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I would like to recommend a free software package for
manually digitizing photogrammetric markers from AVI and
MOV video files. The program tpsDig, developed by
Professor F. James Rohlf at SUNY Stony Brook, has been an
excellent resource for many years for the geometric
morphometrics community to digitize landmarks from images
of anatomical structures. Geometric morphometrics is the
mathematical study of anatomical shape to help describe
physical differences related to ontogenetic, phylogenetic
and pathological variations.
Professor Rohlf has recently updated tpsDig to allow input
from sequences of images within AVI and MOV multimedia
files. The program allows the user to open AVI or MOV
files, manually index through the images, manually digitize
any number of markers per frame and save the X,Y marker
locations into an ASCII text file. The only restriction is
that the multimedia input window must completely show the
current frame to allow it to be completely captured to the
digitizing window. Hence, using a larger monitor is
recommended but not essential. (I use it on my old 486
laptop with 640x480 resolution and 256 colors.) The
program can also be used to manually digitize landmarks
from individual images or a sequence of images in BMP, GIF,
JPG, PCX, PNG and TIF formats. The program has been
tested under Win95 and Win98.
This program can be extremely useful for simple clinical
gait analysis or pilot studies when used in conjunction
with new digital cameras capable of saving AVI and MOV
videos. It can also be used by students in biomechanics
classes to digitize human movement from lab videos, from
sports studies or from scientific databases such as CGA
(Clinical Gait Analysis by Dr. Chris Kirtley at
http://guardian.curtin.edu.au:80/cga/index.html).
To obtain a copy of tpsDig, visit Professor Rohlf's
morphometrics webpage at
http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/morph/
Then select links for "Software" then "Support routines"
then "tpsDIG32" to download a self-extracting executable
file. The executable can install the program in any folder
of your choice.
While you are visiting the morphometrics webpage, I
recommend browsing the site to learn a little more about
geometric morphometrics, particularly those of you who are
interested in geometric modeling of anatomy, and 3D
statistics of anatomical landmarks such as ligament
attachments and muscle origins/insertions. Additionally,
you might investigate the MORPHMET listserver, similar to
our BIOMCH-L discussion forum.
I strongly recommend this free software and wish to thank
Professor Rohlf for his continued support of morphometrics
and now biomechanics.
************************************************** *********************
H.J. Sommer III, Ph.D., Professor of Mechanical Engineering, 327 Reber Bldg
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
(814)863-8997 FAX (814)863-4848 hjs1@psu.edu www.me.psu.edu/sommer/
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For information and archives: http://isb.ri.ccf.org/biomch-l
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manually digitizing photogrammetric markers from AVI and
MOV video files. The program tpsDig, developed by
Professor F. James Rohlf at SUNY Stony Brook, has been an
excellent resource for many years for the geometric
morphometrics community to digitize landmarks from images
of anatomical structures. Geometric morphometrics is the
mathematical study of anatomical shape to help describe
physical differences related to ontogenetic, phylogenetic
and pathological variations.
Professor Rohlf has recently updated tpsDig to allow input
from sequences of images within AVI and MOV multimedia
files. The program allows the user to open AVI or MOV
files, manually index through the images, manually digitize
any number of markers per frame and save the X,Y marker
locations into an ASCII text file. The only restriction is
that the multimedia input window must completely show the
current frame to allow it to be completely captured to the
digitizing window. Hence, using a larger monitor is
recommended but not essential. (I use it on my old 486
laptop with 640x480 resolution and 256 colors.) The
program can also be used to manually digitize landmarks
from individual images or a sequence of images in BMP, GIF,
JPG, PCX, PNG and TIF formats. The program has been
tested under Win95 and Win98.
This program can be extremely useful for simple clinical
gait analysis or pilot studies when used in conjunction
with new digital cameras capable of saving AVI and MOV
videos. It can also be used by students in biomechanics
classes to digitize human movement from lab videos, from
sports studies or from scientific databases such as CGA
(Clinical Gait Analysis by Dr. Chris Kirtley at
http://guardian.curtin.edu.au:80/cga/index.html).
To obtain a copy of tpsDig, visit Professor Rohlf's
morphometrics webpage at
http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/morph/
Then select links for "Software" then "Support routines"
then "tpsDIG32" to download a self-extracting executable
file. The executable can install the program in any folder
of your choice.
While you are visiting the morphometrics webpage, I
recommend browsing the site to learn a little more about
geometric morphometrics, particularly those of you who are
interested in geometric modeling of anatomy, and 3D
statistics of anatomical landmarks such as ligament
attachments and muscle origins/insertions. Additionally,
you might investigate the MORPHMET listserver, similar to
our BIOMCH-L discussion forum.
I strongly recommend this free software and wish to thank
Professor Rohlf for his continued support of morphometrics
and now biomechanics.
************************************************** *********************
H.J. Sommer III, Ph.D., Professor of Mechanical Engineering, 327 Reber Bldg
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
(814)863-8997 FAX (814)863-4848 hjs1@psu.edu www.me.psu.edu/sommer/
---------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe send SIGNOFF BIOMCH-L to LISTSERV@nic.surfnet.nl
For information and archives: http://isb.ri.ccf.org/biomch-l
---------------------------------------------------------------