AVI file Processing

• You now need to get your video from your camera into a format that KA Video can work with.  That is the frames need to be 640x480 in size and compressed in Indeo format.  Most video capture software can do this.
• You also need to capture a single frame of your video that shows the scale pole as a 640 x 480 bmp file.  This file MUST have the same base file name as the movie and be saved in the AVI folder.

These notes will explain video capture methods using Windows Movie Maker 2 along with RAD Video Tools (free software) or using Pinnacle Studio Software.

KA works with Audio Video Interleave (AVI) files. Digital video frames are made up of two interlaced fields of information. The even lines show the first field in the frame and the odd lines show the second field. The first field of data can be extracted from the full frame by removing the odd lines from the frame and redrawing the even lines (shifted down one line) a second time in their place.

KA software works with AVI files and produces image set files that show a video frame in 640x480 pixel format.  If you use video in NTSC format (the US standard) it has 30 frames per second video capture rate.  If you are using PAL format (Europe and Australia) it has 25 frames per second capture rate.  Once you have de-interlaced your video you will have twice as many fields of data (50 or 60).

Once you have captured your video, you need to take care saving and naming your avi files.  You should save them into the avi folder created when you set up KA Video.  If you are doing a 3D study you will have pairs of video representing the side and front (or rear) views from your two cameras.  Your pairs of files should have identical filenames except for the last letter, which should be S or F.  (Use F, even if you used a rear camera) For example:  kleft4S and kleft4F would be the two files from trial 4 with side and rear cameras.  KA Video will then automatically match these files to produce 3D data.

Click here if you are using Pinnacle Studio to Capture your Video

Capture Using Movie Maker

Step 1

Using Movie Maker 2, capture your movie by the usual method.

Save your movie as DV-AVI format.

Step 2

Start the RAD Video Tools program.  Select your avi file, then choose Convert a File

Select the following options:

Scale to size 640x480.  Save your file into the avi folder, in your own workgroup folder. (If necessary, you can create new workgroup folders by using KA Video Setup)

After clicking Convert, choose the Indeo 5.1 Compressor, and 100% quality.

Step 3  Capture a Single Frame

Now you need to open your new converted movie in Movie Maker and capture a single frame.  (If you capture it before conversion it will be the wrong size).  Save your image into your avi folder.  You will be compelled to save it in .jpg format.  Once it is saved, open it in MSPaint or IrfanView and resave it in .bmp format.

Summary

Now you should have 2  files saved in your folder in the avi folder.  One will be the movie and the other will be a single captured frame containing the scale pole.  Both these files should have an identical name but one will have an avi file extension, the other .bmp

If you are doing a 3D study, you will need 4 files.  Using the example from above, they would be named:

kleft4S.avi, kleft4F.avi, kleft4S.bmp, kleft4F.bmp

Make sure they are saved in your workgroup folder in the AVI folder created when KA Video was installed.

This page has been produced by Margaret Meijers.  Questions or feedback may be directed by email to mmeijers at ictmindtools.net

 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 License.
Attribution should include the statement: "This has been adapted from a resource originally created by Margaret Meijers at http://ictmindtools.net"