Home

Light measurement tool "Limovie"

News :

Download :

Limovie Ver.0.9.29b
The latest stable version 0.9.29b.

Limovie Ver.0.9.28
An explanation of new feature which was added to Ver 0.9.28.

Limovie Ver.0.9.26f
An explanation of new feature which was added to Ver 0.9.26.

Limovie Ver.0.9.25
An explanation of new feature which was added to Ver 0.9.25.

Limovie Ver. 0.9.15
Previous version.

LIMOVIE.doc
English Manual of Limovie written by Dave Herald.
A comprehensible explanation is performed about the usage of Limovie.
In Apr.29 2006, the document was revised for Limovie Ver.0.9.20.
New contents:
1) Some comments/suggestions for dealing with noise was added.
2) A section dealing with double stars, including calculating magnitudes was added.
3) Explanation about how to plot a moving average was added.

Version History :

Ver.0.9.28
New Feature:
1. Object's Velocity Calculator is added
This function makes your calculation work of diffraction parameter easy. It only needs to put the relative parameter obtained from OCCULT4 and LOW4.0 into the edit area in the Limovie's calculator.
2. Diffraction simulation is processed fastly.
The new function of calculation has processing speed twice as fast as previous version. And some critical bugs are fixed.
3. Estimation of angular diameter of star is added.
Several improvements above mentioned enable Limovie to estimate the sizes of stars which have large angular diameters.
Ver.0.9.27
New Feature:
1. Averaging feature is added.
The background averaging is effective to improve Signal/Noise ratio for noisy video. Especially, when it has no choice but to set the background area small, a remarkable improvement with S/N can be expected. And the "with Aperture" mode works same as "moving average" of measurement value. It gives the curve of effect of air scintillation. And also it shows the slow luminous change clearly in the mutual event etc..

Ver.0.9.26f
New Feature:
1. Reading KIWI-OSD time stamp
This version is able to read KIWI- OSD's time stamp.
The video format NTSC and PAL are readable, and also the image format of 720 pixels and 640 pixels width are readable.
2. New Filter for 3D-Graph
"Moving average filter" was added.
This filter works for smoothing the graph to look easily the 3D star profile by averaging pixels.
Ver.0.9.25
New Feature:
1. Using with Avisynth
Limovie became possible to read long video clip recorded as AVI Type1 file.
Thanks: Steve Preston discovered this useful method.
2. Multiple Object Measurement
This version is able to measure three objects simultaneously. It can be used to examine the influence of the scintillation of the atmosphere etc.
Thanks : Tony George suggested this function and checked this program.
3. Load CSV file
It can re-analyze CSV file.
4. Graph Draw
Spread sheet program is not necessary for viewing the light curve any longer.
5. Fitting the light curve to diffraction simulation
This function gives accurate time, and inclination of lunar limb.
Thanks: Tsutomu Hayamizu checked this article and gave useful suggestion to explain more accurately.

Ver.0.9.24
Fixed bug :
(1) When frame at the end of file, if start button is clicked then it is holding the state to measure... was Fixed. (Thanks to Dave Herald.)
(2) When "1 Frame Measure" is clicked, £ôhe measurement part becomes a current frame or the following frame by the situation... was Fixed. (Thanks to Dave Herald.)
(3) The image was not correctly displayed in Field show according to the computer environment... was Fixed. (Thanks to Derek C Breit.)

New Feature: "Meteor / Lunar Limb" which is one of the shape of Background Area is improved. (Thanks to Dave Herald.)
Width of the background region of the "Meteor" mode is variable. It is expect that the data is obtained more correctly in the case of measurement at lunar limb. This is based on Dave Herald's suggestion as follows.

Dave Herald wrote:
The aim of my suggestion is to provide a background aperture that best duplicates the background light distribution in the measurement aperture for a lunar occultation, noting that either there is a step change across the aperture with the presence of the lunar limb, or there is a background glare that is likely to have significant variation in the direction of the lunar limb.

New Feature: "Display Speed Control" was added. (Thanks to Dave Gault.)
This function is based on Dave Gault's suggestion as follows.

Dave Gault wrote:
-Is it possible to slow down the speed of the video as Limovie makes the measurements? Sometimes with noisy and difficult videos the tracking follows the noise instead of the star. If the video ran slower it would be easier for the operator to stop and reposition the measuring tool. Perhaps it may be possible to control the speed with the scroll wheel on the mouse.

New Feature: Play with "Field Show" was added. (Thanks to Derek C Breit.)
When using "FIELD SHOW", it is able to step through the frames.
New Feature: Update Setting Items was added. (Thanks to Dave Herald.)
When "Update Setting Items" button is clicked, The window "Update Setting" is open. On this window, there are check boxes. You can update the checked item.
The check boxes in "Auto Memory the Latest Access Path" group is checked default. In this case, the directory is updated at the times when file is read or wrote.
If you want use the fixed derectory, please operate as follows.
(1) Read (and write) the file.
(2) Click the "Update Setting" button.
(3) Check the box in the "Directory" group. Then the check of the box in the "Auto Memory .." group is removed.
(4) Click the "Update to .INI file" button. The Path which is displayed on the Editbox will be updated.
New Feature: Synchronize to the radius of Aperture was added.
When "Sync-APT" check box is checked, size of "Star Tracking Radius" increases and decreases along with operation to change the Aperture Radius. As a result, it comes to be able to facilitate the setting of the best pursuit.

Ver.0.9.22
Fixed bug :
"Opposite in the display of red and blue" is corrected.

New feature "Switch to Select the Field Order" was added.
The frame is composed of two fields of Top and Bottom.
Difference of result of measurement are caused by the capture software's selection either Top or Bottom as a first field, as follows.

Type of Top leading : [T,B],[T,B],[T,B],[T,B],[T,B],[T,B]...
Type of Bottom leading : T],[B,T],[B,T],[B,T],[B,T],[B,T],[B...

T:Top B:Bottom
There are two methods to confirm the filed order.
Using VTI : If you have a video that time was recorded by Video Time Imporser, please click the Field Show button.
Then the screen is splitted to higher area (Top field) and lower area (Bottom field). When the time stamp of Top filed, the frame order is Top leading type.
Using LED : In many cases, the value of light increases in two fields.
If the field order is correct then it increases smoothly. On the contrary, if the field order is not correct, then the value of light increase to full bright at first field, and it decreases at the next field, and it return to full bright at the next-next field.
Derek C Breit found this, and made the method of the confirmation public on his Web site.
"Testing your LiMovie field order" by D C Breit

This version has a switch to select "field order". When Top field is first then select "Top first". (The default is "Bottom first".)

Thanks:
Derek C Breit pointed out the problem of "field order".
Steve Preston, Tony George and Dave Gault discussed about this problem.
Mitsuru Soma arranged the discussion and informed.

Ver.0.9.21
Fixed bug:
The issue which is not able to measure from PAL video is solved.
Large size PAL video can be displayed by the image area that is possible to scroll.

New feature "Threshold of star tracking" was added.
There are videos which recorded the phenomenon with faint star and noisy background. In such case, previous versions can not move the measurement region to track the object. Because it counts to the noise.
In the new version, the control of threshold to detect the star image from background was added.
The threshold value is a numerical value that shows even value of the peak of the star what percentage to be included in the calculation. The function calculate value of pixels excluding pixels with a value that is lower than the threshold. And it can track the faint star correctly.

Usage is follows:
1. Set the "Star Tracking Radius" to the size 2 or 3 pixels larger than the radius of star's profile.
2. Click the Play button and observe the relative movement of the profile of the star and measurement region.
3. Set "Threshold value" so that the measurement area may most smoothly track the movement of the star.

Thanks:
W.C. Yue pointed out the problem that PAL video is not measured.
Dave Herald informed me, and discussed it.
Dave Gault sent me his PAL video and helpful suggestion.

Ver.0.9.20
New feature "Linear Tracking" is added.
When setting two passed points, aperture region can be tracking the target star across the screen linearly. It is possible to measure from the video that is recorded like the drift scan method. It will be effective to measure the observation with insuf£æicient setting of polar axis of equational mount.
Fixed bug.
Aperture region offset jump to the left up was fixed.
New feature "Field Measure" is added.
When the size of star profile is large enough, the value obtained by measuring each field is thought that accuracy is high. The function enables to measure each field from the video recorded by VCR.

New feature "Field View" is addeed.
OSD ,as TIVi, display numerals of current time field by field. Thus the numerals are doubly displayed on the image of frame.
On click Field View button, the image is displayed separate to odd field and even field. The figures of time is displayed separate too, and it is possible to distinguish the figures easily.

New feature "Drift tracking mode" is added.
It is necessary to make the measurement aperture move only in a constant area because the star profile disappears in the lunar occultation observation. However, there are several cases. which the star does not disappear but decrease the lights. For these cases, the continuous time of phenomenon is long and the equatorial mount with defective setting moves the star image.
This function possible to move the aperture freely on the screen and tracking the star surely. And this function will be used for the meteor observation effectively.
High speed analize :
The measurement processing was sped up by 8% compared with the past.
Thanks :
Steve Preston suggested that the Field View was effective to distinguish the figure of OSD.
Tsutomu Hayamizu disccused merits and demerits of field measure.
Hidetoshi Yoshida sent me the video file of his observation. The data was very usefull to the consideration of the photometry of "field by field".
Koji Maeda suggested the function to track the Meteor.
Dave Herld suggested the method of Linear Tracking.
Dave Gault tested the "advanced version" and suggested to improve the features.

What is Limovie? :

Limovie was produced to analyze the data of the occultation observation.
(LIght Measurement tool for Occultation observation , using VIdeo rEcorder).
By using this software , you can measure the luminous intensity change of the star recorded in the frame of video, and can output the file of "Comma Separated Value file" that is read by spreadsheet as Exel.

Limitations:

Limovie reads the image from the AVI file by using API of "Video for Windows".
Accordingly, there is the following limitation.
(1) DV Codec is necessary to read the capture file.
When it is not possible to read a file by Limovie, please install codec that can read the file using "Video for Windows".
NEWS :
# By installing DV Codec "Iris" in your computer , Limovie can read the image directly from AVI file that was captured from VCR without conversion.
The web site of "Iris" is hear.
http://www.ops.dti.ne.jp/~vsync/software/dviris/dviris.html
But, regretly ... document of this codec in japanese only...(same as Limovie had been doing...)

(2) Maximum file size
To the DV file: Up to 1GB
No compression file: Up to 2GB
The images of the frames over these limits are not displayed.

How to use :

1. Open the AVI File
Click "AVI File Open" button.
--> The "File-open Dialog" Open.
Select the AVI file that was captured.

2. Display and change the frame
Push the button similar to VTR , you can play, forward and return the frames .
3. Match the center of aperture circle to Star Profile.
[Operating method]
(1) Click the radiobutton "STAR" in the group of "Position Set".
(2) Match the Cursor to Star Profile that you will measure .

And click the Left button of the mouse.
--> Center of analysis window, overlaps in the position of the target.

(3) If setting of "Star-Tracking" is ON , Limovie accurately adjusts their position.

4. Adjust the Radius of measurement apertures ( Aperture and Background )
[Concept of tools in Limovie]
"Aperture" is the window that measures the star of the object.
"Background" is the window that measures the background of the star , such as sky or dark part of moon surfaces.

In Limovie , light quantity is calculated as follows.

VS = (VA(1)+..+VA(i)+..VA(NA)) - ((VB(1)+..+VB(i)+..VB(NB)) (NA/NB))

NA : Number of Pixels inside "Aperture"
NB : Number of Pixels inside "Background"
VA(i) : Value of each Pixels inside "Aperture"
VB(i) : Value of each Pixels inside "Background"
VS : Value that was calculated by measurement process

In generally , to measure the luminous intensity of the star precisely ,
setting to reduce the aperture and expand the background furthermore.

Click each Updown-control in the "Number of Pixels / Radius" group.
* Between those radiuses, there are the following regulations.

AO < BI =< BO
AO : Outer rim of Aperture
BI : Inner rim of Background
BO : Outer rim of Background

* In Limovie , "Radius" means Pixels on edge of each areas.
Therefore, if AO is corresponding to BI, forms the area that has 1-pixel width.

5. Optimization of the Radiuses using "3 dimensional graph" .
When you want to obtain the best setting of the "Aperture", you can see 3 dimensional graph using "Star Image [3D]".
It displays the distribution of the light quantity of target star in bitmap images.

(1) Click the "Star Image[3D]" button
--> 3 demensional graph of the area , that contains aperture and backgraund , is displayed.
* Blue-lines and Red-line was Drawn on the Graph.
Red-line is edge of the Aperture.
Set the aperture (Red-line) surround the foot of the star profile.
Blue-lines are edge of the Background.
Set the Radius of the background avoid the part of bright.

(2) Noise reduction
When the image area is noisy , Click the radio button "3" or "5" in Processing size group. It can made the graph easy to see.
This function only reduces the noise of 3D graph. It doesn't influence the light measurement.

(3) Rotation
Click the up & down button , image is rotated on x axis.
And click the right & left button , on y axis too.

6. Measurement
(1) Forward the frame of image to the starting point of measurement using "VTR like" button.
(2) Click the "Start" button in the "Measurement" group.
--> Limovie starts the measurement, and results are displayed on the data area.
(3) Click the "Stop" button when you want to end the measurement .
(4) When clicking the "Data Remove" button , All the data is removed.

7. Save to CSV file
(1) Click the "Save to CSV-file" button.
--> The "File-open Dialog" Open.
(2) Input The file name , and save the data.

8. Change the form of Background
[Various forms of backgournd area]
Limovie has following forms of Background to correspond to various observations.
Standard : Using for general occultation.
Avoid Sunlit Face : Using to avoid the bright object or bright part in the moon.
Meteor/Lunar Limb : Using to avoid the meteor that crosses the background area.

[How to change the form] (1) Choose a form
Click one of the form radiobutton in the "BKG Form" group.
(2) Orient the "background"
[1] Click "Setting Start" button
--> Form of background is displayed in green and can be spined by following methods.
[2] Bring the mouse cursole to image area , and move it around the form of "background".
Then the form of "background" rotates according to mouse's movement.
[3] Click mouse's button when it orients the direction that you want.
--> Form of background is displayed in blue.

[About Meteor mode]
This function is not related to the lunar occultation.
It added as a function by using the code used for the moon edge mode.
Using this feature , Meteor's light has been abele to measure.
The brightness change in the fixed point on the screen can be measured.

[Operating method of "Meteor Mode"]
(1) Forward the Video to the frame which has meteor image.
(2) Click the most bright position of the meteo.
(3) StarTrackingMode is turned off.
(4) Select the radiobutton "Meteor".
--> The center part of Background becomes vacant, and the Background area divides into right and left two.
(5) Advance the frame some ahead.
(6) Click SettingStart button.
--> The display of the photometry part on the screen changes into white.
The photometry part rotates according to mouse's movement.

(7) Click the most bright position of the meteo.
--> The space in the center part of Background is suitable for the direction of the route of the meteor.

9.Setting of the Timing method
The LED light or superimpose that clock device (as GHS-clock , TIVi and KIWI) emits are used for the record of time.
Limovie detect the data of timesignal from screen and record to csv file.

[Using LED light of GPS timer]
Limovie can detect two LED timesignal at the same time.
Signal1 and signal2 are used to detect the LED light signal these lights at regular intervals.
When the value of the pixel in a small rectangle grows more than the threshold value, "Indicator lamps goes ON (in red) and "*" is recorded in the column of timesignal in the record area.
The method of setting the detection area is similar to the method of setting the place of aperture. However, the size cannot be changed.

[Using KIWI-OSD]
Limovie 0.9.26 and later can detect KIWI-OSD's timestamp automaticaly.

[Using TIVi(Time Imporser for Video)]
TIVi is a Time Imporser that developed by Tsutomu Hayamizu and others.
It can be seen on this site.
http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/~okinoobs/star/sonota/occ20041022-ZC3158.htm

Limovie can read time that displayed by TIVi as follows.
(1) Click "TIVi" radiobutton in the "TimeSignal" group
(2) Match the cursor to the upper left corner of the part where numerical value at the second was displayed. And click left button of mouse.
--> The figure is surrounded by a blue frame , and numerical value of second is displayed in the box labeled TIVi.

10.Audio channel display
This function is used to extract the signal of the voice time such as WWV , BPM and GPS Beeper recorded in the audio channel of videotape, and to use it for the time decision.

How to Use :

(1) Audio Indicator button .............. click.
(2) "Creating WAV file."........... Yes
(3) Please wait for a while.
(4) "Audio channel display" window is displayed.

A blue area at the center shows a present frame.
The audio signal moves from the right to the left when the frame is advanced.

(5) The change in the wave form can be seen by clicking the video control button.
(6) It is possible to measure light , when the "Audio Indicator" displayed.
In that case, the signal of the time read from the voice is written to 'Signal1' column of output data. Limovie detects it as a signal of time when the volume exceeds a yellow line in the graph of wave form.

Notes:

Frame Drop:
When frame does drop, a correct measurement cannot be made.
Discordance of Video/Audio shows the difference of the record time of the image and the sound.
When frame drop happens , the sound is not recorded though the same image is recorded in the frame. Therefore, the displayed figure grows.

Time Accuracy:
The timing accuracy of the sound signal is due to degitizing software (or hardware) which makes the .avi file.
The audio signal recorded in miniDV tape has one millisecond accuracy. A quite same data as miniDV can be copy to .avi file by capturing via firewire.
However, in the case of capturing from WebCam, it is confirmed that the image is delayed from audio about two frames.
Please confirm the recording accuracy when using such a equipment.

Thanks:
This function was made based on suggestion of Dave Gault and Steve Preston. They thought that this function is necessary for people who are using the audio signal for the observation.
And , thanks to Dave Gault , Dave Herald , Steve Preston and Geoff Hitchcox for testing experimental program and discussing this.
Attention:

Limovie Version History:**
Ver. 0.9.15 Oct,10 2005
New feature : "Audio channel display" is added.

This function is used to extract the signal of the voice time such as WWV , BPM and GPS Beeper recorded in the audio channel of videotape, and to use it for the time decision.
Thanks :
This function was made based on suggestion of Dave Gault and Steve Preston. They thought that this function is necessary for people who are using the audio signal for the observation.

Ver. 0.9.14b (Unpublished version) Sept,28 2005
To read the audio data of 8bit and monoral, it has improved it.

Ver. 0.9.14 (Unpublished version) Sept,21 2005
The function to display the figure that was able to presume frame drop was added.
Ver. 0.9.13 (Unpublished version) Sept,20 2005
The proccessing of the display of the audio signal was sped up.
Ver. 0.9.12 (Unpublished version) Sept,12 2005
"Audio indicator" that is prototype of the reading function of the audio signal was made.
Ver. 0.9.11b Sept,3 2005
Fixed a bug : In English version of windows , the size of form has been expanded.
New feature : Limovie recognizes NTSC and PAL automatically and it does the best operation for each system.
Thanks to Dave Herald for his bug report and his good advice.
Ver. 0.9.10 Aug,16 2005
"3D Graph of star profile" was added.
Ver 0.9.9 Aug,9 2005
"Luner Limb mode and Meteo mode" was added.
This is a function that matches the shape of the background area to the objectand changes it.
Thanks to Toshio Hirose for his suggestion about "Mrteo mode".
Ver. 0.9.8 July,24 2005
Limovie has been able to read and record the time data that was displayed by Time Imporser "TIVi".
Time data of TIVi and set situation of the switch of StarTracking have been recorded to .CSV file.
Thanks to Tsutomu Hayamizu for his report of operation test and his suggestion.
Feature of "FrameFlickerFree" was added.
Ver. 0.9.7 Jun,30 2005
Warning for the frame dropping was written to .CSV file.
The name of .AVI file was written to header of .CSV file.
Ver 0.9.6 Jun,28 2005
Fixed a bug : Radius of Background could not be adjusted.
Maximum size of radius of background area was expanded from 24 to 25.
Ver 0.9.5 Jun,25 2005
It is the first version of opening to the public.
StarTracking function was improved.
The operation test was done by measuring the eclipse mutual in the Galileo satellite that was recorded in the video on May 3, 2003
Thanks to Mitsuru Soma for check and analyse the maeasurement data.