Body v1 Changelog

v1.78

• ported video recorder from Body v3 back into v1
  • with support for new codecs, bitrate conrol, hardware encoding (when available)
• cleaned up some of the GUI layout stretching behaviour

v1.77

• small optimization in the sensor’s video processing code
• added plugins for MotionBuilder 2024, 2025 & 2026
• switched to a new crash detection & logging system
• improved, streamlined, styled and updated installer

v1.76

• updated to new build environment
• installer and app are now signed by a new EV code certificate

v1.75

• updated internal libraries to latest versions
• updated to FBX 2020.3.1
• updated to FFmpeg 5.0.1
• updated to Visual Studio 2022 with all the latest compiler optimizations

v1.74

• Added MotionBuilder 2023 plugin

v1.73

• Added MotionBuilder 2022 plugins

v1.72

• lots of small bugfixes, prevention measures, optimizations and potential memory leaks based on static code analysis

v1.71

• improved compatibility with more audio devices
• updated internal libraries
• updated code signing certificate

v1.70

• internally now forces the use of desktop OpenGL drivers (which was the default on almost all machines anyway)
  • overruling a QT_OPENGL environment setting that a user or other program may have set
  • a QT_OpenGL setting of “angle” could prevent some GUI widgets from being drawn
• updated internal libraries

v1.69

• last message log file is now moved to a _old folder at startup so we always keep the current and previous log for debugging / crash reporting purposes
• updated 2D & 3D OpenGL windows and drawing internals to a more modern widget class
• updated to new compiler profiting from new optimizations
• updated a bunch of internal libraries to the latest versions

v1.68

• fixed an issue with “opencv_world430.dll” not loading on some machines in previous version

v1.67

• small update to Remote Triggering
• updated some of the internal libraries

v1.66

• fixed issue with crash report generation/upload

v1.65

• moved all licensing options to their own menu in the top menu bar
• added functionality to the top menu to remove license file (so you can install it on a different machine)

v1.64

• updated the GUI stylesheet
• added MotionBuilder 2020 plugin
• trial now records up to 10 seconds
• consolidated some cross application code
• fixed a bug that could cause a crash on recording stop
• added option to directly upload a crash report to the Brekel server
• added toggle option to Settings menu at the top for turning High DPI Scaling On/Off on next application start
• started digitally signing executable to help alleviate anti-virus false positives

v1.63

• added error message popup window when a file cannot be written to alert the user more vigorously
• internally switched to a different library packaging system
• updated internal libraries to latest versions
• cleaned up dll files

v1.62

• Unreal Live Link enabled state wasn’t saved/loaded between sessions, fixed now
• added MotionBuilder 2019 plugin
• rearranged MotionBuilder plugins page in the installer
• moved log and all other user settings file to Brekel folder in Documents folder
  • to avoid clutter when using multiple Brekel apps on a machine
• updated to latest Qt and OpenCV libraries

v1.61

• added extra options for writing older FBX formats
• changed FBX file type naming to 2006-2018 naming convention, with internal file format (v6.1 - v7.5) in parentheses
• timestamp in TCP/UDP stream sometimes wasn’t accurate due to floating point precision
  • the timestamp now rolls around every 1000 seconds to leave more room for decimal precision
• added functionality for live streaming into Unreal Engine4 using their “Live Link” protocol
  • added example FBX file (“UnrealEngine4” folder in installation folder)
  • added chapter to the documentation
  • note: live streaming is not available in the free Trial version, simply request an evaluation version if you want to test this

v1.60

• maintenance release
• upgraded internal libraries for latest security and performance updates
• now compiled with visual studio 2017

v1.59

• fixed crash log files as some filetypes were giving issues with the new mail server
• when using “Record Triggering” the “Append Date/Time” is now respected when it’s enabled on the Master

v1.58

• updated internal libraries to latest version to take advantage of latest
  • performance updates
  • security updates

v1.57

• “Auto Filename” is now renamed to “Append Data/Time”
  • it will now always respect the manually set filename
  • and when turned ON simply append the date/time to it
• added logger window
  • the info from the black console window is now displayed in a logging window in the GUI of the app
  • logging info is also saved to a log file (in your My Documents folder)
• Added crash reporting feature
  • when a crash is detected log files and debugging info is collected
  • a zip file will be placed on your desktop
  • and a dialog box will ask you to send this file by email so the cause can be debugged

v1.56

• added MotionBuilder 2018 plugins
• 2D and 3D openGL drawing should be a bit more efficient now
• increased size of font in black console window
• file browser windows now handle symbolic links correctly
• fixed a bug where camera could get too close to it’s target
• updated libraries to latest versions
• stopped support for 32bit version

v1.55

• “new version available” window now shows full changelog, not just the last change
• license installer should now warn if no license key file was found in a zip archive

v1.54

• added option to stream OSC (Open Sound Control) data out to other applications (see documentation on available OSC messages)
  • including Synapse emulation mode for joint messages (works with apps like Kinectar)
  • including OSCeleton emulation mode for joint messages (works with apps like Kinectar)

v1.53

• upgraded C++ 2015 redistributable installer to SP3 to avoid problems for fresh installs

v1.52

• updated internal libraries
• added support for for MotionBuilder 2017

v1.51

• better support for high DPI screens
• maintenance release, updated to Visual Studio 2015, Qt 5.6 and FBX SDK 2016.1.2

v1.50

• maintenance release, updates to internal libraries

v1.49

• maintenance update with some small change to update mechanism
• C++ redistributable libraries (vc_redist) are now installed in a different way

v1.48

• fixed small but crucial bug for checking if update is available

v1.47

• small modification on checking if update is available

v1.46

• cleaned up some of the console window’s output when running in headless mode
• added “-forceDeepCopy” commandline option to prevent a rare multi threading crash when running the software for days on end (note that this does make the software a little more resource hungry, and does not affect running in headless mode which is recommended in those cases anyway)

v1.45

• added option to menu to help with manual license installation
• a Network Triggered recording will now create a folder if it has to
• updated to Qt 5.5

v1.44

• fixed bug where on some systems audio devices weren’t being detected properly

v1.43

• fixed bug where Remote Trigger could fire record start signals for formats that were disabled

v1.42

• now includes plugin for MotionBuilder 2016

v1.41

• license installation is now done with elevated administrator privileges to avoid problems on certain machines

v1.40

• now provides some additional help when license extraction/copy fails

v1.39

• maintenance release
• fixed bug with audio devices not being recognized on some systems
• using latest compiler with newest memory and speed optimizations
• updated internal libraries to latest versions

v1.38

• implemented new viewport camera navigation system (same controls, new math)
• CTRL-A now frames the pointcloud in the viewport
• CTRL-F now frames the tracked skeletons in the viewport
• added follow mode that automatically keeps skeletons framed in camera view
• various internal optimizations and cleanup

v1.37

• CSV exported now correctly exports head data

v1.36

• includes MotionBuilder 2015 plugin
• added “Restore interface to default” option to the “Settings” menu
• implemented Record Triggering to synchronize recording between multiple Brekel applications
  • works across multiple apps on the same computer
  • works across multiple apps on different computers on the same network

v1.35

• local rotation axis for collars weren’t aligned properly in BVH files
• it is now possible to define separate output folders for each export format
• beeps for recording start/stop/countdown didn’t always work, should be fixed now
• updated to Qt 5.2.0
• updated to Intel TBB v7.2
• updated OpenCV to 2.4.8
• updated to FBX SDK 2014.2.1

v1.34

• sensor calibration position/rotation wasn’t being correctly applied to the output data, fixed now

v1.33

• rewrote license unzipping & installation code as it was problematic on certain machines
• licensing options from top menu are now greyed out on trial as they only work on the eval/retail version

v1.32

• several speed optimizations
• streamlined threading code
• preview window now displays “preview” in the viewport
• updated core to 1.91
• upgraded to Intel TBB v7.1

v1.31

• added ability to switch video mode between Color and InfraRed
• skeleton now draws correctly in depth view when sensor transformation is changed
• preview window camera is synced to live camera now
• preview window now correctly get’s the sensor transformation
• fixed some problems with the commandline mode for reading settings and starting properly
• rearanged GUI layout slightly
• updated core to 1.90
• updated to Qt 5.1.1
• updated to Microsoft Kinect SDK v1.8

v1.30

• added “Preview after record option”
  • after recording the last take can be played back by switching the main 3D viewport from “Live” to “Preview” tab
  • here you can decide to delete or keep this take
  • note that the “Preview after record” will make the GUI auto switch to the preview tab after each recording
• added button to reset tracking
• network stream wasn’t sending procedurally generated lower body joints in “Upper Body Only” tracking mode
• added functionality to draw people positions
  • position of 6 people can be tracked (only 2 with full skeletons)
  • this is also streamed to the network stream
• pointcloud calculation internally uses a faster algorithm to reconstruct 3D points
• slightly adjusted GUI theme (because of upgrade of Qt libraries)
• more gracefully quits now
• updated core to 1.85
• compiled with Visual Studio 2012
• updated to Qt 5.1.0
• updated to FBX SDK 2014.1

v1.23

• some additional code checks to prevent divison by zero errors in filtering code
• GUI now displays how many people are seen (up to 6)
• network stream now also outputs how many people are seen and their 3D body positions
  • added at the end of the network protocol to prevent breaking existing client solutions
  • see documentation for updated network protocol

v1.22

• Old Algorithm filter works again as it should
• added a “Fixed timesteps” function to the New Algorithm filtering
  • normally (when OFF) the filter takes into account the actual elapsed timesteps in case the fps flucuates
  • turning it ON locks this to 30fps (for filtering only) to prevent jitters on slow machines
  • experimental so please try and let me know what you prefer
• lower body is now automatically initialized

v1.21

• rewritten skeleton picking code, should be more robust now
• cleaned up parts of the skeleton processor, slightly faster now
• Old vs New filtering usage setting wasn’t saved/loaded, fixed
• fixed possible division by 0 in new filtering algorithm
• added functionality to extra filter occluded joints (for new algorithm)
• NOTE: old filtering algorithm is temporarily broken and defaults to: no filtering

v1.20

• color stream should no longer occasionally flicker
• implemented new filtering algorithm with significantly better smoothing, much less lag, and only two parameters to tune
• new filtering allows an additional filter pass for hands and/or feet to smoothen them a bit more
• holding CTRL while click & drag with left mouse button now also pans (for laptop trackpad users)
• holding Shift while click & drag with left mouse button now also dollies (for laptop trackpad users)
• MotionBuilder icon is now higher resolution
• small memory and speed improvements
• fixed a potential buffer overflow issue in the skeleton picking code
• columns in CSV files didn’t include “time” causing data to be shifted
• when tracking upper body only
  • the lower body no longer dangles underneath
  • user can initialize it and it will stay static in that position
• improved neck joint accuracy in upper body only tracking mode
• raised default sleep time from 5 to 10 ms
  • more consistent 30fps framerate
  • no longer occasional drops of TCP connection
• sensor settings (tilt, calibration etc) are now correctly saved/loaded in case of having multiple sensors connected
• sensor chooser window (when multiple Kinects are detected) now also accepts keyboard shortcut of number keys
• upgraded to Qt 4.8.5
• upgraded to OpenCV 2.4.6
• upgraded to Intel TBB 6.103

v1.13

• updated to Microsoft Kinect SDK v1.7

v1.12

• small speed improvements for pointcloud rendering
• minor GUI changes to make things fit better on lower screen resolutions
• near mode wasn’t being saved/loaded correctly
• updated core to 1.75
• updated Qt to 4.8.4
• updated OpenCV to 2.4.4

v1.11

• added ability to switch between the standard Microsoft and a custom Brekel occlusion solver
  • this kicks in when joints can’t be fully tracked (orange color on the skeleton in the GUI)
  • The Brekel solver can’t do magic but tends to produce slightly smoother results than the standard Microsoft one
• no longer printing needles dots in the console window while running
• sensor chooser window (in case multiple sensors are connected) now displays on top of other windows
• minor improvements in speed and memory use in the core
• updated core to 1.74

v1.10

• audio got broken in previous release, fixed now

v1.09

• added new option to choose mode for picking which persons to track
  • sticky (old behaviour) tries to keep tracking the person(s) that were first seen and avoid swapping
  • closest to sensor, always picks the person(s) closest to the sensor (could be usefull for interactive installations)
• sensor calibration data wasn’t being correctly loaded at startup since last update, fixed now
• sensor calibration data is now saved/loaded correctly when multiple sensors are connected
• turning filtering off didn’t work, fixed now
• MotionBuilder plugin now uses a custom icon in the Navigator window
• fixed some minor startup crashes that could occur when no license could be found
• installer should now be able to find MotionBuilder versions even if it’s installed in a custom folder
• updated core to 1.72

v1.08

• added the ability to export data in CSV (Comma Separated Values) format
  • waist joint is exported with positions and rotations
  • all other joints are exported with rotations
  • all in local coordinates
• now rounding off the values to 6 digits for the text based exporters to avoid scientific notations
• added ability to print the filename and/or framenumber to the AVI movie
• video buffer is now internally double buffered when in multi threaded mode, to prevent color swapping issues on certain machines
• updated Intel TBB from v6.101 to v6.102

v1.07

• when multiple sensors are detected at startup you can now choose which one to use
• sensor rotation Y now works correctly
• license installation can now also take zip file and automatically unzip it
• internally changed how sensor transformations are stored
• network tab wasn’t cleaned up properly when no sensor was found, fixed now
• networking wasn’t being restarted correctly when the connection was dropped by the client
• MotionBuilder plugin now recreates existing Kinect characters instead of appending
• updated core to 1.70

v1.06

• network server is automatically reset after error or disconnecting now
• slight speedup in MotionBuilder networking code

v1.05

• added functionality to record pointcloud data in BKF format
  • for use in Brekel Kinect Pro PointCloud
  • meaning you can now have both skeleton data and the full pointcloud as mesh or particles in your 3D package
• sensor calibration position wasn’t being set and used, fixed now
• Kinect sensor is now drawn in the 3D viewport
• audio waveform now shows a little message when no audio device is selected

v1.04

• OpenGL acceleration is now fully supported on NVidia Quadro cards and no longer crashes
• added additional filter preset between Medium and Heavy, called “Medium Heavy”
• added commandline only mode for advanced users, just like Pro Face already had
  • add “-commandline” as an argument when starting the program to enable it
  • runs without a GUI but with the network streaming enabled
  • most efficient option if all you’re interested in is using the network stream
  • uses the same settings as last used by the GUI version

v1.03

• writePositions for BVH got broken in previous version, fixed now
• some changes in the code that chooses who to track in case there are multiple people in front of the sensor
  • should be a bit less sensitive to swapping
• rewrote internal network streaming
  • faster communication
  • more robust
  • user can now change port
  • user can now change protocol between TCP and UDP (it used to be TCP only)
  • MotionBuilder plugins are also updated
  • in case you run custom code to read the network stream
    • start reading at byte 3 now instead of 0
    • first byte is for defining start of packet
    • next two bytes are for size of the packet
    • rest is the same as it used to be
• now comes with a Unity example C# script for connecting to the realtime TCP stream
  • shows how to read the local positions and rotations of both skeletons
  • shows how to convert the coordinate systems
  • shows how to apply the results to an object hierarchy (created on the fly)
  • simply drop the script on a gameobject or camera and adjust the hostname/ip if needed
  • can be used as a starting point for your own scripts
• updated core to v1.50

v1.02

• height estimation for sensor calibration should be a lot more accurate now
• it is now possible to stop while the delayed recording is counting down
• adjusted the GUI a bit so it can be used on smalle screen resolutions
• draw video/depth checkboxes weren’t being saved/loaded
• Poser/DAZ BVH export now uses T-pose instead of pose with arms to the side
• we now skip some additional internal processing when pointcloud drawing is disabled
• version number of Brekel Kinect is now saved to header of TXT and FBX file for reference
• AVI recorder no longer crashes when video drawing was turned OFF in the GUI
• decreased the detail for the waveform drawing a bit to make it faster
• updated core to v1.50

v1.01

• did some fixes to the TXT file output
• now includs a Maya example MEL script for importing the TXT data
• you can now select which audio device to record from, including non-Kinect sources
• improved audio recording quality
• changed drawing of audio waveform in the GUI
• in the WAV header the file length was set a few bytes to short, fixed now

v1.00

• multiple samples are now averaged for sensor calibration
• BVH neutral pose (all rotations to 0,0,0) is not with arms down instead of T-pose
  • to better comply with Biped and possibly other automated rigging systems
• A warning is now shown (only once per session) when disabling BVH Write Positions
  • “Disabling BVH positions prevents retaining varying bone lenghts. And can result in a skeleton that may appear to float more.”
• download page now correctly points to retail or trial version’s page
• updated documentation

v0.990

• MotionBuilder plugin now has an option to do a countdown for T-pose capturing on 2013 & 2014 a visual cue on how many seconds is left will also be visible in the perspective camera

v0.989

• fixes to prevent corrupt FBX and BVH files (while also recording AVI/WAV at the same time)
• OpenGL drawing acceleration has changed internally, to hopefully make it more compatible with more cards
• audio recording may have been broken in previous version, works again
• when compressing video after recording has stopped, it now shows a progress window with abort button
• added functionality for delayed recording start
• added beeps for starting/stopping recordings as well as for countdown
• you can now specify your own output filename, or use an automatically generated one like before

v0.988

• possible fix for bug that generated corrupt FBX and BVH files
• sensor calibration is now more robust
• [REC] is now displayed in the 3D viewport during recording so it can be seen from a distance
• advanced filtering options are now hidden by default to avoid clutter in the interface
• settings are now saved to the registry in a slightly different way
• installer now allows editing of autodetected MotionBuilder plugin paths
• installer now correctly recognizes MotionBuilder paths with Danko in it

v0.987

• BVH files are now saved with correct neutral pose which some packages need

v0.986

• BVH export should work better now
  • note can’t cope with slightly varying framerate and always assumes 30fps (FBX is more accurate)
  • neutral pose isn’t 100% correct yet

v0.985

• BVH is not correct in this version, still working on that
• fixed some random startup crashes
• OpenGL drawing should be a bit faster on slow machines now
• floor is now drawn as semi transparent plane
• you can now tweak the sensor position/rotation from the GUI
• changed default joint orientations
• implemented custom skeleton filters to improve quality

v0.984

• MotionBuilder streaming got broken with the last update, fixed now

v0.983

• added button to reset sensor calibration
• toggling System Info dock from the main menu now works correctly
• tracking state of skeletons wasn’t being flagged correctly
• fixed small memory leak in avi exporter
• when switching video/depth resolution the popup no longer mentions Pro Face
• clipping left/right was reversed in the GUI
• MotionBuilder: device skeleton naming has slightly changed so loading existing scenes works now
• MotionBuilder: plugin now deals with internal offsets in a much more robust way
• MotionBuilder: tries to actively prevent frames where the skeletons jumps to 0,0,0
• MotionBuilder: device now uses internal timestamps instead of assuming 30 fps
• MotionBuilder: Reset T Poses in device should work now

v0.982

• waist and spine orientation was incorrect
• added first revision of the documentation
• when tracking in upperbody mode the lower body is now created procedurally
• ‘use foot rotations’ in the MotionBuilder device is now OFF by default since the retargeter didn’t always cope well with the relatively noisy feet on some characters
• renamed MotionBuilder device to “Brekel Kinect Pro Body Device”
• removed message warning user to calibrate sensor
• started internal preparations for better skeleton filtering and adjustments

v0.981

• FBX recorder was always in upperbody mode, fixed now
• internal openGL acceleration adjusted to be compatible with more graphics cards and drivers
• the installer now wipes settings to prevent problems during the beta

v0.98

• skeleton’s weren’t always correctly assigned to recognized people (should be fixed now for both single and multi threaded mode)
• memory wasn’t always cleaned up when doing multiple recordings one after another
• accelerometer data is no longer updated per frame since it would add noise
• now shows a warning the first time to let the user know to calibrate the sensor
• recording “Upper Body Only” skeletons to FBX and BVH works correctly now
• recording 2 persons to BVH works correctly again (generating 2 files)

v0.97

• updated core to v1.33
• you can now auto correct for the sensor’s rotation and height by using the “Calibrate Sensor Position/Rotation” button note that height will be so that the lowest observed point when looking straight ahead is on the floor
• added link to the forums to the help menu
• fixed a bug that would bent the spine weirdly in exported FBX and BVH files (also had to update the MotionBuilder plugins to be in sync)
• FBX exporter now uses internal timestamps instead of assuming exact 30.0 fps

v0.96

• updated core to v1.32
• occluded joints should stay more stable now
• “Camera Settings” button is now correctly disabled on Kinect for Xbox devices (which don’t support this)
• drawing for second skeleton was occluded by pointcloud in 3D viewport
• removed picking mode, skeletons are now always sticky
• one or two person tracking mode selection is cleaned up in the GUI
• fixed 2 person tracking in single threaded mode
• “ask for codec” no longer crashes

v0.95

• Now using MS Kinect SDK v1.6
• Added functionality to tweak color camera settings (exposure, whitebalance etc)
• Added funtionality to compensate for sensor that is placed below or above hip height by rotating skeleton and pointcloud
• More fixes and implementations for 2 person tracking
  • Ability to select which person (first, second or both) to track
  • MotionBuilder plugin should support 2 person tracking now
  • Export to FBX, BVH and TXT should support 2 person tracking now