Not applicable to __prod_name software.

Video Tracker Acquisition Entity Commands

These commands are used to control how the video tracker acquisition entity processes video frames and what it does with the data after processing.

-GetDataFile <Acq Ent Name>

Returns the data file name and path for the specified acquisition entity. Example :-GetDataFile VT1 Default: N/A Usage: This command should only be used from a NetCom client application after a connection to a server has been established.

Arguments

Acq Ent Name The name of the acquisition entity that the data file name is being requested for.

NetCom Reply

Error Code If the command is successful, this value will be equal to 0. Otherwise, the value will be equal to -1. Value This is the data file name and path for the specified acquisition entity.

-SetBlueThreshold Enabled <Tracker Name> <Value>

Enables or disables blue thresholding for video record processing. When enabled, the value specified by the -SetBlueThreshold command will be will be used for tracking the blue components of the video. Changing the enabled state does not change the value of the -SetBlueThreshold command. Example :-SetBlueThresholdEnabled VT1 True Default: Cheetah creates all video trackers with the threshold enable set to False. Usage: This command can be used at any time.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be one of the following keywords: True: Threshold tracking for this color is enabled. False: Threshold tracking for this color is disabled.

-SetBlueThreshold <Tracker Name> <Value>

Sets the threshold level for detecting red pixels in a video tracker record. The Blue value of the pixel is calculated using a pure blue algorithm that subtracts the intensity value from the blue component of a pixel. Example :-SetBlueThreshold VT1 50 Default: Cheetah creates all video trackers with the threshold set to 255. Usage: This command can be used at any time.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be any whole number between 0 (every pixel withblue is used) and 255 (noblue pixels are used). Values outside of that range will generate an error, and the previous threshold setting will be retained. If thevalue of a pixel is detected that is above the threshold, it will be considered a pixel of interest for video tracking.

-SetCameraDelay Enabled <Tracker Name> <Value>

Enables or disables the static camera delay for video record processing. When enabled, the value specified by the -SetCameraDelay command will be subtracted from the timestamp of each record prior to the record being written to a file. Changing the enabled state does not change the value of the -SetCameraDelay command. Example :-SetCameraDelayEnabled VT1 True Default: Cheetah sets the camera delay enabled to False. Usage: When in acquisition mode, this command can be used only when video file output is not enabled (see -SetVideoFileOutputEnabled), then this command can only be used when Cheetah is idle.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be one of the following: True: Enables the camera delay subtraction on all video tracker records for the specified tracker. False: Disables the camera delay subtraction on all video tracker records for the specified tracker.

-SetCameraDelay <Tracker Name> <Value>

Sets the static camera delay for adjusting each video record's timestamp inside Cheetah. This command is used when the processing delay of the camera is known, and is static. Every record will have this value subtracted from its timestamp prior to the record being written to a file. This function only sets the value that will be used for the camera delay, it does NOT enable usage of this delay. You must also use the command -SetCameraDelayEnabled to specify whether this value is subtracted or the recorded timestamp is unchanged. Example :-SetCameraDelay VT1 100 Default: Cheetah normally sets the camera delay to 0 microseconds. Usage: When in acquisition mode, this command can be used only when video file output is not enabled (see -SetVideoFileOutputEnabled), then this command can only be used when Cheetah is idle.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be any positive whole number or 0; specifying the number of microseconds of delay to be used for each record.

-SetDataFile <Acq Ent Name> <File Name>

Sets the data file for the specified acquisition entity. All data records recorded for this acquisition entity will be saved to this file. Example : -SetDataFile VT1 "C:\VT1.nvt" Default: Cheetah will create a file using the name of the acquisition entity in the current data directory when the acquisition entity is created (i.e.Cheetah created VT1.nev in the current data directory). Usage: This command can be used at any time.

Arguments

Acq Ent Name The name of the acquisition entity which will be modified. File Name Sets the file to use for data recording for the specified acquisition entity. If only a filename is specified, Cheetah will create the file in the current data directory. When the data directory is changed, the file's location will change with the data directory. Example : -SetDataFile VT1 VT1.nse If a complete path is specified, Cheetah will create the file in the specified location, and will not change the file's location when the data directory is changed. Example :-SetDataFile VT1 "C:\Data Directory\VT1.nvt" The directory C:\Data Directory must exist or this command will fail. If the file VT1.nvt exists, it will be overwritten. The extension of the file will be changed to the appropriate Neuralynx extension for the specified acquisition entity type. Cheetah will always create a file using the acquisition entity's name in the current data directory. If this command is issued before any data is recorded, the file in the current data directory will only have header information.

-SetDiskWrite Enabled <Acq Ent Name> <Value>

Enables or disables disk writing of data records for the specified acquisition entity. This command does not affect data records over NetCom or the data visible in all plots for this acquisition entity. You may want to disable disk writing for control or stimulus signals that you want to see, but have no need for in data analysis. Example : -SetDiskWriteEnabled VT1 true Default: Cheetah initially enables disk writing when an acquisition entity is created. Usage: This command can be used at any time.

Arguments

Acq Ent Name The name of the acquisition entity which will be modified. Value This value can be one of the following keywords: True : Enables disk writing of data records. False : Enables disk writing of data records.If disk writing is disabled prior to recording, a data file willbe created for the specific acquisition entity, but only header information will be written to the file. If disk writing is disabled after recording has begun, all records after disk writing has been disabled will not be written until disk writing is re-enabled.

-SetFieldEstimation Enabled <Tracker Name> <Value>

Enables or disables field processing of video frames. All video frames are received by Cheetah as interlaced frames. This means that all lines of video are present in every video frame, and frames appear based on the frame rate for the current video signal. Some video sources actually capture data as non-interlaced video before sending the image to Cheetah. In this case, odd lines are captured, and then the device goes back to capture the even lines. Then, both sets of lines are combined into a single image and sent to Cheetah. Field estimation will de-interlace the lines of the image, create two video records, and estimate the time that the even lines were captured. Example :-SetFieldEstimationEnabled VT1 false Default: Cheetah creates video trackers with the field estimation enable set to False. Usage: This command can be used only when Cheetah is idle.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be one of the following: True: Cheetah will process the even and odd lines of the video frame into separate video records. The odd lines will be timestamped at the frame time, but the even lines will be timestamped at the midpoint between the odd lines and the beginning of the next frame. The timestamp of the even lines is an estimation of the field timestamp. False: In this mode, all lines are processed into a single video record, and the timestamp is the beginning of the frame.

-SetGreenThreshold Enabled <Tracker Name> <Value>

Enables or disables green thresholding for video record processing. When enabled, the value specified by the -SetGreenThreshold command will be will be used for tracking the green components of the video.Changing the enabled state does not change the value of the -SetGreenThreshold command. Example :-SetGreenThresholdEnabled VT1 True Default: Cheetah creates all video trackers with the threshold enable set to False. Usage: This command can be used at any time.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be one of the following keywords: True: Threshold tracking for this color is enabled. False: Threshold tracking for this color is disabled.

-SetGreenThreshold <Tracker Name> <Value>

Sets the threshold level for detecting red pixels in a video tracker record. The Green value of the pixel is calculated using a pure green algorithm that subtracts the intensity value from the green component of a pixel. Example :-SetGreenThreshold VT1 50 Default: Cheetah creates all video trackers with the threshold set to 255. Usage: This command can be used at any time.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be any whole number between 0 (every pixel withgreen is used) and 255 (nogreen pixels are used). Values outside of that range will generate an error, and the previous threshold setting will be retained. If thevalue of a pixel is detected that is above the threshold, it will be considered a pixel of interest for video tracking.

-SetHeadDirectionOffset <Tracker Name> <Value>

This parameter is set to adjust the head angle in degrees for tracking LEDs that are not centered on the subject. Example :-SetHeadDirection VT1 15 Default: Cheetah creates video trackers with the head direction set to 0 degrees. Usage: This command can be used only when Cheetah is idle or in acquisition mode.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be anywhole number or 0, specifying the offset from angle D below. Any values at or above 360 will be normalized between 0 and 359. Negative values indicate a counter clockwise offset, and are still normalized between 0 and 359. Example: Assume Value = 30 and the video tracking mode is 2LED. Once Cheetah detects the position of the subject, it will attempt to determine the head direction based on the -SetVideoTrackingMode setting of 2LED. The direction will be calculated as if each of the LEDs were to the exact left and right of the subject (angle D below). Since the offset is specified at 30 degrees, that means that the left and right LEDs are at a 30 degree angle (the left LED is slightly lower than the right led), and 30 degrees (angle O below) will be added to give the head direction (D + O).

-SetIntensityThreshold Enabled <Tracker Name> <Value>

Enables or disables intensity thresholding for video record processing. When enabled, the value specified by the -SetIntensityThreshold command will be will be used for tracking theintensity components of the video. Changing the enabled state does not change the value of the -SetIntensityThreshold command. Example :-SetIntensityThresholdEnabled VT1 True Default: Cheetah creates all video trackers with the threshold enable set to False. Usage: This command can be used at any time.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be one of the following keywords: True: Threshold tracking for this color is enabled. False: Threshold tracking for this color is disabled.

-SetIntensityThreshold <Tracker Name> <Value>

Sets the threshold level for detecting the intensity of pixels in a video tracker record. The Intensity value of the pixel is calculated by taking the average of the RGB pixel components. Example :-SetIntensityThreshold VT1 50 Default: Cheetah creates all video trackers with the threshold set to 255. Usage: This command can be used at any time.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be any whole number between 0 (every pixel with any intensity is used) and 255 (no pixels will ever be over the intensity threshold). Values outside of that range will generate an error, and the previous threshold setting will be retained. If thevalue of a pixel is detected that is above the threshold, it will be considered a pixel of interest for video tracking.

-SetLedColor <Tracker Name> <LED Index> <Color>

Sets the color of an LED for direction and position finding. This command is only valid when using a 2LED tracking (-SetVideoTrackingMode), it will fail if using any other type of tracking mode. If this command is not specified, see the LED Index argument for defaults. Example :-SetLedColor VT1 0 Green Default: 2LED tracking is normally done with index 0 (left) as Green and index 1 (right) as Red. Usage: This command can be used only when Cheetah is idle or in acquisition mode.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker whose LED configuration you wish to change. LED Index The index of the LED whose color you want to set. LEDs are numbered starting from 0 and increasing in a clockwise direction. For the 2LED tracking, the left LED is index 0 and the right LED is index 1. Configuration Specifies the color you want the LED to be. Cheetah supports the following led colors: Red Green Blue Setting this argument to a value that does not correspond to your actual LED colors can give erroneous direction and position values.

-SetRedThreshold Enabled <Tracker Name> <Value>

Enables or disables red thresholding for video record processing. When enabled, the value specified by the -SetRedThreshold command will be will be used for tracking the red components of the video. Changing the enabled state does not change the value of the -SetRedThreshold command. Example :-SetRedThresholdEnabled VT1 True Default: Cheetah creates all video trackers with the threshold enable set to False. Usage: This command can be used at any time.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be one of the following keywords: True: Threshold tracking for this color is enabled. False: Threshold tracking for this color is disabled.

-SetRedThreshold <Tracker Name> <Value>

Sets the threshold level for detecting red pixels in a video tracker record. The Red value of the pixel is calculated using a pure red algorithm that subtracts the intensity value from the red component of a pixel. Example :-SetRedThreshold VT1 50 Default: Cheetah creates all video trackers with the threshold set to 255. Usage: This command can be used at any time.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be any whole number between 0 (every pixel with red is used) and 255 (no red pixels are used). Values outside of that range will generate an error, and the previous threshold setting will be retained. If thevalue of a pixel is detected that is above the threshold, it will be considered a pixel of interest for video tracking.

-SetTargetRadius <Tracker Name> <Value>

This should be used as a last resort for adjusting tracking options. Attempt to adjust the threshold or video settings before modifying this value. The target radius is the maximum number of pixels between two targets to consider them related for position tracking purposes. This value can be adjusted down if you notice that there is noise being included in your position tracking. It can be adjusted up if Cheetah is tracking a smaller target that is not the object you are trying to track. Example :-SetTargetRadius VT1 140 Default: Cheetah normally has a target radius of 100 pixels. Usage: This command can be used when Cheetah is idle or in acquisition mode.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker that you wish to adjust. Value This value can be any positive whole number greater or equal to 1 that will be within the video frame. Radius values that would make the target radius larger than the video image are not allowed, and will be adjusted to the maximum allowable radius for the current video image. This value specifies the maximum number of pixels to use for target consolidation. Example: In 2LED tracking, the right LED is red and the left LED is green, and the LEDs are pretty close together. Someone puts a green marker on one edge of the maze, that now creates a large green target, throwing off the center calculation. If the target radius is small, the new target will not be considered to be related to the red target and the center will be based on the green LED. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule: If there are no other green targets within the target radius, the video tracker will use the largest green target it can find for the left LED target. If the erroneous target is located within the target radius from the red target, it will be used as the green LED target.

-SetVideoTrackingMode <Tracker Name> <Mode Type>

Sets the mode of trackingto be used for position and direction finding. Example :-SetVideoTrackingMode VT1 None Default: Cheetah creates video trackers that use 2LED tracking. Usage: This command can be used only when Cheetah is idle or in acquisition mode.

Arguments

Tracker Name The name of the video tracker whose tracking mode you wish to change. Mode Type Specifies the tracking mode you wish to use for this video tracker. Cheetah supports the following modes: None: No direction finding or position tracking will be done. The video tracker will simply record transitions above thresholds. The -SetDirectionOffset value is ignored. 2LED : Cheetah will calculate position and direction based on the assumption that there are 2 LEDs of interest. The direction is determined by the color of each of the LEDs (-SetLedColor) along with the direction offset (-SetHeadDirectionOffset) HS54 : Cheetah will assume that you are using a standard HS-54 layout and track direction and position based on that layout. Direction is determined by used the standard HS-54 colors along with the direction offset (-SetHeadDirectionOffset). Setting this argument to a value that does not correspond to your actual video tracking needs can give erroneous direction and position values.