Choose and set up your cameras

1. Cameras and equipment

You need a computer and at least one camera. A laptop's built-in camera is enough to try FreeMoCap, but one camera only gives you 2D tracking. For 3D motion capture you need at least two cameras, and three gives better results.

Plug each camera straight into its own USB port on the computer, not through a hub. Cameras use a lot of USB bandwidth, and sharing a hub causes dropped frames.

For 3D, print a ChArUco board for calibration. See the calibration tutorial.

USB extension cables and tripods make it easier to place your cameras, but you don't have to have them.

2. Software

Install FreeMoCap. It includes everything needed to record and process motion capture.

To turn recordings into animated 3D scenes, also install Blender, which is free.

FreeMoCap saves each recording's data as ordinary files you can open in Python or other analysis tools. See find your data and analyze your data in Python.