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v2.3
v2.3
  • OptiTrack Support Documentation
  • WHAT'S NEW
    • Unreal Engine: OptiTrack InCamera VFX
  • QUICK START GUIDES
    • Quick Start Guide: Getting Started
    • Quick Start Guide: Precision Capture
    • Quick Start Guide: Tutorial Videos
    • Quick Start Guide: Prime Color Setup
    • Quick Start Guide: Active Marker Tracking
    • Quick Start Guide: Outdoor Tracking Setup
  • HARDWARE
    • Cameras
      • Ethernet Cameras
        • PrimeX 41
        • PrimeX 22
        • PrimeX 13
        • PrimeX 13W
        • SlimX 13
        • Prime Color
      • USB Cameras
        • Slim 3U
        • Flex 13
        • Flex 3
        • Duo 3
        • Trio 3
        • Duo 3 and Trio 3 Setup
        • Adjusting Global Origin for Tracking Bars
    • Prepare Setup Area
    • Camera Mount Structures
    • Camera Placement
    • Camera Network Setup
    • Aiming and Focusing
    • Camera Status Indicators
  • MOTIVE
    • Installation and Activation
    • Motive Basics
    • Calibration
      • Continuous Calibration
      • Calibration Squares
    • Markers
    • Assets
      • Gizmo Tool: Translate, Rotate, and Scale
    • Rigid Body Tracking
      • Aligning Rigid Body Pivot Point with a Replicated 3D Model
    • Skeleton Tracking
    • Data Recording
      • Data Types
    • Labeling
    • Data Editing
    • Data Export
      • Data Export: BVH
      • Data Export: C3D
      • Data Export: CSV
      • Data Export: FBX
      • Data Export: TRC
    • Data Streaming
    • Camera Video Types
    • Audio Recording
    • Motive HotKeys
    • Measurement Probe Kit Guide
    • Motive Batch Processor
    • Reconstruction and 2D Mode
    • Tracking Bar Coordinate System
      • Transforming Coordinate System: Global to Local
  • MOTIVE UI PANES
    • Application Settings
      • Settings: Live Reconstruction
      • Settings: General
      • Settings: Views
      • Settings: Assets
        • Skeletons
        • Rigid Body
      • Settings: Camera
    • Mouse and Keyboard
    • Assets Pane
    • Builder Pane
    • Calibration Pane
    • Control Deck
    • Data Pane
    • Data Streaming Pane
    • Devices Pane
    • Edit Tools Pane
    • Graph View Pane
    • Info Pane
    • Labels Pane
    • Log Pane
    • Marker Sets Pane
      • Marker Name XML Files
    • Measurement Pane
    • Probe Pane
    • Properties Pane
      • Properties Pane: Camera
      • Properties Pane: Force Plates
      • Properties Pane: NI-DAQ
      • Properties Pane: OptiHub2
      • Properties Pane: Rigid Body
      • Properties Pane: Skeleton
      • Properties Pane: Take
      • Properties Pane: eSync2
    • Reference View pane
    • Status Panel
    • Toolbar/Command Bar
    • Viewport
  • PLUGINS
    • OptiTrack Unreal Engine Plugin
      • Unreal Engine: OptiTrack Live Link Plugin
      • Unreal Engine: OptiTrack Streaming Client Plugin
      • Unreal Engine: HMD Setup
      • Unreal Engine: MotionBuilder Workflow
      • Unreal Engine VCS Inputs
    • OptiTrack Unity Plugin
      • Unity: HMD Setup
    • OptiTrack OpenVR Driver
    • Autodesk Maya
      • Autodesk Maya: OptiTrack Insight VCS Plugin
    • Autodesk MotionBuilder
      • Autodesk MotionBuilder Plugin
      • Autodesk MotionBuilder: OptiTrack Skeleton Plugin
      • Autodesk MotionBuilder: OptiTrack Optical Plugin
      • Autodesk MotionBuilder: OptiTrack Insight VCS Plugin
      • Autodesk MotionBuilder: Timecode Data
    • OptiTrack Peripheral API
    • External Plugins
      • Houdini 19 Integration
  • ACTIVE COMPONENTS
    • Active Components Hardware
      • Active Puck
      • CinePuck
      • BaseStation
      • Information for Assembling the Active Tags
      • Manus Glove Setup
    • Configuration
      • Active Batch Programmer
      • Active Hardware Configuration: PuTTY
      • Active Component Firmware Compatibility
    • Active Marker Tracking
      • Active Finger Marker Set
      • Active Marker Tracking: IMU Setup
  • SYNCHRONIZATION
    • Synchronization Hardware
      • External Device Sync Guide: eSync 2
      • External Device Sync Guide: OptiHub2
    • Synchronization Setup
    • OptiTrack Timecode
  • VIRTUAL PRODUCTION
    • Unreal Engine: OptiTrack InCamera VFX
    • Entertainment Marker Sets
    • PrimeX 41
  • MOVEMENT SCIENCES
    • Movement Sciences Hardware
      • General Motive Force Plate Setup
      • AMTI Force Plate Setup
      • Bertec Force Plate Setup
      • Kistler Force Plate Setup
      • Delsys EMG Setup
      • NI-DAQ Setup
      • Multiple Device Setup
      • Prime Color Setup
    • Movement Sciences Marker Sets
      • Biomechanics Marker Sets
      • Biomech (57)
      • Rizzoli Marker Sets
    • For Visual3D Users
  • VIRTUAL REALITY
    • VR Plugins
      • VR Unreal Engine
        • OptiTrack Unreal Engine Plugin
        • Unreal Engine: OptiTrack Live Link Plugin
        • Unreal Engine: OptiTrack Streaming Client Plugin
        • Unreal Engine VCS Inputs
      • VR Unity
        • OptiTrack Unity Plugin
      • VR OpenVR
        • OptiTrack OpenVR Driver
    • VR HMD Setup
      • Unreal Engine: HMD Setup
      • Unity: HMD Setup
      • Manually Calibrating the HMD Pivot Point
      • Sync Configuration with an HTC Vive System
    • Navigation Controller Guide
    • SlimX 13
    • Active Marker Tracking
      • Active Finger Marker Set
      • Active Marker Tracking: IMU Setup
    • Synchronization Hardware
      • External Device Sync Guide: eSync 2
      • External Device Sync Guide: OptiHub2
  • ANIMATION
    • Autodesk Maya
      • Autodesk Maya: OptiTrack Insight VCS Plugin
    • Autodesk MotionBuilder
      • Autodesk MotionBuilder Plugin
      • Autodesk MotionBuilder: OptiTrack Skeleton Plugin
      • Autodesk MotionBuilder: OptiTrack Optical Plugin
      • Autodesk MotionBuilder: OptiTrack Insight VCS Plugin
      • Autodesk MotionBuilder: Timecode Data
  • ROBOTICS
    • PrimeX 22
    • Outdoor Tracking Setup
  • DEVELOPER TOOLS
    • Developer Tools Overview
    • NatNet SDK
      • NatNet 4.0
      • NatNet: Class/Function Reference
      • NatNet: Creating a Managed (C sharp) Client Application
      • NatNet: Creating a Native (C++) Client Application
      • NatNet: Data Types
      • NatNet: Matlab Wrapper
      • NatNet: Migration to NatNet 3.0 libraries
      • NatNet: RebroadcastMotiveData Sample
      • NatNet: Remote Requests/Commands
      • NatNet: Sample Projects
      • NatNet: Unicast Data Subscription Commands
      • Latency Measurements
    • Motive API
      • Motive API: Quick Start Guide
      • Motive API Overview
      • Motive API: Function Reference
      • Motive API Camera Calibration
    • Camera SDK
      • Camera SDK Classes
        • Class: cCameraGroupFilterSettings
        • Class: cCameraGroupMarkerSizeSettings
        • Class: cCameraGroupPointCloudSettings
        • Class: cCameraModule
        • Class: cRigidBodySettings
        • Class: cRigidBodySolutionTest
        • Class: cTTAPIListener
        • Class: cUID
  • MARKER SETS
    • Full Body
      • Baseline (37)
      • Baseline + Hinged Toe (41)
      • Baseline + Hinged Toe, with Headband (41)
      • Baseline + 13 Additional Markers (50)
      • Biomech (57)
      • Conventional (39)
    • Full Body + Fingers
      • Baseline + Hinged Toe + Fingers (49)
      • Baseline + 11 Additional Markers + Fingers (54)
      • Manus Glove Setup
    • Upper
      • Baseline Upper (25)
      • Baseline Upper Body + Fingers (33)
      • Conventional Upper (27)
    • Lower
      • Baseline Lower (20)
      • Helen Hayes Lower (19)
      • Conventional Lower (16)
    • Hand and Fingers
      • Left and Right Hand (11)
      • Active Finger Marker Set
    • Rizzoli Marker Sets
    • Entertainment Marker Sets
    • Rigid Body Skeleton Marker Set
  • GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING
    • Troubleshooting
    • Running Motive on High DPI Displays
    • Firewall Settings
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On this page
  • Overview
  • Streaming in Motive
  • Streaming IP Address
  • Streaming Options
  • Bone Naming Convention
  • Coordinate System Convention
  • NatNet Streaming
  • Remote Triggering
  • Streaming Protocols/Plugins

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  1. MOTIVE

Data Streaming

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Last updated 2 years ago

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Overview

The Data Streaming settings can be found by selecting the by selecting View > Data Streaming Pane.

Streaming in Motive

  • Select the network interface address for streaming data.

  • Select desired data types to stream under streaming options.

  • When streaming skeletons, set the appropriate bone naming convention for client application.

  • Check Broadcast Frame Data at the top.

  • Configure streaming settings and designate the corresponding IP address from client applications

  • Stream live or playback captures

Streaming IP Address

Firewall or anti-virus software can block network traffic, so it is important to make sure these applications are disabled or configured to allow access to both server (Motive) and Client applications.

Streaming Options

Before starting to broadcast data onto the selected network interface, define which data types to stream. Under streaming options, there are settings where you can include or exclude specific data types and syntax. Set only the necessary criteria to true. For most applications, the default settings will be appropriate.

Bone Naming Convention

When streaming skeleton data, bone naming convention formats annotations for each segment when data is streamed out. Appropriate convention should be configured to allow client application to properly recognize segments. For example, when streaming to Autodesk pipelines, the naming convention should be set to FBX.

Coordinate System Convention

NatNet Streaming

NatNet is a client/server networking protocol which allows sending and receiving data across a network in real-time. It utilizes UDP along with either Unicast or Multicast communication for integrating and streaming reconstructed 3D data, rigid body data, and skeleton data from OptiTrack systems to client applications. Within the API, a class for communicating with OptiTrack server applications is included for building client protocols. Using the tools provided in the NatNet API, capture data can be used in various application platforms. Please refer to the NatNet User Guide For more information on using NatNet and its API references.

Rotation conventions

NatNet streams rotational data in quaternions. If you wish to present the rotational data in the Euler convention (pitch-yaw-roll), the quaternions data need to be converted into Euler angles. In the provided NatNet SDK samples, the SampleClient3D application converts quaternion rotations into Euler rotations to display in the application interface. The sample algorithms for the conversion are scripted in the NATUtils.cpp file. Refer to the NATUtils.cpp file and the SampleClient3D.cpp file to find out how to convert quaternions into Euler conventions.

Remote Triggering

XML Triggering Port: Command Port (Advanced Network Settings) + 2. This defaults to 1512 (1510 + 2).Tip: Within the NatNet SDK sample package, there is are simple applications (BroadcastSample.cpp (C++) and NatCap (C#)) that demonstrates a sample use of XML remote trigger in Motive.

XML syntax for the start / stop trigger packet

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?>
<CaptureStart>
    <Name VALUE="RemoteTriggerTest_take01"/>
    <SessionName VALUE="SessionName" />
    <Notes VALUE="Take notes goes here if any"/>
    <Assets VALUE="skel1, skel2, sword" />
    <Description VALUE="" />
    <DatabasePath VALUE="S:/shared/testfolder/"/>
    <TimeCode VALUE="00:00:00:00"/>
    <PacketID VALUE="0"/>
    <HostName VALUE="optional host name" />
    <ProcessID VALUE="optional process id" />
</CaptureStart>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CaptureStop>
    <Name VALUE="TakeName" />
    <Notes VALUE="Take notes go here if any." />
    <Assets VALUE="skel1, skel2, sword" />
    <TimeCode VALUE="00:00:00:00" />
    <HostName VALUE="optional host name" />
    <ProcessID VALUE="optional process id" />
</CaptureStop>

Capture Start Packet

Value
Description

Name

Name of the Take that will be recorded.

SessionName

Name of the session folder.

Notes

Informational note for describing the recorded Take.

Description

(Reserved)

Assets

DatabasePath

The file directory where the recorded captures will be saved.

Start Timecode

PacketID

(Reserved)

HostName

(Reserved)

ProcessID

(Reserved)

Capture Stop Packet

Value
Description

Name

Name of the recorded Take.

Notes

Informational notes for describing recorded a Take.

Assets

Timecode

HostName

(Reserved)

ProcessID

(Reserved)

Streaming Protocols/Plugins

Protocol
Markers
Rigid Bodies
Skeletons
Description
Download

NatNet SDK

Y

Y

Y

Runs local or over network. The NatNet SDK includes multiple sample applications for C/C++, OpenGL, Winforms/.NET/C#, MATLAB, and Unity. It also includes a C/C++ sample showing how to decode Motive UDP packets directly without the use of client libraries (for cross platform clients such as Linux).

C/C++ or VB/C#/.NET or Matlab

Autodesk MotionBuilder Plugin

Y

Y

Y

Runs local or over network. Allows streaming both recorded data and real-time capture data for markers, rigid bodies, and skeletons.

Comes with Motion Builder Resources: OptiTrack Optical Device OptiTrack Skeleton Device OptiTrack Insight VCS

Visual3D

Y

N

N

With a Visual3D license, you can download Visual3D server application which is used to connect OptiTrack server to Visual3D application. Using the plugin, Visual 3D receives streamed marker data to solve precise skeleton models for biomechanics applications.

The MotionMonitor

Y

N

N

The MotionMonitor is cable of receiving live streamed motion capture data from Motive. Streamed data is then solved, in real-time, using live marker data.

Unreal Engine 4 Plugin

N

Y

N

Unity Plugin

N

Y

N

3ds Max Plugin

N

Y

N

(Unmaintained)Runs local or over network. Supports 3ds Max 2009-2012. This plugin allows Autodesk 3ds Max to receive skeletons and rigid bodies from the OptiTrack server application such as Motive.

VCS:Maya

N

Y

N

Separate license is required. Streams capture data into Autodesk Maya for using the Virtual Camera System.

Motive offers multiple options to stream tracking data onto external applications in real-time. Streaming plugins are available for Autodesk Motion Builder, The MotionMonitor, Visual3D, Unreal Engine 4, 3ds Max, Maya (VCS), VRPN, and trackd, and they can be downloaded from the OptiTrack website. For other streaming options, the NatNet SDK enables users to build custom clients to receive capture data. All of the listed streaming options do not require separate licenses to use. Common motion capture applications rely on real-time tracking, and the OptiTrack system is designed to deliver data at an extremely low latency even when streaming to third-party pipelines. This page covers configuring Motive to broadcast frame data over a selected server network. Detailed instructions on specific are included in the PDF documentation that ships with the respective plugins or SDK's.

Read through the page for explanations on each setting. NaturalPoint Data Streaming Forum: .

Open the in Motive

It is important to select the network adapter (interface, IP Address) for streaming data. Most Motive Host PCs will have multiple network adapters - one for the camera network and one (or more) for the local area network (LAN). Motive will only stream over the selected adapter (interface). Select the desired interface using the in Motive. The interface can be either over a local area network (LAN) or on the same machine (localhost, local loopback). If both server (Motive) and client application are running on the same machine, set the network interface to the local loopback address (127.0.0.1). When streaming over a LAN, select the IP address of the network adapter connected to the LAN. This will be the same address the Client application will use to connect to Motive.

See:

Motive (1.7+) uses a right-handed Y-up coordinate system. However, coordinate systems used in client applications may not always agree with the convention used in Motive. In this case, the coordinate system in streamed data needs to be modified to a compatible convention. For client applications with a different ground plane definition, Up Axis can be changed under Advanced Network Settings. For compatibility with left-handed coordinate systems, the simplest method is to rotate the capture volume 180 degrees on the Y axis when defining the ground plane during .

If desired, recording in Motive can control or be controlled by other remote applications via sending or receiving either or XML broadcast messages to or from a client application through the UDP communication protocol. This enables client applications to trigger Motive or vise versa. Using commands is recommended because they are not only more robust but they also offer additional control features.

Recording start and stop commands can also be transmitted via XML packets. When triggering via XML messages, the Remote Trigger setting under must be set to true. In order for Motive, or clients, to receive the packets, the XML messages must be sent via the triggering UDP port. The triggering port is designated as two increments (2+) of the defined Command Port (default: 1510), under the advanced network settings, which defaults to 1512. Lastly, the XML messages must exactly follow the appropriate syntax:

List of involved in the Take.

Timecode values (SMTPE) for frame alignments, or reserving future record trigger events for timecode supported systems. Camera systems usually have higher framerates compared to the SMPTE Timecode. In the triggering packets, the always equal to 0 at the trigger.

List of involved in the Take

Timecode values (SMPTE) for frame alignments. The value is zero.

C-Motion wiki:

Runs local or over network. Supports Unreal Engine versions up to 4.17. This plugin allows streaming of rigid bodies and integration of HMD tracking within Unreal Engine projects. For more details, read through the documentation page.

Runs local or over network. This plugin allows streaming of tracking data and integration of HMD tracking within Unity projects. For more details, read through the documentation page.

streaming protocols
Application Settings
OptiTrack Data Streaming
Data Streaming Pane
Data Streaming Pane
Data Streaming pane
Calibration
NatNet commands
NatNet
Advanced Network Settings
assets
subframe values
assets
subframe
Download
Download
Visual3DServer Plugin
C-Motion Website
The MotionMonitor website
OptiTrack Unreal Engine 4 Plugin
Download
OptiTrack Unity Plugin
Download
Download
Download
Broadcast Frame Data set to true for streaming.
Skeleton device pane in MotionBuilder.
Sample client application created using NatNet SDK.
Sample .NET sample created using NatNet SDK.