Features

What Flowbit Capture does once the cameras are up: move around the 3D view, record video, and save single frames.

The buttons, camera states and the Performance panel are described in Interface.

Moving the 3D view

Do this	Gets you
Drag with the mouse	Turn the room. Both directions turn without limit
Mouse wheel	Zoom in and out
Reset view	Back to straight-on, and re-fit the whole room

Three coloured lines cross at the origin: red is X, green is Y, blue is Z, each brighter on its positive side. They mark where calibration puts the centre of the room, so if the room looks wrong they tell you whether the view is turned around or the calibration has moved. Set Show Axes to false to hide them.

The view turns about that origin, not about whatever happens to be on screen. Turning does not keep the horizon level; it follows the mouse, so a sideways drag after tipping the room over turns it about the axis you are looking down. There is no way to slide the view sideways - if something is hidden behind something else, turn the room rather than trying to move past it.

Record video

Start streaming. Recording refuses to start otherwise - it saves the video this workstation is receiving, so there has to be a stream to save.
Select Start recording. Every streaming camera is recorded, ticked or not.
Select Stop recording when done.

WARNING
While recording, do not select Disconnect or Stop streaming on a camera that is part of the session. Either one ends the whole session for every camera, not just that one. The log says closed the recording first when it happens. A camera that started streaming after recording began is not in the session and can be stopped safely.

NOTE
While recording, the automatic re-scan pauses. A camera that drops off the network mid-session keeps showing as connected until you stop. The sign is its stream and sync rates falling to zero in Interface - The Performance Panel - worth a glance during a long take.

Closing the window while recording is safe: the session is stopped and the index closed on the way out. Selecting Stop recording first is still the habit to keep, because it is the only way to see whether every camera closed cleanly.

Where recordings land

Files land under Recording Root:

recordings/
  database.db                                  list of every recording
  <time>/<serial>/<serial>_<time>.mkv          the video
                  <serial>_<time>_color.png    one frame
                  <serial>_<time>_depth_raw.png
                  sensor_config.json           the camera's settings
                  capture_config.json
                  device_config.json

recordings/
  database.db                                  list of every recording
  <time>/<serial>/<serial>_<time>.mkv          the video
                  <serial>_<time>_color.png    one frame
                  <serial>_<time>_depth_raw.png
                  sensor_config.json           the camera's settings
                  capture_config.json
                  device_config.json

recordings/
  database.db                                  list of every recording
  <time>/<serial>/<serial>_<time>.mkv          the video
                  <serial>_<time>_color.png    one frame
                  <serial>_<time>_depth_raw.png
                  sensor_config.json           the camera's settings
                  capture_config.json
                  device_config.json

database.db lists every recording, and its Status column says how the session ended:

Status	Means
`stopped`	Every camera closed its file cleanly
`stopped_with_errors: <serials>`	The named cameras did not. Those `.mkv` files end early and the take should be re-shot
`unknown`	The session was never closed - the program stopped unexpectedly while recording

The two .png stills are best effort. If no synchronized frame arrived while stopping, the log says so and the rest of the folder is still complete.

WARNING
Nothing deletes old recordings. Watch the disk.

Save a frame

Start streaming.
Select Save frame.

One folder per press appears under Capture Root, holding a colour image, a depth image and a point cloud for every camera, plus that camera's settings.

When a save is refused

A save can be refused, and the message says why. Nothing is written when it is — there is no half-finished folder to clean up. The one exception is could not be published as, where the capture is complete and only its name is missing.

Message contains	What happened
`has changed since streaming started`	A camera's settings were re-written while it was streaming - a re-calibration, or selecting Connect on it again, which re-downloads its settings from the camera. Select Stop streaming then Start streaming on that camera and save again
`produced 0 points`	Every depth reading fell outside `Cut Range` or beyond `Point Cloud Z Max M`. Check both in the Install and Run Flowbit Capture - Configuration Reference
`only a partial synchronized group`	A camera did not deliver its frame in time. Try again; if it repeats, check that camera's `stream` rate in Interface - The Performance panel
`could not be published as`	The folder was written but could not be given its final name, usually because something else had it open. The capture is complete - the message gives the folder, ending `.part`, and you rename it by hand. It also holds a `KEEP-complete-bundle.txt` saying the same

Trying again will not help with has changed since streaming started or produced 0 points: they last until you change something.

Use Flowbit Capture with Flowbit Calibration

Optional. Only needed if you are calibrating the rig.

Until the rig has a calibration, the panel reads no calibration file - cameras render at identity, and every camera draws from the same origin - so the room comes out as one pile rather than one room:

Run both programs on the same machine.
Bring the cameras up here first - see Install and Run Flowbit Capture - Run the power-on test.
Check the calibration app's header. It reads "Capture backend · N streaming" with a green dot, N being your cameras.
Work in that app from there. Come back here to watch the rig or to record.

Selecting Sync in Flowbit Calibration writes the calibration here and applies it - the 3D view fuses without restarting anything. Select Reset view afterwards to re-frame on the space, which has just moved. The amber warning at the top of the panel is replaced by the path to the calibration file in use.

The calibration procedure itself is in Calibration.

Next steps

If your cameras are not yet mounted: Install Your Devices: Step by Step - Camera Installation and Calibration.

Interface

Troubleshooting

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