---

 

---

April 30 6:00 pm

800 fps option?

Is there any point in having the option to run the cameras at 800 fps instead of 1500 fps?

Unless anyone can tell me otherwise, the next CP will have this option removed so that cameras are always running at full 1500 fps.

New IR light a complete flop

Test results of the below - highly anticipated - new IR high intensity light turned out to be a complete flop.

Nothing but marketing hype from the manufacturer. A total waste of my money and time.

It's super narrow beam alright though. At 1 degree beam angle, it can only illuminate the ball in one specific direct position.

Move the ball 2 inches away, and it's a dark image.

Even when it's spot on, the so called "2 million candle power" isn't any better than a cheap LED track spot light.

April 30 4:50 pm

Ball Spin Test Videos

For those that are interested, I've made a collection of ball spin videos using line/logo marked balls, QED marked balls and Rapsodo marked balls.

Click the above image to download the videos (32 MB compressed)

All 32 frame videos were captured at 1500 fps with the ball spinning at 2488 rpm.

Each ball type consists of 4 different viewing angles: Top, Side, Tilted Top and Tilted side.

To try the videos, copy the video number from the downloaded sub folder into the C:\ GSAgolf folder on your PC.

Go to the Videos panels and select the video number and go to camera 1.

Select any frame and press the 1 key on your keyboard, then go to the next frame and press the 2 key.

Then either press the C key or click on the spin video box to re-calculate the spin rate from the 2 frames you have previously selected

GSA Golf use these ball spin videos to simulate various ball marking position scenarios to confirm the correct measured ball spin

CP 10.1.1.7

Fix: Ball spin rate not always being re-calculated when clicking in the ball spin video box

---

April 29 1:16 pm

CP 10.1.1.6

New 1: Ball spin rate fine adjust using left and right keyboard arrow keys

New 2: Default spin adjust factor determined using tachometer readings

Ball spin rate accuracy verification method

Click below images to read more

Click above images to read more ...

---

April 28 4:10 pm

CP 10.1.1.5

New: Improved virtual dot mode.

Press V key in camera panel to start virtual dot mode

More about spin dot virtual mode later this week...

Fix: Spin adjust slider ball not automatically updating spin rate in real time while moving the slider bar cursor

---

April 27 10:10 am

CP 10.1.1.4

Improved sample shot videos.

Back spin in EVi video cam 2 more visible and clearer.

---

April 26 6:35 pm

CP 10.1.1.3

New 1: Associated club with the sample shot videos now shown

April 26 12:45 pm

CP 10.1.1.2

New 1: Certain system configuration values for the sample shot videos are now automatically set to match the videos as they were recorded.

i.e. floor and spin dot Grey Scale values, system scaling factor, brightness values etc.

These values are restored to your system original values when leaving the sample video.

New 2: A couple of smaller tweaks and mods to improve ball spin, ball and club speed detection

New 3: The minimum max club face angle now set to +/- 10 degrees.

i.e. If a club face angle is measured greater than this max value, it will be set to this max value (set by the user in the video panel near bottom right corner)

---

April 25 1:45 pm

CP 10.1.1.1

New 1: Quality of sample shot video 2 improved

New 2: A couple of smaller tweaks and mods to improve ball and club speed detection

Sample Video 1 is from a stereo camera SCX system

Sample Video 2 camera 1 is from an EVi/LX2 system showing the overhead view of the club striking the ball

Sample Video 2 camera 2 is from an EVi/LX2 system showing the side view of the club striking the ball

---

April 23 3:00 pm

CP 10.1.0.9

New 1: Sample shot videos

-

A number of sample shot videos are currently being generated.

Just 2 for the moment but many more to come.

Note that when loading the sample videos, the system type may change.

Video 1 ( with enhanced spin dot ball images) was generated from an SCX and Video 2 from an EVi system

New hi-intensity IR spotlight for the SCX IR ?

This IR light looks very promising. Hi-Intensity with a very narrow beam angle.

I've ordered one to test and will publish results in a couple of days.

The problem with the current CM Vision IR Illuminators (see below) is that they are wide angle and thus not producing a concentrated spot where the light is needed.

They are also quite large and 3 are required which makes the SCX IR heavier and longer than the regular SCX.

These new IR lights are smaller and probably only 2 are required

 

---

April 21 2:30 pm

CP 10.1.0.8

New 1: New customer camera registrations

New 2: A number of smaller layout and cosmetic modifications

New 3: New stereo calibration for the SCX IR

As the cameras in the SCX IR are mounted 29" apart (due to the long casing that has the 3 large IR lights in them)

as opposed to the regular 20 inches apart, the stereo calibration tables are different.

In order to differentiate between the 2 types of SCX systems, a new separate SCX IR product option has had to be added

---

April 20 5:55 pm

Greater focus precision and far easier focusing with Marshall low cost lenses

-

While testing a customer order for an SCX IR today, I noticed a significant difference in lens focusing precision between the far more expensive Computar lenses ($138)

and the low cost ($20) Marshall lenses which the SCX is normally equipped with.

Turns out that Computar lenses are extremely sensitive to the slightest turn of the focus ring (you just have to touch the ring and it's out of focus)

while the Marshall lenses allow up to good half a turn of precision focusing.

Even though the Computar lenses produce slightly more brighter images, the advantage is completely negated if you can't focus the lens.

If you're having difficulty focusing and you're not using the Marshall lenses and you'd like to swap them out, Google "Marshall V-4512 lenses".

They are available from various resellers for $20.

Coming next week:

Ability to mount the SCX longitudinally (i.e. inline with the center of the screen)

instead of latitudinally (i.e. when cameras are mounted left and right of the center line)

Advantage is that - because the cameras are pointing directly down over the center line -

the shot playback video will show the exact ball path (left and right)

whereas the ball path appears somehat skewed with regular latitudinal mounting method as the cameras are viewing the ball off center left and right.

---

April 18 1:07 pm

CP 10.1.0.7

New : More improvements to SCX and LX2/EVi ball spin detection

---

April 13 9:40 am

CP 10.1.0.2

New 1: Improved ball spin detection

New 2: New LX2 default values. eg Shutter speed exposure time 100 us instead of 300 us

VisTrak SCX Ball Spin Detection

The above image (from a customer shot video) shows the issue with longer exposure times and out of focus lenses when attempting to detect ball spin dot markings.

Exposure times need to be under 150 us to reduce motion blur caused by the ball traveling at high speeds.

Nether-the-less, if increasing the Ball Spot GS (gray scale) to 200, then even out of focus and blurry ball dots can be detected.

Today's CP version also features improved ball spin frame detection by attempting to find 2 adjacent ball images that have at least 3 dots on them instead of just 2.

More ball spin detection updates will be coming regularly over the next few weeks

---

April 10 4:10 pm

VisTrak LX2 Production model

The world's first and only floor mounted launch monitor that features a true horizontal camera

-

Agreed, a somewhat unorthodox design but it's the only way to capture club data with a floor mounted launch monitor

Now featuring a real ON/OFF switch! (ha,ha)

Well, you may laugh about that but it's actually a real pain in the butt to put that in.

it's a wonder a don't electrocute myself in the process

I always wanted to put on/off switches on my products but didn't see the point as the user would have get up on a step ladder

to reach the ceiling mounted unit to switch it on or off.

It would be easier to just pull the plug on it from the floor outlet or use a power strip with an on/off switch.

i must admit I get a bit jittery working with voltages much over 5v.

A couple of months ago I wanted to check the LED 110v lights on an SCX light track and - due to a short circuit - a loud bang and super bright spark occurred that blew the circuit breakers.

Scared the living day lights out of me.

So these days, I prefer to don sunglasses and ear plugs prior to a first live test.

---

April 9 3:45 pm

Production news - SCX vs LX

Currently, the assembly time for the LX2 is 4 times that of the SCX. i.e. SCX assembly time : 2 to 4 hours. LX2 assembly time 8 to 16 hours

This is mainly due to the additional casing and wiring required in the LX2.

Should sales of the LX2 exceed more than 2 a week, then production will have to be outsourced.

Fortunately, I have a team ready to go for this eventuality.

April 9 3:00 pm

Low frame rate when running 2 cameras

I've had a couple of users over the years that say they can't attain the minimum frame rate with 2 cameras with their PCs.

The below new entry in the "Issues and Fault Finding" page should help

4.1 Each camera runs at full speed when connected to the PC separately

but when a second camera is connected, the frame rate drops significantly.

This would indicate that your PC USB3 bus has insufficient bandwidth to cope with 2 cameras running at full speed.

You can try setting the cameras to 1500 fps in the CP's main panel and restarting the CP.

As the frame size is halved when setting the cameras to 1500 fps, you may be able get 600 fps or more when running the 2 cameras.

While not ideal, at least the system will then be playable.

---

April 8 6:00 pm

CP 10.1.0.1

New 1: Improved laser and green LED strip controls.

Laser and LED strip turns ON during camera testing when first starting the CP.

Fix 1: Laser not always switching OFF when ball located

Fix 2: LED strip not always switching ON when ball located

New 2: A number of smaller cosmetic improvements

New 3: New customer camera registrations

---

April 6 4:22 pm

CP 10.1.0.0

The old Alignment and image rotation mode has been disabled due to issues.

If - for some reason - it was stuck ON, then it could cause false LA readings and calibration problems

---

April 4 5:30 pm

Business news

A new "Where to Buy" reseller list is currently being compiled for GSA Golf VisTrak products.

This will probably take a while but should show results soon.

Also a number of exclusive resellers for certain countries will be listed.

e.g. The exclusive distributor for Japan has been signed up today. Many more to follow.

---

April 4 1:51 pm

CP 10.0.9.9

A number of smaller but potentially important fixes.

---

April 1 3:15 pm

New easy SCX calibration method

Click the above button to see an easy and fast SCX calibration method

April 1 10:00 am

CP 10.0.9.7

New 1: New SCX stereo table calibration.

SCX Calibration was done with cameras mounted 8.5ft high and 21 inches apart

New 2: New improved ball LA and ball speed calculation methods

New 3: Many new smaller system improvement features

---

---

Previous Tech News pages

---