Work out what it is you want to study in your project. Decide on the movement to be analysed. Start off with something very simple, such as a karate punch or a soccer kick.  

Mark Your Subject

Your subject should be dressed in tight fitting clothing in a contrasting colour to the background where you will do your filming.

Tape marking (in contrasting colour to clothing) should be placed at critical body points.  eg for a soccer kick you would mark (at minimum) the toe, ankle, knee, hip, wrist, elbow and shoulder.  For a 2D study a dot or cross of tape is adequate, but for a 3D study a loop of tape should be placed around each joint.

 

Set Up Camera(s)

For a 2D study you need only one camera, for a 3D study you will need 2 cameras.  They should be capable of recording 640x480 pixel video at at least 25 frames per second.

Mark the subject's line of motion on the floor with a start and endpoint. For a 2D study, set the camera up on a tripod centrally and at 90 degrees to the direction of motion.

For 3D Data, you need 2 cameras with one of the following views: Front-Right, Front-Left, Rear-Right or Rear-Left (lines of sight of the cameras must intersect at 90o)

The camera should be level and manually focussed.  (Auto focus will not be effective for a moving subject)

Set the shutter speed manually as high as possible (up to 1/1000th sec).  You need to have very good light, especially for fast movement.

Set the camera zoom then do not change it.  A scale reference (metre rule, or preferable human length pole) must be shot, or included in the video, once the zoom is established. For 3D, make sure that the reference pole is included in footage for both cameras.  The pole should have clear markings at each end. You must not change your zoom setting once the scale pole has been shot.  The scale pole helps to establish distance in the video.  The illustrated pole has markings 1.5m apart.

For 3D, record a time synchronization event eg ball bounce, within 4 secs of the movement to enable you to synchronise the video from the two cameras.

 

Record Your Video

Make sure that you record several trials of the same movement so you can choose the best footage to analyse.  If you are using 2 cameras, make sure that you record the same number of trials with each camera, so that you can match up the footage from both cameras.  You should try to start recording at much the same time with both cameras.  You can make fine adjustments later.