OpenVPCal Plugin - Quick Start

This page will guide you through running calibration with the OpenVPCal Plugin. While the plugin makes calibration as easy as possible, it is important to understand what can prevent you from achieving the best calibration results. You can learn how to interpret the analysis results in the Analyse tab. The key components to consider are hardware settings and colour space settings in Designer.

Note

Proper hardware setup is crucial for achieving accurate calibration results. See the Hardware setup section to prepare for calibration.

Calibration Checklist

Before running OpenVPCal calibration, confirm:

Hardware

• LED wall is connected and mapped in Designer.
• LED panels are warmed up (20-40 minutes displaying grey) and at show brightness.
• LED processor is set to desired colour space and transfer function.
• Unused LED sections are turned off to avoid flare.
• Camera settings (exposure, white balance, ISO, shutter) are configured for production.

Designer Configuration

• Colour Management is set to OCIO.
• Camera, LED Screen, and MR Set are created and linked.
• Delay Calibration is completed for the MR Set.
• No creative colour looks or LUTs are applied to the signal path.
• enableResourceFileDeletion is enabled in Designer options (See: Advanced Machine Settings).

Launch OpenVPCal Plugin

Launch OpenVPCalPlugin.exe to make the OpenVPCal Plugin available in the Designer Plugin widget. Once launched, check the system tray icon to confirm the server is running:

• Coloured icon: Server is running correctly.
• Greyed-out icon: Server has failed. See System Tray to troubleshoot.

Designer Setup

Configure Designer’s colour management, stage components, and calibration prerequisites. This setup creates the foundation for OpenVPCal Plugin to perform OpenVPCal-based calibration.

1. Set Colour Management settings
   • Navigate to d3 > Project Settings > Colour Management > Colour management.
   • Set Colour management to OCIO.
   • Select OCIO config: Use your project’s base OCIO config (NOT pre_calibration_openvpcal or post_calibration_openvpcal configs if they exist from previous calibrations).
2. Add LED Screen, Camera and MR Set to the Stage
   • Add components that will be used for calibration:
     • Stage > Cameras - Camera for capturing calibration images.
     • Stage > LED Screens - LED wall(s) to calibrate.
     • Stage > MR Sets - Container linking camera and LED screens.
3. Configure Camera settings
   • Set the Input Transform in the Video Input Patch Editor
     • Navigate to Devices > Video Input Patch Editor....
     • Select videoin_[0...9].mov to assign to Camera.
     • Set Input transform to match your camera’s colour space (e.g., Log3G10 RedWideGamutRGB for RED cameras).
     • This ensures captured images are correctly interpreted in the colour pipeline.
   • Assign the Video Input to the Camera
     • Open Camera widget in Stage.
     • Assign Video in with the videoin_[0...9].mov source configured above.
4. Configure LED Screen settings
   • Open LED Screen widget in Stage.
   • Set Output transform to your target gamut (e.g., Rec.2020, P3).

   Note

   This can be configured or adjusted later in OpenVPCal Plugin Settings Tab.

5. Configure MR Set settings
   • Open MR Set widget in Stage.
   • Assign a Camera (under Camera override).
   • Assign an LED Screen (under On-Stage section).
   • This links the camera and LED screen for calibration.
6. Complete Delay Calibration
   • Run Designer Delay Calibration for your MR Set.
   • This synchronizes camera capture timing with LED display refresh, which is essential for OpenVPCal Plugin to capture accurate calibration images.
   • Follow the linked guide to complete Video Receive Delay and Tracker Delay calibration.
7. Complete Pre-Calibration Steps
   • Follow the Designer Colour Calibration workflow.
   • This prepares the stage and validates the camera/LED configuration before OpenVPCal calibration.
8. Verify Setup
   • OCIO config is set to your project’s base config.
   • Camera, LED Screen, and MR Set are created and linked.
   • Delay Calibration and Pre-Calibration completed successfully.

Note: Overwriting existing calibration patterns generated by the plugin may fail if the enableResourceFileDeletion option switch is disabled. If this is the case, enable it from Designer’s Advanced Machine Settings.

OpenVPCal Plugin Setup

1. Open Plugin Interface
   • Plugins > OpenVPCal Plugin in Designer.
   • Or open in browser: https://localhost:8000.
   • Verify connection: status footer should show “Connected” with project name.
   • If disconnected: Check Designer is running, or set Designer IP in Settings if on different network.
2. Configure Settings Tab
   • Verify Mode is OCIO and OCIO Config shows your project config.
   • Select MRSet, Camera, and verify Displays list.
   • Click Populate All to create OpenVPCal LED Wall settings from Designer colour spaces.
   • Verify each display shows OpenVPCal Settings name (not “Missing”).
   • Optional: Review and adjust settings in LED Walls dropdown (see Settings Tab).
3. Operate Calibration (follow in order)
   • Select Displays
     • In Main Tab, check the checkboxes for displays to calibrate.
     • Note: Checked = calibrated, Highlighted = canvas preview only.
   • [OPTIONAL] Validate with SPG Patterns
     • Generate and inspect SPG patterns on LED wall.
     • See OpenVPCal SPG Guide and Generate SPG Patterns.
   • Generate Colour Patches
     • Generates patches and updates Designer OCIO config to pre_calibration_openvpcal_<hash>.ocio.
     • See Generate Colour Patches for details.
   • Capture
     • Captures 255 images per checked display.
     • If fewer than 255 images were captured, re-run capture (see Navigation Panel to find the number of captured images).
   • Analyse
     • Processes captured images and generates calibration feedback.
     • Review feedback before proceeding.
     • See Analyse Tab for interpretation.
   • Calibrate
     • Computes calibration and updates Designer OCIO config to post_calibration_openvpcal_<hash>.ocio.
     • Automatically applies calibrated output transforms to displays.
     • See Calibrate for details.
4. Check Calibration Results
   • Review Analyse tab to compare pre-calibration vs. post-calibration improvements.
   • Optional: Re-capture and analyse with new calibration to verify improvements.
   • Designer now uses post_calibration_openvpcal_<hash>.ocio with calibrated display transforms.

Understanding What Gets Modified

To understand exactly which fields and settings are modified by each button operation, see the Updated Fields reference table in the Reference guide.

Workflow Overview

The following flowcharts provide a high-level overview of the processes triggered by each button in the Main tab.

• Download: Transfers data from Designer to Plugin
• Upload: Transfers data from Plugin to Designer

OpenVPCal Plugin Flowchart Overview 1

OpenVPCal Plugin Flowchart Overview 2