MultiRecorder

MultiRecorder is a software developed in our group for simultaneous recording from multiple scientific cameras. Key features are it’s ease of use, flexible configurability, live analysis, and remote control.

This makes MultiRecorder the perfect tool for multi-camera panoramic optical mapping of cardiac electrophysiology. But of course, it can be also used in other experiments or with just a single camera.

Feature list

General

• Simultaneous recording from multiple cameras.
• Support of many different camera models via plugins: see table below.
• RAW data storage.

Display and Analysis

• Live display of camera image with histogram, contrast adjustment and false-color display.
• Select pixel region to extract time series (trace).
• Traces window, showing time series of all cameras (on top of each other or vertically stacked).
• Automatic vertical scaling of traces.
• Sectrogram window, showing frequency spectrum computed from traces.
• Filters for:
  • Bandpass
  • Frame Difference
  • Ratiometry

Recording

• Meta data (date, time, number of recorded frames, camera settings, etc.) of each recording stored in a machine-readable XML file.
• Possibility to write image data from multiple cameras into a single file to reduce disk load and enhance data throughput.

Camera settings

• Individual setting of camera parameters for each camera.
• Saving and loading of configurations.
• Multiple named configurations per camera.
• Possibility to select the same or different configurations for preview and recording. This allows

Automation

• Remote control via network TCP/IP connection from another program or computer, allowing integration in automated workflow and data management systems.
• Built-in automated recording and software-triggering.

Supported cameras

Various cameras from different manufacturers are supported via plugins.

Note: Not all possible camera settings or features may be implemented by the respective plugins.

Planned improvements for future releases

• Live synchronization of settings of multiple open cameras: Possibility to specify that a parameter should follow the setting of another selectable configuration (from the same or other camera), for each parameter individually.
• Modularized filter system for live image analysis (e.g. to visualize exitation waves in phase contrast recordings of cell cultures of cardiomyocytes).
• Multiple traces per camera.
• Documentation, code cleanup and release as open-source software.

Community

MultiRecorder is available on inquiry.

An open source release is planned for the near future.

We are looking for developers. Knowledge of C++ and Qt required.