumbnails panel, on the right, displays the files that can be opened for the selected folder.

Double click on a thumbnail to open the video in a Player screen.

You can also use the menu File > Open or drag a file from the Windows Explorer to Kinovea to open the corresponding file.

Once the video is opened, launch the playback with the player controls or browse to an arbitrary location with the navigation cursor.

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Specifying a working zone

Move to an interesting period and use the working zone start button .Launch playback and let it run until the end of the sequence to analyze. Hit the working zone end button .

Note: The navigation cursor is now more precise, since it expands in the Working Zone. If the playback is in loop mode, the video will loop within the Working Zone.

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Increasing image size

If image seems too small, use the little square handles at the image corners.Drag them until you are pleased with the image size.

You can also directly zoom in the image or use the magnifier tool.

 

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Slowing down playback speed

In order to better study the motion, slow down playback speed using the speed cursor.

To go back to 100% speed, double-click on the percentage value.To change speed by small amounts, use the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW of the keyboard.To jump to the next 25% spot, use CTRL + UP ARROW or CTRL + DOWN ARROW.

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Observing Motion

1. Specifying a working zone for analysis

With the help of the selection cursors and set a small working zone around the motion to observe.

Once the working zone is short enough, Kinovea will switch to Analysis mode. In this mode the frames composing the video are extracted to memory for faster access.

Automatic switch to analysis mode

The working zone properties corresponding to the switch to Analysis mode can be set in the Preferences dialog, at Play/Analysis Screen tab.The default duration is 12 seconds.

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Breaking down motion

Analysis mode makes the video update in real time when using the navigation cursor. This gives you total control on the timeline.

You can also use the mouse wheel to move a few frames forward or backward.

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Using the flat grid

Toggle the menu Image > Grid. A grid is displayed on the image.

The flat grid allows you to make observations on a plane strictly perpendicular to the camera axis.Move the grid by drag and drop and resize it using the circular handles at corners.

Note: The number of divisions can be adjusted by right clicking the grid then using the Configure menu.

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Using the perspective grid

Toggle the menu Image > Perspective Grid.Use the circular handles at the corners to map the grid on a rectangular plane, visible or virtual.For instance place the grid on a plane that would be perpendicular to the ground to make a visualization guide.

To expand the grid while keeping the mapping on the same virtual plane, hold the CTRL key down during the drag and drop. The number of divisions is also adjustable through the context menu Configure.

Note: You can also toggle the perspective grid display with the dedicated button on the tool bar of the player screen .

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Changing grids color

Display the configuration dialog box of a grid by double clicking on it. Change the grid color so as to have a good contrast with the video content.

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Tracking objects or body joints

Tracking workflow

The steps involved in tracking an object (or a body joint) in Kinovea are the following:

Right click the object to track and use the menu Track Path.

Move the video forward using the Play button, the Next Frame button or the Mouse Wheel.

Adjust point location when necessary during the Path creation.

To finish tracking, right-click and use the menu End Path Edition.

Tracking is a semi-automatic process. The points location is computed automatically but you can adjust them at any time.

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Choosing the object to track

To improve automatic tracking results, the object to track should be well contrasted and feature rich.The shape of the object should not change much during the tracking.You may also consider the use of tracking stickers or reflective stickers to improve the results.

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Path creation

When the tracking is in progress, you will see two rectangles around the object being tracked.The inner rectangle is the feature window [A], while the outer rectangle is the search window [B].

When the automatic tracking fails, you can correct the point location by dragging the search window. Drag it until the cross at the center of the tracking tool is at the correct location.

When tracking resumes, it will take this new point as reference.

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Interacting with the Path track

Once you are at the last image of the Path you want to track, end the tracking by right clicking the tool and using the menu End Path Edition.The rectangles disappear.

All points location are locked.

The Path is now interactive and you can jump to any image by clicking on the corresponding point.Drag the target along the trajectory to browse the motion.

If some points are misplaced, go to the image corresponding to the misplaced point, right-click the path and use menu Restart Path Edition.Adjust the point location and return to interactive mode by right-click + End Path Edition.

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Configuring display options

Right click on the Path track and use the menu Configuration to access the display options.

The following settings are available:

Display modesThe Path track can be in one of three mode:

[A] - Complete path - All the path is drawn all the time. (This is the default option).

[B] - Path section around current image - Only a small section of the path is drawn, typically 25 images around the current point.

[C] - Label following the path - Only a small section of the path is drawn, and the defined label is displayed at the current point.

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MeasurementAdditional information on total distance or speed can be displayed by choosing one of the options:

Distance - The total distance between the start of the path and the current point.

Speed - The average speed of the last segment of the path.

To express distance and speed in real world units, you must first add a line and set its real length as described in Measuring distances.

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Key imagesWhen key images are within the time boundaries of the path, they are displayed as small labels attached to their image position.You can move the key images labels around to clarify the view.

When using one of the measurement display option, the key image labels will display the distance or speed of their respective position.

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Adding a Stopwatch

Click on the Stopwatch button of the drawings tool bar : Click anywhere on the image to add the Stopwatch.

The Stopwatch will be visible from this image, forward.You can change background color and font size through the configuration dialog box.

You can resize the Stopwatch label by dragging the lower right corner away or by changing the font size in the configuration dialog.

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Measuring a timeframe

As long as you do not start the counter, the Stopwatch displays zero.

Note: The time representation depends on global configuration.Check the Preferences topic to read more about the various time representations formats.

To measure the duration of an event:

Move to the start of the event, right-click the Stopwatch and use the menu Start Stopwatch.

Move to the end of the event, right-click the Stopwatch and use the menu Stop Stopwatch.

The last value displayed on the Stopwatch represent the event duration. This value stays visible after the Stopwatch has stopped.

You can hide the Stopwatch after the measured event, use the Hide Stopwatch menu.The stopwatch will then be only visible between the frame you added it and this last frame.

To permanently delete the Stopwatch, right-click it and use menu Delete Stopwatch menu.

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Identifying Stopwatches

When you add several Stopwatches to measure simultaneous events, it is interesting to be able to identify easily which timed value is associated with each event.A first approach is to use color coding: associate each event with a color and use it as the Stopwatch color.

You can also identify the Stopwatch using the Label property.To modify color and label, right-click the Stopwatch and use menu Configuration

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Comparing and synchronizing two videos

Opening two videos simultaneously

Prepare the workspace using the menu View > Two Playback Screens.Open successively both videos you would like to compare.

The lower panel holds a new set of controls that will act upon both videos simultaneously.

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Synchronizing two videos

Move within each video until you get to a common reference event.(e.g: jump take off, jump landing, racket/ball impact, hand/ball impact, etc.)Click on the synchronize button .

The videos are now synchronized on the event.

Note: In each video, times are now relative to the synchronisation point.

The synchronization point is visible in the three timelines as a small red marker:

Use the common navigation buttons for frame by frame and as well as the common navigation bar to compare key positions that led to the common event.

Use the common Play button for a dynamic analysis of the differences in the videos.

You can use this function in combination with the slow motion function, in order to improve comparison quality.Note: When you slow down one video, the other will also be slowed down accordingly.

If you browse within one video independently using its individual controls, you can force the other video to match the new position by using the F9 key.

To change the synchronization point, browse each video independently using its own playback controls, then use the synchronize button again.

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Basic superposition

To visualize both video in the same screen at half transparency each, use the Superposition button .

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Saving/Loading and Sharing analysis data

You can export and import your analysis data (Key images positions, comments, drawings, path tracks, stopwatches, etc.) independently from the video.

This lets you share or compare observations made by different persons on the same video, import the trajectory of an object from one video to another, backup the analysis data without compressing the video again, etc.

 

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Saving analysis data

You can access the saving dialog by using menu File > Save… or using the Save Video button of the export toolbar.

Note: The same dialog is used for saving complete videos.

Choose the option Save only the Key Images data.

The data are saved in a file of extension .KVA. (Stands for Kinovea Video Analysis. It is an XML file that can be opened in a text editor like notepad).It contains the necessary information to recreate the Key Images positions, comments, drawings, stopwatches, tracking data, etc.

Note: By default, the .kva file created has the same name as the video, only the extension changes. It allows Kinovea to open it automatically next time you use this video.If you don't want the analysis data file to be loaded automatically, save the .kva file with a different name than the video.

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Loading analysis data

If an analysis (.kva) file with the same name than the video is found in the folder, the content of this file will be loaded automatically.

You can also open an external file using the menu File > Load Key Images data…, and point to a .kva file you previously saved.

Note: the size of drawings will be adapted to the image size of the video.

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Sharing

Several methods can be used to share the analysis data.

If both ends already have the video, the analysis data can be transmitted in the form of the KVA file alone.

If your correspondent does not have the video, you can use the Combine video and key images data into the file option or you can send the video and the analysis file separately.

You should try to avoid permanently painting key images data on the video as long as it is not necessary, since you'll loose the ability to edit the data afterward.

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Saving videos

When using the saving dialog, the selected working zone will be saved to the file.The current slow motion value will be applied to the output video.

The following formats are supported as output: MKV (Matroska), MP4, AVI.The following codec is supported as output: MPEG4-ASP. (DivX / Xvid compatible)

Note: When using the option Combine video and key images data into the file, the only supported format is MKV (Matroska).

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