PRO HD Headcam
Mark III
User Guide
2. Overview
2. Case Contents
3. Using your Pro HD Headcam
3. Fitting your Helmet
Selecting the Correct Helmet Size
Padding – Getting the Perfect Fit
How tight is too tight?
Is it on correctly?
Can certain hairstyles effect the use of the helmet?
4. Selecting the Best Camera Bar and Camera Lens
When to use the Long Camera Bar
When to use the Short Camera Bar
When to use the Hooped Camera Bar
Selecting a Camera Lens: Long (5mm), Normal (4mm), or Wide (2.9mm)
5. Assembling your System
Installing and Changing the Lens
Attaching the Camera Head to the Bar
Preparing the Cables
Attaching the Camera Bar to the Helmet
6. Setting up your Performance Capture Belt
Attaching the Battery
Attaching the Light Switch
(OPTIONAL) Attaching the Wireless Transmitter
Adjusting the Camera Belt Size
6. Putting the PRO HD Headcam on your Talent
Putting the Belt On
Putting the Helmet Back On
Connecting the Camera to the Camera Belt
7. Framing and Focusing your Camera
Viewing the Camera Feed (Wireless)
Viewing the Camera Feed (Hard-wire)
Framing the Face Properly
What is good framing?
Fine Focusing the Image
8. Adjusting your Camera’s Settings
Environmental Considerations
Changing the Camera Settings
Setting the Shutter Speed
Turning on Backlight Correction
Setting the White Balance
Image
DIS and iMOTION
Resolution & Frame Rate
Language
17. More Help & Support
17. Support Knowledge Base
17. Faceware Website
17. Contact our Support Team
This user guide will show you everything you need to know about how to use your Faceware PRO HD Headcam. It contains a lot of useful technical information and we highly recommend that you take the time to read through this document as you open and setup your Pro HD Headcam for the first time.
We recommend that you keep a copy of this document in your headcam case for reference when setting up for a shoot. Our PRO HD Headcam kit comes equipped with many options and parts; it’s important to keep this guide close at hand when setting up to ensure you get the best experience with your camera.
When opening your PRO HD Headcam kit for the first time, reference this list to get to know and understand what’s in the case.
(3) Helmets (large, medium, and small)
(3) Sets of Helmet Padding (1/2”, 1/4”, and 1/8” thicknesses)
(6) Camera Mounting Bars
Long Camera Bar (left and right)
Short Camera Bar (left and right)
Hooped Camera Bar (short and long)
Camera Head (includes PRO HD Camera, camera mount, and light panel)
(3) Camera Lenses
Long (5mm)
Normal (4mm)
Wide (2.9mm)
Performance Capture Belt (includes integrated battery plate and light switch)
(2) Batteries
Dual Battery Charger
(2) BNC Cables
15’ BNC Cable
50’ BNC Cable
1’ BNC Cable
Tool Kit
(2) Helmet Side-Blocks (left and right)
Mini-Philips Screwdriver
2.5mm Hex Ball Driver
(2) BNC Barrel Connectors (male-to-male and female-to-female)
Chinstrap
Optional Accessories
Wireless Video Unit (Teradek Bolt)
Production Monitor
Digital Video Recorder (AJA Ki Pro)
Consult this guide each time you set up your PRO HD Headcam for a shoot. This will ensure that all of the settings are correct and the video footage you capture is optimized for both animation reference and for use with Faceware’s Analyzer and Retargeter software. For best results, use our recommended settings for each component.
To ensure the best video capture, it’s very important to make sure the helmet fits properly on your talent. You will find that people’s heads come in all shapes and sizes and sometimes it takes a few tries to get the best fit.
Recommended Settings: This will be different for every person. Always take time to ensure a proper and comfortable fitting helmet for the talent before moving forward with your camera setup.
The first thing to do is select the correct helmet; small, medium, or large. Your goal is to achieve a snug fit but it shouldn’t be so tight that it is uncomfortable for the talent. First make sure thin padding is installed in the helmets. Then start with trying the larger helmet on your talent. If that is too loose, try the medium. If that is too loose, try the small. You’ll be using helmet pads to get the fit perfect but you should first choose the helmet size that best fits the talent’s head.
Once the helmet is chosen, use the various helmet pads that come with your kit to get the perfect fit for your talent. It is okay to mix and match the various thicknesses of pads to ensure a snug fit. The rachet on the back is designed to help secure the helmet, not as a means for fitting. If you are tightening it more than 3 or 4 clicks, you may need thicker padding. Experimentation is encouraged, finding the sweet spot between snug helmet and actor comfort will only improve the actor’s performance and the fidelity of the data for animation. Once the helmet is properly fit to the talent, remove it from their head while you add the rest of the components.
The helmet should feel as snug as a motorcycle or bicycle helmet. Ask the talent if there are any pressure points. If so, use a thinner pad or a larger helmet. Conversely, make sure the helmet cannot easily slide back and forth.
Slide the helmet back enough so that the front rim is at the top of the forehead. The back of the helmet is designed to hold on to the occipital bone; the bump on the back of the head. The goal is to see the forehead clearly.
Yes. For actors with long hair, it is generally not recommended to have it wrapped up in the helmet. have them pull it back and make a ponytail or bun very low, down by the base of the head, where it meets the neck. Or if the talent prefers to keep the ponytail higher on their head, it can be pulled through the “V” cutout, above the rachet on the back of the helmet. For actors with thicker hair or dreadlocks, the helmet will usually not sit at snug. Some actors have very silky or smooth hair. If a fit helmet still slips forward or back, it may help to have the actor wear a skull cap or lightweight beanie underneath the helmet.
Your PRO HD Headcam kit comes with a selection of different camera bars and lenses that work in different shoot scenarios.
Recommended Settings: In general, it is best to use the short camera bar with the ‘Normal’ 4mm lens. However, there will be exceptions if your talent has a large face and you cannot see it clearly in the image. In this case, you can use the ‘Wide’ 2.9mm lens with the short camera bar or the long camera bar with the ‘Normal’ 4mm lens or ‘Long’ 5mm lens. Do not use the ‘Wide’ 2.9mm camera lens with the long camera bar.
The single-arm, long camera bar provides a less-distorted view of face when paired with a ‘Long’ 5mm or ‘Normal’ 4mm lens. It provides an open feel for the talent and is recommended for users with greater light sensitivity. The left or right side provides the same quality of video so you are free to choose what’s best for your capture scenario. The bar can also be flipped and used on the opposite side of the helmet in an ‘over the top’ position. This allows for props or hands to be used more openly around the face.
The single-arm, short camera bar is for use with either the ‘Wide’ 2.9mm or ‘Normal’ 4mm lens, depending on the size of the talent’s face. Because it’s closer to their face, it provides the talent with more freedom to interact with objects and is slightly more stable than the long camera bar. Once again, the left or right side provides the same quality of video so you are free to choose what’s best for your capture scenario. The bar can also be flipped and used on the opposite side of the helmet in an ‘over the top’ position. This allows for props or hands to be used more openly around the face.
The hooped camera bar is the most rigid and should be used when capturing stunt work or in capture scenarios which require a lot of harsh or high frequency movement. Because it does not have the “drop arm” design, it may be obtrusive in the talent’s peripheral vision.
The goal when selecting a lens is to fill the face in the frame while not cutting any of it from the picture. The ‘Long’ lens is for use with the long camera bar. It provides the smallest amount of barreling distortion to the image. The ‘Normal’ lens is for use with the long or short camera bars. If the talent has a medium to small sized face, the short camera bar can be used with the ‘Normal’ lens. In the monitor, if the talent’s face appears cropped, use the long camera bar or the ‘Wide’ lens. The ‘Wide’ lens is for use with the short camera bar sets only (single-arm and hooped). The ‘Normal’ lens gives a good balance between distortion and operating distance. The ‘Wide’ lens allows you to work with the shorter, less obtrusive boom arm in exchange for a slight increase in distortion.
Once you’ve selected the camera bar and lens, the next step is to put it all together.
On top of the camera’s lens-mount, there is a small screw. Use the Philips screwdriver (included in the Tool Kit) to loosen or remove it. NOTE: Be careful; the screw is small and can be lost easily.
To remove a lens, grip the outer rim and rotate it counterclockwise until it completely unscrews. Place the cap on the lens, then put the lens in its matching bag for safe-keeping.
Take the lens you want to install out of its bag and screw the lens into the camera head by rotating it clockwise almost as far as it will go. Leave the top-screw loose; this will be tightened later after you focus the lens.
Next, place the camera mount onto the camera bar using the 2.5mm Hex ball driver (included in the Tool Kit). For the single-arm camera bar, loosen the camera mount then slide the mount roughly 3/8 inch (approximately 10mm) onto the short extension from the right angle side of the bar with the light on the bottom and the camera on top. Tighten it slightly so the mount holds in place, but is still adjustable. If you’re using the hooped camera bar, the back-plate on the camera mount can be unscrewed all of the way off to place it on the end of the bar. Once the camera mount is roughly in the middle, tighten it slightly so the mount holds in place, but is still adjustable.
After the camera head is attached to the bar, bring the cable bundle back under the light box and over to the top of the right angle bend in the bar. Don’t leave too much slack of the cables out of the back of the camera head. Pinch lightly with one hand to hold in place then wrap the camera bundle in 3 long-loops down the side of the camera bar.
For a single arm setup, take one side block from the tool kit. For a hoop, take two. Loosen the thumb screws on the side block and slide the camera bar into the smaller hole. It is purposefully a very tight fit; we recommend a twisting motion to get the bar into the brass fittings. The end of the bar should be flush with the top of the black. Once the bar is through, loosen the hand screw securing the larger hole. Place the block on the appropriate side of the helmet on the ball joint mount, positioning the ball joint in the middle of the block opening being careful to not go too deep. Roughly position the camera straight out from the talent’s nose and then retighten both thumb screws on the camera block. Dress the cabling up and over the ball joint then through both Velcro hook and loop patches on the back of the Helmet.
With the camera setup and almost ready, the next thing to do is setup the camera belt. This involves plugging in the battery, the light switch, and hooking up the wireless transmitter (optional).
First, attach a fully charged battery to the Battery Plate. This is done by sliding the Battery on the plate until you hear and feel it click into place. (Make sure the battery is flush to the plate before sliding it on.) DO NOT slide the battery at an angle tilted up, it can damage the connections. Wrap the loose elastic strap around the battery to ensure it stays in place.
The light switch should already be on the belt. If it’s not, it sticks on with Velcro to the belt and should be placed closest to the buckle. Attach the longer free power lead (Male, 4-pin Mini XLR) coming from the battery plate to the light switch.
If the wireless transmitter is being used, it should already be attached to the belt when you receive your PRO HD Headcam kit. If not, you can attach it by placing the two ¼-20 thumb screws through the two eyelets from the back of the belt, then through the two holes in the transmitter and securing it in place with the ¼-20 thumb nuts. For power, attach the 2-Pin Lemo power connector from the power plate to the transmitter and turn the power switch on. Connect the video from the HD-SDI connection to SDI-In on the transmitter.
Adjust the belt to the size of the actor to clip around their waist with the scratchy Velcro side on the inside. Slipping out one loop in the belt slide makes adjustment much easier.
When placing the belt on, we recommend the light switch on the actor’s left side and the battery on the center back. If applicable, position the battery and cabling in a manner where it will not occlude your mocap markers. Click the buckle in place and give the belt one last cinch, making sure with the talent that the belt is not too tight. For thinner actors, the excess belt slack can be folded up on itself and tucked under one of the spare elastic loops on the belt.
Next, you’ll put the Helmet back on the actor. This starts from the front side. Position the front of the helmet just above the eyebrows then roll and slide the helmet back into position, making sure to expose the forehead. This keeps the hair back and out of the face. For talent with long hair, make sure it is behind their ears first.
Place the helmet back on the talent and connect the three cables to the belt. First, the camera power connects to the free short 4-pin Mini XLR cable coming from the battery plate. Next, the lights power cable connects to the light switch. (The power cables are labeled CAM PWR and LIGHTS to prevent mix-ups.) If using the wireless system, connect the camera’s SDI output plug (BNC end) into the SDI-In input on the transmitter using the 1’ (30 cm) BNC extension cable. If not using wireless, the actor will be ‘tethered’ to recorders/monitors. Use one end of the 50’ (15 meter) BNC cable to loop through one of the elastic straps on the belt and connect to the camera’s SDI output plug. The loop acts as a strain relief to prevent damage or harm due to any accidental cable tugs. The other end of the cable plugs into the SDI In port on the recorder or monitor. More on this below.
If applicable, dress any cable slack in an “S” pattern on the Talent’s back and secure with Velcro strips, leaving enough slack at the top for full head movement.
With the Camera components hooked up, the next step is to properly frame and focus the Camera. For this, you’ll need a monitor that supports HD-SDI video.
First, power the wireless receiver using the AC adapter. Next, connect the receiver output to an HD monitor or a video recording device (i.e. AJA Ki Pro). This can be done via HD-SDI over a BNC cable or HDMI over an HDMI cable. If using a video recording device, you should then connect the output of the device to your HD monitor to view the video feed. First turn on the wireless transmitter then, turn on the wireless receiver on the belt.
The two units should join within 10 seconds. If there is a connection problem, cycle the power and check your connections. If using multiple units, wait 60 seconds between powering on the transmitters. If the receivers are spaced at least three feet (1m) apart, up to four units can be used in the same space.
Connect the BNC cable from the 50’ (15 meter) tether to an HD monitor or the input of a video recording device (i.e. AJA Ki Pro). If using a video recording device you should then connect the output of the device to your HD monitor to view the video feed.
The goal is to get the camera directly in front of the Talent’s nose, just under their eye-line. To get started, you may need to roughly focus the lens by twisting it in its housing - remember to loosen the small screw holding the lens in place before twisting it. Don’t worry about it being perfect; fine focusing is next. Inform your Talent that you will be turning on the lights, then do so by flipping the light switch on the camera belt. There is a rubber capped knob on the light switch box that adjusts the dimming of the lights. Try to keep the lights as bright as possible, this will ensure consistent lighting and improved facial tracking.
Next, slightly loosen the camera mount using the hex ball driver, slightly loosen the two thumb screws on the camera block, and loosen the camera pan with the mini phillips screwdriver in your tool kit. Roughly line up the camera to be directly in front of the actors face then loosely tighten the thumb screws on the right angle block. Now look at the monitor and tilt the camera up and down to center the face in the frame. Once the face is centered, lock it off with the hex ball driver. Next, loosen the outside thumb screw that adjusts the “swing” of the camera bar (not the ball joint). Swing the camera left and right to frame the face head on. Lock that off. Finally, loosen the thumb screw that clamps on the ball joint. Here you can rotate on the ball joint to straighten out the image and fine-tune any camera adjustments. You can also pan the camera left and right in the mount to center the framing if necessary. If the image is still crooked on the monitor, work your way back through the steps to refine the image. Once the Camera is squared in front of the actor, tighten down all points. When tightening down the phillips head screws on the camera, do not overtighten, as it can damage the mount and internal threading.
Nobody’s face is truly symmetrical, so picking a camera placement that is “centered” can be a slightly subjective task. Here are some tips. If you look at the actor and not the monitor, the camera should be placed straight out from the nose. The face on the monitor should not be cropped on the top, bottom, left, or right edge of the frame, even when the actor is smiling. Don’t trust the nose to line up center, it is almost never a gauge of actually straight down the center. Try to move the camera so the space on the sides of the eyes are even. If you cannot see the caverns of the nostril or the camera is blocking the actors eyeline, your camera position is too high. If you are clearly looking up the nostrils, the mouth looks too pronounced, the eyes always appear “looking up”, or the eyebrow movement is hard to guage, you might be too low. Remember, consistency is key!
Next, fine focus the lens by physically twisting the lens in its housing. Looking at the monitor, try to focus on the inner edge of the Talent’s eyes making sure the image is as sharp as possible from the mouth to the brows. The monitor has a ‘focus assist’ function to aid in fine focusing. Click the outermost assignable button once to turn it on. The in focus edges will turn red when in focus. The lens can be locked down by gently tightening the screw on the lens mount with the mini-Philips screwdriver from the tool bag. Be careful not to over tighten the lens mount. The focus may shift in tightening, recheck fine focus before moving on.
With a framed and focused image, we can now dial in the camera settings. The main goal is to maintain a clean, clear, neutral image of the Talent’s face. The camera comes calibrated to the optimal settings but here we will cover the settings you may need to adjust.
Recommended Settings: Your PRO HD Headcam camera will be completely setup upon arrival and is calibrated with optimal settings.
Adjust your camera settings where you will actually be shooting, not in a staging area. The difference in lighting may lead to a less-than-optimal setting. If you notice any harsh lighting that may affect the capture, look to diffuse the lighting on the stage area.
Find the control joystick on the back of the camera. The camera menu will appear on the image itself. To view the menu, click the joystick.
Navigate the menu using the joystick to make any desired changes. When completed, exit out of the menu at the bottom of the list to save the settings.
Set the shutter speed to manual, and go in to the exposure menu page. 
In most cases, the image behind the actor is lit differently than the exposure on the actor’s face. Turn on the BACKLIGHT setting in the camera to compensate for this difference.
Here is a base setting which ensures the face will stay within the boundaries of the box. With these settings, the camera will maintain exposure for the actor’s face, regardless of the lighting in the background.
While the camera can function in black and white, use the color setting for the camera.
To set the white balance, make sure the light switch is on and the actor is in your capture volume. To set the white balance of the camera, hold a white card or piece of white paper in front of the camera, filling the frame. Navigate to the COLOR setting below DAY & NIGHT - COLOR and select AWC -> PRESET. 
Below are the recommended IMAGE settings.
If using a MKIII camera mixed with MKII cameras, you will need to rotate the image to match the orientation. In that case turn on MIRROR and FLIP. In all other scenarios, defer to the recommended settings.
These settings are legacy options from the current firmware build. Leave them off as they degrade image quality.
Navigate to the SYSTEM menu and click to enter.
Here you can access the color space, resolution, frame rate and language of operation. 
In the system menu, selecting the LANGUAGE setting can change the language of menu operations.
Languages available are English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese Simplified, or Chinese.
To view our extensive knowledge base, please visit: http://support.facewaretech.com.
The Faceware website can be found here: http://www.facewaretech.com.
Our support team can be reached at ‘support@facewaretech.com’ or by creating a Support Ticket on http://support.facewaretech.com. To reach us by phone, on Monday-Friday between 9am-5pm Pacific Standard Time, please call 1-310-656-6565.
