Locating a Flight

After you load a flight for AR processing, the AR graphics can only be drawn in video after the flight has been located. This is done via the locating procedure described below. This procedure establishes a relationship between the real 3D world and the 2D video that was used to record it. The procedure consists of picking objects in video that are positioned at known locations in the real world.

To locate a flight, follow these steps after loading it:

  1. The video window will display the first frame of your video so that you can select F2B markers. This procedure locates the camera in video relative to the flight circle so that AR geometry can be displayed.

    _images/locating-initial-frame-small.png

    Fig. 16 First step of camera locating: begin selecting markers.

    Follow the prompts in the middle of the status bar to select markers. Be as accurate as possible when selecting each marker.

    To select a marker, point the mouse cursor to it and click the left mouse button.

    To unselect the last selected marker, click the right mouse button anywhere in the video window.

    You will be prompted to select the following four items:

    Circle center

    Select a point on the ground in the center of the circle. If you know that the pilot is standing exactly in the center at the start of the video, select a point at his or her feet. If the pilot is not standing in the center of the pilot circle at the start of the video, select a point on the ground where you estimate the center of the pilot circle to be. This can be done by reviewing the video separately in a video player. Fast-forwarding the video to a time when the pilot is in the middle of a maneuver is the recommended method of estimating the location of the circle center.

    Front marker

    Select the center of a marker on the far side of the flight circle that is nearest to the middle of the video frame. It does not matter which marker you choose to be the front, as long as markers adjacent to it are visible in the video frame.

    Left marker

    Select the center of the nearest marker to the left of the front marker on the far side of the flight circle, i.e., the next marker in the counterclockwise direction.

    Right marker

    Select the center of the nearest marker to the right of the front marker on the far side of the flight circle, i.e., the next marker in the clockwise direction.

    _images/locating-in-progress-small.png

    Fig. 17 Camera locating in progress. Center, front, and left markers have been selected in this example.

    When you select a marker, VideoF2B draws a small green circle around the selected point. Here is an example of all four markers after selection:

    _images/locating-example-markers.png

  2. When you select the final marker, you will see this prompt:

    _images/locating-complete-small.png

    Fig. 18 Confirmation prompt at end of camera locating procedure.

    If you made incorrect selections, click No. The current marker selections will be cleared, and you will have a chance to select all of them again.

    If you are satisfied with your selections, click Yes. Processing will begin.

See User Controls to learn how to control AR geometry during the processing. You may want to review information about The World Coordinate System first.