LVFX User Guides

• LVFX Calibration
• LVFX Troubleshooting

LVFX Calibration

Required Equipment

• Miller SFX9 Camera Tripod Head

• A perfectly rigid tripod capable of making the head perfectly level.

• Fujinon UA46x13.5 Broadcast Lens

• LVFX Sentinel (small computer with pan, tilt, and zoom leads)

• Windows PC with LVFX installed

• Network Router

• 9V 2A Power Adapter (USB-C)

Tutorial Video

Watch this quick set up guide to run through installation.

Hardware Connection

1. Mount the Tripod Head: Mount the Miller head so it faces the finish line when the pan value is at zero.

   • Make sure the camera is perfectly level
   • For the SFX9, the white marker (the Pan Crossing) on the base must be on the right.
     
     
2. Position the Sentinel: Mount the LVFX Sentinel near the camera and make sure your camera is pointed towards the centre-point on the horizon when powered on.
   
   
3. Connect the Video Cable: Connect the SDI output from the camera into the GFX PC Decklink input.
   
   
4. Connect Sentinel Cables:

   • Zoom: Connect the Sentinel’s HR-25 cable to the Fujinon lens' expansion port.

   • Pan: Connect the Sentinel’s Pan (RJ45) cable to the Miller’s Pan output.

   • Tilt: Connect the Sentinel’s Tilt (RJ45) cable to the Miller’s Tilt output.

   • Network: Connect the Sentinel’s Ethernet port to the network router (or directly to the Graphics PC).

   • Power: Plug the 9V 2A USB-C power supply into the Sentinel.
     

     

     
     

5. Boot Up: Wait for the light on the front of the Sentinel to turn green.
   

Software Connection

1. Open the LVFX app on the Graphics PC.
   
   

2. Check to see if the correct scene is loaded in the titlebar. It should read your loacation (e.g. LVFX Live: melton). If it does not, click Load Scene (folder icon) in the top toolbar and select the file for your location (e.g., scenes/melton/melton.json).
   
   

3. Click Inspect Camera (camera icon) in the top-right toolbar.
   
   

4. Confirm connection: verify that the Delay value reads under 0.1s.

If there's a high delay or no information under Camera Feed Stats (e.g. Camera #1 Feed Stats), the Sentinel likely isn't able to connect to the Graphics PC. Check that it's on, with a green light, and that the ethernet port is sending (pulsing green). Make sure the ethernet cable is connected to the same router, or directly to the graphics PC.

Camera Calibration

1. Be sure the environment is right. Make sure the head is perfectly level, and that the sentinel and camera were focused on the centrepoint at the horizon when powered on. If anything unexpected happens during calibration, power off the sentinel, point your camera at the centrepoint and turn on the sentinel again.
   
   

2. Open the camera inspector (Inspect Camera icon) and click Recalibrate.
   
   

3. Follow the on-screen calibration wizard:

   • Zoom slowly all the way in, slowing down as you reach the limit.

   • Zoom slowly all the way out, slowing down as you reach the limit.

   • Pan across the horizon horizontally. (Point at the ground, point at the sky)

   • Tilt across the centre point vertically. (Pan all the way from left to right)

   • Make sure to do both the zoom extents and the horizon crossing / forwards crossings or the virtuals will absolutely not fit.

   • Make sure the camera is Perfectly Level if you want your previous fit to match properly.

Adjust Virtual Fit (Optional): If needed, adjust Virtual Fit to compensate for slight camera shifts, roll, or tilt.

Caution: The camera was site-calibrated to this position. Avoid changing Virtual Fit unless necessary.

Chroma Keying / Masking

LVFX supports up to 4 chroma keys per camera (configured under Vision Config in the Camera Inspector). Update these periodically as lighting changes, or create a broad profile that works for both day and night.

1. Click Inspect Camera and open Vision Config.
2. Point the camera at the target background surface.
3. Select one of the four color slots
   • 
4. Select the Color Picker tool
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5. Click the track surface on your monitor to sample the color.
   • 
6. Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 for up to four color slots, ensuring a broad range of track lighting (can be recalibrated throughout the evening)
7. Toggle View: Mask (top-left) to preview the key.
   • 
8. Fine-tune the key intensity using the Mask slider in the Camera Inspector.
   • 

Chroma keying needs to before performed each time there's a drastic change in lighting conditions. For this purpose, it's possible to add up to four keys from the same area.

For example, for a night-to-day racing event, it's good practice to use them as follows:

1. Sample a light daytime colour from the track
2. Sample a darker daytime colour from the track
3. Sample a lighter nighttime colour
4. Sample a darker nighttime colour

Line Control

• Local Control: Toggle lines on/off using the Show/Hide Lines button (grid icon) in the top toolbar.

• Remote Control: Lines can also be controlled remotely via Lightning Visuals Graphics Grub.
  

The button inside LVFX overrides the button in Grub, but it also reflects the button in Grub when controlling remotely. To test the connection, press the Grub button a few times and make sure the button inside LVFX is reflecting the changes.

Fine-Tuning

Minor Adjustments

If the alignment is slightly off, the camera most likely is not perfectly level. Make it perfectly level then use Drag Camera Heading or Drag Camera Mounting in the toolbar if you absolutely must.

Use adjustments these sparingly. Physically levelling the head is always more effective than software adjustments.

Troubleshooting

For further troubleshooting steps, see this article.

LVFX Troubleshooting

This article will run through a couple of common issues that can be encountered in a typical LVFX setup and how to resolve them.

No Video Input

If there's no video, it means the Blackmagic isn't sending video signal via SDI through to LVFX.

1. Check the SDI cable
   The SDI cable needs to connected to the camera and the correct input of the Decklink - during installation this was likely set as input 1.
   
   
2. Restart LVFX Desktop
   If LVFX was started before there was a video feed, it may not have detected it, simply restart the app and see if that works.
   
   
3. Check in Blackmagic Media Express
   Blackmagic Media Express is software made by the Decklink vendor, it can see whether or not there is a video feed and which input it is on. It is installed on the graphics PC, consult its documentation of how to use it.
   
   
4. Configure the Inputs in Desktop Video Setup
   Desktop Video Setup, by Blackmagic, is installed on your Graphics PC. Typically SDI 1 is used for input and SDI 2 is used for output.

No Virtual Signage

If there's no virtuals there could be either calibration on rig setup to blame, let's step through...

1. Check the Camera Delay
   In LVFX, click the Camera Icon in the top toolbar, down the bottom it will show the Camera Stats with a delay field. If the stats are all dashes (Pan ---, Tilt ---) then a connection hasn't been established since LVFX was opened. If they show things and the delay number is climbing, the LVFX Sentinel has become disconnected.
   The camera delay represents the number of seconds since LVFX received data from the head.
   
   
2. Check "Onion Skin"
   In LVFX, check which way the camera is facing by clicking the Onion Skin or 3D view button. This will show you a more complete 3D scene which can help you understand your cameras bearing and see if there is movement.
   
   
3. Check that the Sentinel has a green light
   If the LED on the front (nearest the power input) isn't green, it means the sentinel has encountered a fault. Nine times out of ten this means it's not getting enough power over USB-C. Make sure the Power adapter is feeding at least 2 amps.
   
   
4. Check that the Sentinel is sending
   There are LED lights on the ethernet port of the sentinel, those should flash when sending data.
   
   
5. Run calibration
   Run calibration if the sentinel is sending data, make sure to zerocross by panning past the horizon, into the sky, and the forward position of the camera. You will notice a shift in the virtuals' apparent position as you cross the zero points.

Power Stage Reset

If you intend to power stage reset (turn everything off and on again), Do so in the following order.

1. Turn the Sentinel off,
2. Close and reopen LVFX Desktop on your Graphics PC
3. Wait 5 seconds, turn on the Sentinel
4. Wait for the light to turn on the Sentinel
5. Wait 5 more seconds and attempt to Recalibrate the camera in LVFX Desktop