GMU:Tutorials/Performance Platform/Custom People Tracking

Introduction

It’s a tutorial about using external webcam to get the data of people’s x and y position in DBL platform. I am using MaxMsp and external library cv.jit to grab the blobs due to the pixel differences captured by webcam, and to get the x, y value of the blobs which is considered to be the position data of people.

Part 1 Install cv.jit library

cv.jit is a collection of max/msp/jitter tools for computer vision applications. The goals of this project are to provide externals and abstractions to assist users in tasks such as image segmentation, shape and gesture recognition, motion tracking, etc. as well as to provide educational tools that outline the basics of computer vision techniques.

Firstly, you need to download the cv.jit. The latest version of cv.jit is 1.8 and can be used with 64-bit versions of Max.

Here is the link: http://jmpelletier.com/cv-jit-is-now-compatible-with-64-bit-max/

Find instructions to check it here: http://jmpelletier.com/cvjit/

After you downloading and unpacking the zip file, you should copy all the files in extras folder and help folder to the corresponding files in C74 folder. Tips: How to find C74 folder For example, in Mac, you go to Applications-Max, right click it and click Show Package Contents, and then open Resources folder, you will find C74 folder. Finally, restart your Max.

Part 2 Set up

Notice: If you use the ladder, please make sure to put several layers of cardboard below it, to prevent damage to the dance carpet. Please make sure that everything is securely fixed.

1.Set up the camera on the ceiling. In this tutorial, the camera is not a full view camera and the height of space is limited, so the view seems too narrow. This tutorial shows how to get the x, y coordinates of one person on the stage as an example.

2. The reason why the camera is installed on the top is that the color of platform is white and pure, which can be a perfect background serve for the pixel difference capture. Therefore, any different pixels entering in the background consider to be detected. And more importantly, comparing to get the view from front or back side, get the view from top will make sure the visitors in the platform will have least interference between each other.

3. Make sure to close the curtains (and windows) in the DBL because the stable light environment is important for tracking.

Part 3 Code testing

Use the jit.grab object to digitize video from any video digitizer and decompress the signal into a Jitter matrix. On OSX, QuickTime is used; on Windows, DirectX is used.

Get the external webcam as the webcam input.

Finally, you can get the value of people's position!