Starting with VideoCAD 16, the easiest, most complete, and most accurate way to add camera models to the Camera Model Table is by using Artificial Intelligence. This method requires no special knowledge. You can quickly add any model and start modeling it immediately using all the capabilities of VideoCAD.

 

You can order special Camera model database add-on file, including parameters of user-defined models, entered according to their datasheets.

 

Below is a description of the principles of manually adding models, which was the only option in previous versions of VideoCAD:

 

To add a new camera model to the VideoCAD camera model database by yourself:

 

1. Open the Table of camera models by the button on the Toolbar of the Graphics window;

2. Switch to the All models tab

3. Click Camera model>+New on the Toolbar at the bottom of the Table of Camera Models window ;

4. Select parameters in the table by mouse and edit them.

 

If you can not edit the table check status of the Allow/ deny editing camera models button on the left-bottom corner of the Table of Camera Models. It must be red . If it is blue just click it to enable editing.

 

Starting from version 12, VideoCAD distribution kit contains a database of real camera models, which contains almost all types of camera models available on the market (but, of course, not all camera models itself). In the parameters of each model there is a link to the manufacturer's datasheet, on the basis of which the record with this model was created.

 

Therefore, the most productive way to add a new camera model to the model database is as follows:

1. Search for a similar model in the Table of Camera Models. It is convenient to use the Camera Model Filter panel for searching.

2. Duplication of the found model.

3. Comparing the parameters of the resulting copy and the parameters of your model according to its datasheet and editing the parameters of the resulting copy.

 

Use the VideoCAD help system to learn more about the parameters that you don't understand yet.

 

It is convenient to edit model parameters directly in the Table of Camera Models. Table cells can be edited, you can select possible cell values ​​in drop-down lists.

To insert a camera photo, click the arrow in the Photo cell in the Table of Camera Models or right-click on the photo in the Equipment model card window and use the context menu.

In the table, copying and pasting of both the entire existing models (rows of the table) and arbitrary selected groups of cells is available. For example, if the new model has the same lens as the existing model, you can copy the lens parameters from the existing model and paste them into the new model.

If you are adding a model that is similar to an existing one but differs only in a few parameters, then you can duplicate the existing model and edit only the different parameters. Such techniques allow to significantly accelerate adding new models into the base of VideoCAD models.

 

It is not necessary to enter all parameters of new model. The model parameters in the table can be divided into:

First of all, important modeled parameters must be introduced. For usual cameras, this is the model name, resolutions in pixels (you can enter all possible resolutions through the List of Resolutions), image sensor size, lens focal lengths and view angles for each focal length (List/Range of Lens Focal Length).

If the lens is varifocal, then through the List/Range of Lens Focal Length, you must enter the extreme values ​​​​of the focal length and view angles. If this is a PTZ camera, then you need to enter the maximum angles of rotation and tilt up and down. For a multi-sensor camera, you must enter the number of modules and their mutual direction.

Important modeled parameters are present in most datasheets, but they can be named differently.

 

Modeled parameters, including important and less important, are highlighted in red in the Parameter description topic. VideoCAD can use these parameters to simulate some camera modes. But if you do not simulate these modes, then it is not necessary to enter all the simulated parameters. Many parameters that VideoCAD can model are simply absent in most camera datasheets.

 

The rest, not highlighted in red, parameters in the table exist only as reference data. You can leave them out if you don't need to.

 

If you need even more parameters, take a look at the hidden columns in the Table of Camera Models. Having opened the necessary hidden columns, you can enter all the reference parameters of camera models that you need. Combinations of visible columns can be saved as Views and quickly switched between them.

 

The correctness of introducing new camera models into VideoCAD largely depends on the correct understanding of the parameters in the camera datasheets. Unfortunately, there are no unified standards for the presentation of parameters in datasheets, and the same parameters can be called differently even in different series of the same manufacturer. You can find this information on the manufacturer's websites on the Internet. Detailed descriptions of camera parameters used in VideoCAD are available in the help system.

 

After adding a new camera model, try assigning this model to the active camera and evaluate the result. An unnaturally distorted projection of the view area and the red color of the windows in the Sensor and lens window may indicate insufficient accuracy or erroneous values ​​of the view angles in the datasheet, or you have misinterpreted the parameters from the datasheet. A person does not notice errors in the text, but they appear during modeling. In this case, it is recommended that you select Simplified Lens Distortion Simulation  or disable lens distortion simulation. You can set the distortion modeling method in the model parameters via the List/Range of Focal length  field.

 

See also: Database of real camera models, Import a camera, equipment or cable model using AI