CaniTime installation and user manual
Contents
1. You will now see the Event registration form Note that you can either enter data into an existing event file or you can create a new event file In the Event registration form you enter data for each heat as shown here Canil ime event registration Form Event name Swedish championships Day ls Saturday Heat 1 Heat name Veterans final Em P Box Dog 4 Kingdom Leon gt TZ Escapology SSS ae O 4 Fantasy lover 7 bend Face SS 6 Tinctoia so C Documents and Settings Johan Local Settings Application Data Test eventtoday xml CaniTime user manual page 12 42 To switch between heats you click the arrow buttons There is room for 100 heats in a day As can be seen each heat has a number but there is also room to enter a text name description for each heat To create a new Event file you proceed as follows w Canil ime event registration Form Ewent name Test event Day today P Haat 1 Illustration 7 Entering an new event name e Enter an event name and optionally a text string for the race day Canilime event registro Form Open event file Create new Event file Print rear rm Make speaker card Hide Illustration Creating a new event file e Now you will see in the field at the bottom of the form that the new file has been created ADocuments and Settings JohaniLocal Settings Application Data l est ewenttoday xml CaniTime use2. BW be i Ze o we biel EN 7 Pe ee a GE J a f Se E de See m 8 l o eer z z ee q es i gt e co eeng 3 iii APS 4 E 1 e Leg em z a y Timing Photofinish for Greyhound racing ion 37 last edit at 4 18 10 CaniTime user manual page 1 42 CaniTime user manual page 2 42 Table of contents POC ua Te RTE 4 AS A A A 4 ETE PIS ainia 4 CEET eevee are ese eee tT are Pes eee ee 4 E A A Ser 4 SJ o API ne Re 5 TRES CONTO DOK sia 6 Control ee een aa 6 COMODO EE 7 EE T Remote stai EE 7 EELER 8 Preparation tasks ida 8 PESA A A acl ch hak heh cat dla barat ak heh Gia ae aed aks 8 AUSSI OTIS ME CAMAS std 9 RG E 12 SWCD event Ee ee eene ee 14 A eher 15 Abote UE 17 Processino1n Ca Pc ailes dit titan 18 Ss Eeer 20 Dead Eeer 22 ASS PUMA dree 23 Displacine hs coa lime ia 24 More On tie Cam iodo 25 e eC ani Tne E 26 Chianeine Event amp Heat Eege ee a 26 Usme no Event TEE 2 PATOU EE 28 G al photo seres IE en E 28 RESUS EE 29 SPEKE EE 30 Cam me CUMS A AA A A 31 il A O E A A mene E EE 31 BR ee 33 Strane Cam Time E e E oi 34 Cameras and do 35 A EE 35 WY TIO W Se NAG isis 36 If the camera e ee EE 37 INNO Ua me Me DV Eege 37 PIG WV ihe OU erene A E E EA A T E le eerie 38 A DOUU Te Wile CaDle ens ad dl 39 A EE 39 Camera SCC EE Ee 40 A E lal baduthht 4 Grounded DOW CE OU A A AA A A A e 4 CaniTime user manual page 3 42 lostalme CAMAS A A ATA AAA AA A A E AA A A 42 Technic
3. As shown above if a Box delay is introduced all results incorporate the chosen delay There is also a clear indication that a Box delay is entered This 1s to ensure that a Box delay 1s not used unknowingly CaniTime user manual page 33 42 Starting CaniTime for the first time CaniTime stores various settings between sessions 1n a file called an ini file CanTime does not use the registry In order to retain compatibility with present and future versions of Windows the 1n1 file 1s stored in a location on disk that Windows determines to be suitable for this kind of data This unfortunately is a Somewhat obscure location and not so easy to find manually CaniTime therefore offers a simple shortcut to find this location as described in User appdata on page 11 The first time that you start Cani Time the ini file is empty and you may need to perform some initial set up If you initially only want to use CaniTime to process one of the supplied sample files you should not need to perform any special actions However if you have a Control Box and want to start capturing race video you need to setup the cameras and position goal lines You may also want to create an event file CaniTime user manual page 34 42 Cameras and Windows One area that needs extra attention is the video cameras and the connection to them When connecting switching on a DV camera Windows will normally react to this event in some fashion How it wi
4. and Set Split Times e When assigning split times there is no No Time and no Dead heat button The video for split time can be from the designated split camera but for some distances the split camera and the goal camera as actually the same camera CaniTime user manual page 23 42 Displacing the goal line Sometimes it can be difficult to decide the order between dogs For these cases CaniTime has ha function that gives the poissibility to displace the goalline In effect the goalline itself remains static but a copy of the goalline can be displaced This is how to use this feature e Select Displace goalline from the Form menu sau Print Help Open CaniTime file Open last heat CtrHL Show result form CtrHkRk Reset Goal line Close CaniTime file Event registration Open Event file Mo Event File Displace KZ Ctra Show settings Now while keeping the Alt key pressed down you press the left or right arrow keys You can also press the left right arrows on the numeric key pad if one is present In this case the Alt key is not needed As you will se a cyan colored parallel copy of the goal line will become visible Using the displaced goalline both before and after the passing of the actual white goalline it is easy to determine that dog nr 6 was ahead of nr 5 in this example When finished just select Displace goalline Ctrl G again and the displaced goalline will be hidden CaniTime user man
5. box is connected to the PC using a standard USB connection Control box functions The Control box has the following functions e Two pushbuttons for goal and split camera Video capture is only performed when a button 1s pushed down e Connection for start box equipment If the start box equipment can produce an electrical start signal CaniTime uses this signal e Toggle switch for activating the remote input above e Indicator light for start box connection Start Split Goal armed camera camera CaniTime Control Box v3 www li ghtw el ghtvi deo com Illustration 1 The CaniTime control box The functions of the start box controls are as follows e Start armed If this switch is in the off position CaniTime will under no circumstances react to changes in the input from the start box Only with this switch in the on position will a start be initiated given that all other prerequisites are fulfilled e Start box circuit indicator light Above the Start armed switch is a LED light This light indicates the status of the circuit connected to the remote input of the control box A connected circuit 1s indicated by light on an open circuit is indicated by light off It is recommended that the start box switch is wired in the NC Normally closed configuration If you do so you will have a positive confirmation in the indicator light that the connection from the start box switch to the CaniTime control box is OK N B The indicator lig
6. different modes you should set the camera to sports mode since this seems to give the shortest shutter time If given a choice go for a camera with a true function for setting the shutter time Even some of the cheapest cameras have this feature e Disable anti shake optional Almost all consumer DV cameras have a function for stabilizing the picture When using the camera for CaniTime it will be fixed on a tripod and therefore you should disable the stabilizing function In many cases this will lead to an improvement in picture quality CaniTime user manual page 40 42 Other aspects e Use a polarizing filter CaniTime will hopefully be used in sunny conditions This can sometimes lead to difficult light reflections Using a polarized filter can remove much of this problem and improve the picture quality e Arrange weather protection If the camera is placed outdoors it needs protection from the elements Moisture is not good for delicate electronic equipment like a video camera A tempting solution is to wrap the camera in a simple plastic bag While keeping the rain out this method has a major drawback in that the camera will not be properly ventilated The camera can get hot enough to cause a malfunction A better method for weather protection 1s to arrange for a ventilated and weatherproof cover CaniTime user manual page 41 42 Installing CaniTime CaniTime is delivered as a single exe file that functions as a self conta
7. you should add two firewire boards All firewire boards have multiple firewire ports However when connecting more than one DV camera to the same firewire board performance becomes erratic It might work but you can not depend on it Dependable multi camera operations needs a separate firewire board for each camera Connecting cameras Goal camera The goal camera is connected directly to the PC via a firewire cable Normally firewire cables as well as USB are limited to 4 5 meters in length CaniTime is delivered with a special 10 meter cable that performs well CaniTime user manual page 4 42 Split camera For the split camera the situation 1s different The distance between the split camera and the goal house 1s in the order of 150 meters and this is too far for a normal firewire connection CaniTime needs firewire input for both cameras so a solution has to be found The challenge of the split camera can be solved in basically either of two ways 1 Install a pair of fiber optic firewire extenders Such a system uses fiber optic cable to transport the firewire signal over long distances 2 Use analog video for the long distance connection and convert to firewire in the goal house Alternative is more expensive but gives the best picture quality Alternative 2 is cheaper but has some picture quality degradation CaniTime user manual page 5 42 The control box CaniTime is delivered with a special Control box The
8. you should now see a picture like this Camera 1 E e top cameras Preview _Stop cameras Unknow ef Shutter No info Control Box Capture Attached serial 69319 Camera A Start not hors Preview Capture The rotating blue arms indicate that video data is being received from the cameras Normally one camera is always assigned as Goal camera and the other is the Split camera Right now however CaniTime does not know which one is which This is indicated by the fact that both cameras are called unknown To assign the cameras do as follows e Click on Preview for Camera 1 e This will bring up the picture from this camera CaniTime user manual page 9 42 e Now you can determine if this is goal or split camera e Right click Preview e Depending on which camera it is you assign the camera like this Camera 1 Stop cameras a preview No camera rol Box Capture Attached serial 69319 Camera 2 Start not a Preview O KZ No info Capture Illustration 5 Assigning goal camera e n a corresponding way you should now assign camera 2 e Once this is done the picture should look like this Camera 1 Preview Goal No preview shutter No info Control Box Capture Attached seral 69319 Camera 2 Start not Preview split Shutter No info Capture Illustration 6 Two cameras assigned and running e Now click Stop Cameras followed by Start Camer
9. 6 18_17_27 lw2 Heat time Video frame 00 08 42 21 Illustration 18 Heat time fields without Video pipe compensation As you can see there 1s a difference between the Heat time fields in the video frame and in the CaniTime form Since the difference seems to be 200 ms this is the value that we will enter in the CaniTime settings form CaniTime allows us to have different compensation vales for the goal and split camera This 1s so because of the fact that the split camera can possible be connected to the PC in another way than the goal camera The goal camera is always connected directly via firewire However the split camera can use additional analog connection steps adding to the length of its video pipe In our example we apply the same compensation for both the goal and split camera With the compensation applied we can perform a calibration run again and compare the results As shown here the compensation chosen is correct and the two Heat time fields correspond well LIEMp Lani lime test_1_ 13_20_02 Iw Heat me 00 07 es EERE ATEEN SEU SEAEuSE Illustration Heat time fi elds Ween Video pipe GER CaniTime user manual page 32 42 Box delay Normally CaniTime will receive and react upon an electrical start pulse from a switch in the start box This switch is also normally calibrated in such a way that it open closes and the gate position that defines the heat start E g the r
10. al setup CaniTime runs on a standard Windows PC The operating system can be Windows XP or higher e g Vista or Windows 7 If at all possible XP is recommended PC specifications Any reasonably powerful PC can run Cani Time As a rule of thumb the following specifications should be met e CPU 1 Ghz Pentium or better e RAM 1 Gbyte or better e Disk 50 Gb free disk e USB ports e Firewire IEEE1394 ports See below N B The performance of a specific computer when running a graphics intensive program as CaniTme when playing back video files 1s determined not only by the speed of the CPU but to a large extend also by the performance of the graphics circuits in the PC These graphics circuits are positioned either on a dedicated graphics plug in board or integrated on the motherboard Producers of graphics circuits often emphasize their 3D performance However this is not important for programs like CaniTime which only use 2D graphics Experience shows that for 2D graphics performance the graphics integrated on the motherboard is often performing extremely well Firewire ports CaniTime will often be using two DV cameras simultaneously goal camera and split camera In order for this to work flawlessly the PC should be equipped with_two separate firewire cards Some PC motherboards are equipped with firewire If this is the case you should add another separate firewire board If the motherboard does not have firewire support
11. anual page 30 42 CaniTime settings Selecting Show settings from the main form will bring up a form as shown here Canilime Settings Video pipe goalcam delay ms 200 Hide Video pipe splitcam delay ms 00 Box delay ms 300 Video pipe delay As you can see there are two entries named Video pipe These fields have the following background CaniTime derives timing from the flow of video frames from the attached cameras The flow of video data 1s illustrated below Direct X gt Canilime gt oes Ce J DA a eng ve d e Vaz A wa i y SC DV Firewire System camera card software As you can see each video frame has to pass a number of steps in what constitutes the video pipe Passing the pipe takes a certain amount of time and we have to compensate for this to achieve correct timing Each video frame arrives in CaniTime where it is timestamped with a certain delay The method for calibrating CaniTime and compensate for the delay in the video pipe is quite straightforward Initiate a file and start a heat Point each camera at the screen and the heat time field and capture a few seconds of data for each camera Open the captured file and look at the results With no compensation applied you will likely get a results similar to this CaniTime user manual page 31 42 ee E y File 5 m Heat time 27m C temp CaniT ime test_1_2009_06_1
12. as e Click Preview for any camera e You will now see a live picture and on top of it you see a goal line e Ifyou move the cursor inside any of the blue handles at the end of the goal line the cursor changes to a cross and you can drag the endpoint of the goal line by holding down the left mouse button e Using this method you should position the goal lines form the two cameras where you want them The positions of the goal lines are stored in the ini file and will be used the next time the program is started Every DV camera has a unique identification code and CaniTime uses this code to separate the goal and split cameras As long as you continue to use the same cameras nothing will change This is because every DV camera has a unique code that identifies it CaniTime user manual page 10 42 So if you change any of the cameras you will have to go through the procedure of assigning them again N B If you want CaniTime to forget all about the cameras and start the assigning process from scratch you can proceed like this e Click Help About on the main form This will show the CaniTime About form e Click on User appdata Technical info DY fource COWYE 5SwanGraphics Release Jun 17 2007 Daat ap Now 21 2005 20 47 59 Phidget 1 Version 2 1 4 Built Aug H 008 10 38 10 Phidget COM Library 2 1 4 Built Aug 8 2008 10 38 35 User appdata at C Documents and Seth k ohartLocal Settings Application Data IF ad
13. dress 192 168 1 33 oS to open This will open the folder where CaniTime ini is stored Open CaniTime ini e eng Lag and Settings JoharntLocal Settings Application Data Mare Ty g Can Lo Lani Ab al cani ly g E Olla xh lo cani Ab e Edit out these two lines last_t1le C 4AtempicCaniTime Test 1_ 009 save _Folder C temp Goa l_compensation 200 split_compensation 2 00 Box_delay 00 Campos itians 112000b140014 2i Goalline 804 58000385 7e5b0 467 16 473 706 1112000614 0014 302 22 291 694 e Save the file Now you can restart the camera assigning process CaniTime user manual page 11 42 The event file In order to produce result data CaniTime needs to know all the necessary facts about the races This data is stored in the Event file and normally one file is used for each race day For the technically inclined The Event file is of a type called XML Often the data in the file is entered in advance perhaps the evening before the race day N B CaniTime uses a strict heat numbering for each heat during a day counting from 1 upwards In addition to the heat number you can also enter a heat name which is a text string allowing any content From the main form you select Event registration on the Form menu i CaniTime peau Print Debug Help Assit Open file 3 Open lastheat Ctri L Reset Goal line Close file Event registration Dog name Displace goalline Exit Cirl x
14. e preview from the camera Enter a name for the videotape you will import Name Videotape Import to E Videos Browse Format Audio Video Interleaved single file AVI about 13 GB per hour Cancel CaniTime user manual page 36 42 P Import Video xj ty tg Import Video Import live video Start Video Import Video imported 00 00 00 Video file size 0 KB Space remaining on C 74 11 GB Preview widescreen Stop importing after min 120 Illustration 24 Live preview in Windows Movie maker If you fail to get get a live preview this is a indication of some basic technical problem with the camera or its connection that needs to be fixed If the camera still doesn t work The most common source of trouble is the FireWire cable Cables are easily available in PC stores and it can be a good idea to just try another one If the problem is not with the cable a good method is to try different combinations of camera cable and PC to try and isolate the problem Configuring the DV camera CaniTime uses standard video cameras of the type called mini DV Illustration 25 Examples of DV cameras Today a new breed of consumer video cameras are entering the market Among the characteristics of these cameras are HDV High definition DVD recording Please stay away from these Chances are that these cameras will_not be suited for operatio
15. egulation states that the heat start occurs when the gate has opened 30 and the switch opens also at the 30 position In this case Box delay should be set to 0 However the following situation has been known to occur The regulation states that heat start is defined as the initial movement of the start gate The switch however opens not until the gate has moved half way open This will introduce a systematical error with the effect that the times produced by CaniTime will be to short In order to compensate for this error we can enter a value in the Box delay field If a value gt 0 is entered all results will be compensated with this amount Canilime Results Secs Canilime Results Form Debug Form Debug CaniTime dog race timing system CaniTime dog race timing system Event Tahtisprintteri 2009 OULU File2 Heat 7 Saluki Sijoitus 480m pisteet 14 15 Started at 2009 06 13 13 17 58 Rank Dog Name Time Split Ka H Asarafi Paiman 34 49 00 00 Event Tahtisprintteri 2009 OULU File2 Heat 7 Saluki Sijoitus 480m pisteet 14 15 Started at 2009 06 13 13 17 58 Rank Dog Name Time Split AR El Asarafi Paiman 34 79 00 00 2 E Dyynien Hassan 34 98 00 00 El Krais Dr dich 36 51 00 00 DCH ve 00 00 00 00 Box delay 300ms 2 E Souen Hassan ap 00 00 El Krais Cirg al tutu 36 21 00 00 sB EI vie mmm Illustration 20 Results without Box delay Illustration 21 Results with Box delay
16. er results by setting up some of the camera functions manually Please note that these settings are done differently for different cameras You will need to consult the manual for your specific camera and learn how to perform these settings Running in full auto camera mode will lead to unsatisfactory results in when using CaniTime These are the settings that you need to perform e Remove the tape from the camera With tape inserted a DV camera will only operate for a few minutes after which it will switch itself off e Turn off demo mode Many DV consumer cameras enter a demo mode when left switched on for some time This may well occur with CaniTime since the camera will be running for hours with no tape inserted The demo mode can and must be disabled e No auto focus CaniTime works best with manual focus selected A drop of water or a dust particle on the lens can otherwise cause the camera to start hunting for focus with the picture repeatedly going in and out of focus e Manual shutter In auto mode a camcorder will often use a fairly long shutter time typically 1 25 CaniTime works best with a short shutter time such as 1 500 Outside in daylight there is normally enough light to allow the camera to use very short shutter times Some cameras have a function to manually set the shutter time within a range of specific values Other cameras only have various modes to chose from If your camera offers
17. eters It is well known however that with a well designed cable 10 meters between a DV camera and PC 1s no problem In a race set up 4 5 meters is often too short and therefore CaniTime is delivered with a tested 10 meter cable Sometimes even 10 meters can be too short and I would like to offer some information about the possibility to run longer FireWire connections Given the right equipment even hundreds of meters can be attained For the longest possible connections you can buy a pair of optical repeaters These repeaters use a fibre optic cable If your needs are in the 10 30 meter range there are other simpler and cheaper solutions e There are some companies that offer 20 meter cables e Several companies offer various kind of FireWire repeaters These repeaters all have a small amplifier in them that will add another 10 meter cable Several such repeaters cables can be connected in series FireWire type 2 DV camcorders all use FireWire type 1 There also exists a newer and faster version of FireWire called type 2 It uses a different set of connectors Stay away from this All you need for CaniTime operation is type 1 CaniTime user manual page 39 42 Camera settings A vast majority of all DV cameras operate in the full auto mode since this is the default setting This may be fine for most home video applications but if you want to use your DV camera for a special purpose like CaniTime you can get much bett
18. ht will only function if the CaniTime program is running The indicator light represents the status that the CaniTime program senses e Goal Split camera CaniTime user manual page 6 42 The two pushbuttons have similar functionality With the heat started CaniTime will continually receive video frames from the connected camera s However the video frames are not stored Pushing one of the camera buttons means that video from this camera 1s actually stored and will be available for playback and timing Control Box connections USB The USB connection connects the control box to the PC Remote start This input is used for connection of the start box for the dogs _ It is recommended that the electrical switch on the start box is wired for NC Normally Closed so that the switch opens when the race starts This method gives a positive feed back to the CaniTime control box that there is is good electrical connection between the CaniTime control box and the start box switch CaniTime user manual page 7 42 Preparing for a race Preparation tasks In preparing for a race there are a number of tasks to be performed e Setting up both cameras It is necessary that both cameras are set up correctly Please se Configuring the DV camera on page 37 e Positioning goal lines For both the split and goal camera CaniTime shows a goal line as an electronic overlay to the picture You need to assure that this goal line is positioned c
19. ile name SM Skellefte L rdag 9 2008 07 26 17 11 27 1w2 File name SM Skellefte Lordag_9_2008_07_26 17_11_27 1w2 CaniTime dog race timing system Printed by CaniTime version 1 4 12 at 2008 09 29 19 18 10 printer Snagit 9 www lightweightvideo com CaniTime dog race timing system Printed by CaniTime version 1 4 12 at 2008 09 29 19 17 04 printer SnagIt 9 www lightweightvideo com Illustration 14 Picture series printout Illustration 15 Single picture printout Cani Time user manual page 28 42 Results list On the Results form there is a Print menu item that will print out a result list as illustrated here CaniTime dog race timing system Event SM 2008 Skellefte Onsdag Heat 5 Svenskt Masterskap Tikar Semi Started at 2008 07 23 19 55 76 Rank Dog Name Time Split TE meng 28875 as 8 EJ Wanda Jackson 30 65 451 6 El Pancake Jaya 30 99 448 Printed by Cani Tume version 1 5 5 at 2000 00 20 10 45 40 Illustration 16 Results printout CaniTime user manual page 29 42 Speaker cards Based on the information entered into the Event file CaniTime can print Speaker cards These are simple cards with the name of the dogs for each heat Swedish championships Veterans final Kingdom Leon Escapology lla Fantasy lover Dead Face Tinctoria Illustration 17 A CaniTime speaker card The dog names are printed in a large font to assist the speaker during the race CaniTime user m
20. ined installer Just start the exe file and if you don t have very specific reason for doing otherwise accept the default proposals of the installer CaniTime user manual page 42 42
21. inners but dead heat can declared at any rank The procedure is as follows e Assign time for the any of the dogs in the normal way e For the other dogs one or more click Dead heat and then assign the time SS a a a a e mg Set ETRE Hanm yel SS Ho SEIN E Eege A TI tie Ea r B In the following illustration we have assigned two groups of dead heat As you can see the rank is the same for the Form Tima TERE dogs ruled dead heat and their times are of CaniTime dog race timing syst course identical There is also a black circle to Event denote the fact that we have a dead heat SM Skellefte Lordag Heat Svenskt M sterskap Whippet Final Please note the the data shown is purely _ 7 Svenskt Masterskap Whippet Final GE S Started at 2008 07 26 16 45 42 In the actual race there was no dead heat Rank Box Name Time nmn nx 3 EJ siete Blond 33 24 c ziema enp 0 2 5 Unum mei 8 E Banana spit 00 00 4 E We Piastor om CaniTime user manual page 22 42 Assigning split times Assigning split times is of course very similar to assigning goal times albeit with a few simplifications You switch between goal and split time assigning by clicking the button shown here ie E Set Goal times KEES aed omelo Dead Desane E opt Split times LEE ES ae As you can see the frame undergoes some changes e The caption changes between Set Goal Times
22. ll react 1s dependent on how your version of Windows has been configured Windows XP When XP detects a video camera it will show up as an icon under My computer J Som DN camcorder 2 Double clicking this icon will activate a live preview of the video data from the camera Favoriter Verktyg Hj lp 5 Zi S k K Mappar EE der 2 llustration 22 Live preview from a DV camera using Windows XP This is a very good method to verify that your camera is operating OK If this preview doesn t work CaniTime will not receive any data from the camera CaniTime user manual page 35 42 Windows Vista Unfortunately Vista does not have a simple built in DV preview function To verify that your DV camera is working OK you have to find another solution One program that is always present in a Vista installation is Movie Maker Movie Maker is primarily a simple video editing program but we can also use it for our purposes k Es Windows MovijMaker From the Start Programs menu is Windows PhotlMake your own movies using videos digital pictures and Y YOu find and launch p HEX WinHex music Windows Movie Maker Illustration 23 Starting Movie Maker Tasks G E Imported media Ez Import When the program has started choose Import from digital video camera This will bring up the following form P Import Video x d rmport video On this form click Next and you will have a liv
23. llowing steps e Ensure that the correct heat is selected In the example below it is the first heat of the day Heat KI fc final 000 m Swedish championships Saturday Illustration 10 Selecting the correct heat The data shown is taken from the Event file that we prepared earlier CaniTime user manual page 15 42 e Now click Initiate file This will make a file ready for data capture The name of the file is shown in as illustrated here Heat DH e final Swedish championships Saturday C SH2008 Saturday Swedish championships 1 2008 09 26 16 55 34 lw As you can see the file has been placed in the designated folder In order to ensure that the correct heat is selected and the correct dog names will be stored in the CaniTime file a display of the current heat with all the data from the Evenet file will be displayed as shown below Form Print Help Heat data Supersprintsaturday xml Supersprint Supersprint final he Trooper Marilyn Monroe Cielo Azul Unbreakable acant This display can be hidden by clicking on the Hide button but it will also be hidden automatically whrn the camera s are started CaniTime user manual page 16 42 About the File name The file name is constructed of several parts The event name The race day The current date The current time of day hh mm ss This ensures that the file name will always be unique This means that you can always initiate a
24. n better to use the arrow keys In order for the arrow keys to work properly the slider control must have focus as shown above by the dotted focus rectangle If not simply click on the slider to give 1t focus Backward Forward Illustration 13 Arrow keys for easy maneuvering CaniTime user manual page 19 42 Assigning times CaniTime makes it easy to measure race times with an accuracy of 1 100 of a second When it comes to determine the order of the dogs the accuracy 1s much higher In normal conditions CaniTime can easily separate dogs that are as little as 1 1000 of a second apart When CaniTime opens a file 1t will try to position the file at the beginning of the goal passing This is done because normally it is most important to quickly be able to determine the order of the dogs over the goal line You now press the right arrow key on the keyboard and move through the file until the first dogs is on the goal line The following pictures show a dog before on after the goal line Heat time 00 17 86 Since our goal is 1 100 of a second accuracy we can with confidence assign the time of 17 86 to this dog To assign a time you click the button corresponding to the number of the dog in the frame as illustrated below Set Goal times LE Te j 4 5 6 1 100 Notime Dead heat Split Each dog that gets a time assigned has its button turned blue When all dogs but number 4 are assigned the frame look
25. n with CaniTime You should buy simple standard mini DV camcorders CaniTime user manual page 37 42 FireWire out FireWire out is a feature that is mandatory for using a camera with CaniTime _ lt gt f Almost all DV camcorders have a FireWire port as shown here E e i DW IN OUT Through this port the camcorder continually sends out digital video data Ai me The camera may also have the DV in option but this is not needed for CaniTime it poses no problems if present About FireWire ports FireWire ports come in two different types 4 pin and 6 pin e Camcorders always have the small M 4 pin type e Computers can have either the MI CC small 4 pin or the larger 6 pin type a a To get the system to work properly you need to have the proper FireWire cable The most common FireWire cable has a 4 pin connector in one end and a 6 pin connector at the other end as shown here Illustration 26 6 4 FireWire cable FireWire cables are available in all possible combinations of connectors and lengths CaniTime is delivered with a special 10 meter 4pin gt 6pin FireWire cable If the supplied cable is not compatible with the available FireWire ports a range of converters adapters are available to solve this problem CaniTime user manual page 38 42 llustration 27 FireWire adapters About firewire cable lengths The formal specification for FireWire defines the maximum length as 4 5 m
26. new file with the same heat number and it will still be unique As you can see the file size is displayed after initiating At first the file only contains the non video information about the heat so it is rather small However after capturing video data from split and goal passes the file has grown Heat D Wang final Swedish championships S aturday File Initiate file 26 5mB C 35M2008 Saturday S wedish championships 1 2008 09 26 16 55 34 lw Illustration 11 After capture the file size has grown The size shown is typical DV video cameras produce 3 5 megabytes of data per second CaniTime user manual page 17 42 Processing the captured files As soon as the heat is finished and you have captured the goal passing you click Heat finish This will stop the cameras To open the last captured file you can use the Open last heat item on the Form menu meu Print Help Assign times Open file Open last heat Ctrl Reset he line Close file Event registration Dog names Displace goalline Exit Ctrlex As you can see this command is also available with the Ctrl L shortcut After opening the file you will typically see two forms side by side as shown here b4 CaniTimeC Documents and Settings Johan Desktop CaniTime samples SM Skelle CaniTime Results X ams Form Print Help Form Camera 1 Zeiten Star came CaniTime dog race timing system Nocam Event snutter R7000 Con
27. only an error message will be given CaniTime user manual page 26 42 Using no Event file During a normal race it is normally necessary to use an Event file since there is not enough time between heats to enter dog names However sometimes you will want to use CaniTime for practice or testing If you don t want to use an Event file do as follows Select No Event File from the meny as shown here if CanilimeC Documen ez Print Help Open CaniTime file Open last heat Chr Show result form Ctrl F Reset Goal line Close CaniTime file Event registration Open Event file Displace Sc Crit Show settings Exit Chr CaniTime user manual page 27 42 Printouts CaniTime will print on the printer that is designated as the Windows Default printer Setting the default printer is done in the Printers and faxes folder Ink jet and laser printers both produce good results as do monochrome printers Printouts after a heat come in two basic varieties 1 Goal photo picture series amp results 2 Single frame printout Here you can see the basic layout of these two types of printouts Goal photo series Single frame SM Skelleftea Lordag Heat 9 Skelleftea GP race at 2008 07 26 17 16 06 Goal photos a geg SM Skelleftea Lordag Heat 9 Skelleftea GP race at 2008 07 26 17 16 06 5 Toxic Tea fairy 1 Bolero 2 Telico tao 6 Sevilla 4 MoonStar 3 Vinson Massif 2 3 4 5 6 F
28. orrectly e Entering race data CaniTime stores all the data for each heat This data is used when producing result printouts Preparing a storage folder Each race produces a separate CaniTime file These files are placed on disk Your task is to decide where on the disk to place the files This is how to do it e Click in the Capture folder as shown here Capture folder Cc h Illustration 2 Initiating selection of Capture folder e This will bring up a dialogue where you can select or create a suitable folder Once this is done the Capture folder might look like this Capture tolder D saturday Illustration 3 A capture folder has been selected created For a multi day event it 1s often practical to have a separate folder for each day but this is of course a matter of individual preferences CaniTime user manual page 8 42 Assigning the cameras CaniTime often uses two cameras and it needs to know which camera is the goal camera and which one is the split camera Therefore you have to_assign the cameras Once this is done and the camera s remain the same you don t need to do this again N B First you should ensure that the cameras are connected correctly and are detected by Windows See the description on page 35 Click Start Cameras Stan cameras No preview Control Box Attached serial 69319 Start not man Illustration 4 No cameras running If both cameras are working properly
29. r manual page 13 42 Switching event files At any time you can switch from one event file to another e Select Open event file Canilime event regist Form pen event file e eate new Event file Print form Make speaker card e Now you will see a file open dialog where you can choose from the existing event files Chose event file Look in B CaniT ime Event Files e Swedish sprintSaturday xml Swedish sprintSunday xml Mu Recent Documents ra N B it is fully possible to operate Can Time without an active Event file This is described in the chapter Using no Event file on page 27 CaniTime user manual page 14 42 Preparation for a heat During a race CaniTime will store video data from the split and goal cameras On the control box there is one button for each camera When such a button is pressed down the video data from the corresponding camera is continuously stored in the computer RAM memory The fact that video data is actually being captured is shown by the rotating arm for the camera that changes from blue to red as illustrated here Camera 2 Preview d Goal No info Capture Capture folder Illustration 9 Red arm indicating video capture When the button 1s released the data is actually written to disk However for this to work CaniTime needs to have a place to write it We therefore have to perform the task of file initiation As a preparation for a heat we perform the fo
30. s like this Set Goal times EZE SE No tne Dead SE Sen A stated earlier the basic timing resolution of CaniTime is 1 50 of a second This means that for each step through the video file the heat time advances 0 02 seconds Now let us study the following goal passing sequence CaniTime user manual page 20 42 Heat time 00 33 24 00 33 26 At 33 24 the dog has not yet passed the goal line but at 33 26 the dog 1s well passed the line We can therefore determine that the correct time for this dog should be 33 25 This situation 1s handled like this e Position the video at 33 24 e Click the 1 100 button it turns yellow e Click the dog number Set Goal times 172 Man 1 1100 Dead ien St Now as you can see K dog will be assigned the time of 33 25 Rank Dog Name Time Split AR 3 Utah Kid 33 25 00 00 Often dogs will be very close over the goal line as shown below The two dogs will be assigned the same time but hee is no doubt that dog number 6 is first To ascertain that dog number 6 is ranked first we also assign its time first Thus dogs with the same heat time are ranked in the order that they have their times assigned CaniTime user manual page 21 42 Rank Box Name Time 1 H Paranaspit 32 86 Dead heat In the unlikely but still possible event that we just can t separate two dogs we have the possibility to declare a dead heat This does not have to be the w
31. trol Bod SM Skellefte Fredag CA DER ee Capture Not attached Si gt Heat Camera 2 Start not reg ES Skellefte GP Race Preview D S l Started at 2008 07 25 19 29 45 Rank Dog Name Time Capture O EN H Unbreakable 00 00 00 0 ads Marilyn Monroe 00 00 00 0 0 ATAR SuperStar 00 00 00 0 at S Skellefte GP Race 00 00 00 0 Cielo Azul SM Skellefte Fredag The Trooper 0 00 00 0 V 00 00 00 0 File Initiate file 19 5 C Documents and Settings Johan D esktop CaniT ime samples SM Skellefte Heat time Video frame 00 15 80 125 Set Goal times 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 100 Notime Dead heat Split GIE gt t 5 A e The two forms are 1 The main form 2 The result form As you can see the result form has all the names of the dogs CaniTime user manual page 18 42 This data comes from the Event file and when the file for this heat was initiated the names were copied from the Event file into the CaniTime file The file will be positioned at the start of the goal passing since the goal times are more important than the split results On the main form you can see the s ider control Slider control Perret err OOOO ry D A Illustration 12 The slider control Using this control you can easily scroll forward and backward in the file However 1f you want a more exact positioning 1t 1s ofte
32. ual page 24 42 More on the CaniTime file The file format of the file looks like this A aaam The Race data contains all the non video information such as e Heat data e Dog names e Goal line positions e Results The CaniTime file will have data added in several increments gt When the file 1s initiated heat info and dog names will be taken from the Event file Goal line positions will be taken from program settings gt During video capture video frames from the split and goal cameras will be appended gt During file processing after the race the split and goal times will be added to the race data portion of the file CaniTime user manual page 25 42 Altering the CaniTime file A situation can of course arise where the CaniTime file needs to be altered e g a dog name is in error Dog names can be changed 1n the following way e With a CaniTime file open right click click with right mouse button in the dog name in the result form CaniTime results Change dog name e Type in the correct dog name and click OK e The name will be changed as shown below Rank Dog Name Tin 1 5 The Trooper 17 2 2 Marilyn Monroe 17 D 4 Another name 17 la la Sea 497 Changing Event amp Heat names Event amp Heat names can be changed in a similar fashion as dog names 1 e right clicking and entering a new text string N B No changes can be made unless the file is allowed for writing If the file 1s read
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