Pilatus
ImageViewer (PilView)
The Pilatus image viewer, in short
PilView, is a small Scilab program to view and edit file series
obtained with the CHESS Pilatus 100k detector. Currently only the vertical mode is
supported, with the long axis of the detector vertical.
Scilab installation
Scilab can be downloaded for free
from www.scilab.org. The program needs the current stable version
5.3.3. I run Scilab under Windows 7 in 64-bit mode on a dual core
processor (2.9 GHz). The program will also run on smaller computers
including my EEE PC netbook under XP, but naturally at slower speed.
Running PilView
Scilab 5.3.3. has a little glitch
in that it does not set the default directory automatically when you
click the PilView icon. Go to the Console and use
File>ChangeCurrentDirectory to the directory where PilView.sce is
kept on your computer. In this directory also the subroutines *.sci are
kept that the program needs. Load PilView in the editor (this happens
automatically if you doubleclick the PilView icon) and execute the
program using Ctrl-Shift-E. The "Pilatus ImageViewer" window should
appear.
The program window is made for a
large terminal, so for use on a netbook the size should be reset. If
you feel inclined to hack the code, please copy it to a different
folder, so that the general user version is left on the dropbox - this
way I can work on erors, and everybody get the benefit of the fix.
Now to the program feature: Before you load a "new" file series to watch the movie, make your
choices:
- if "movie" is checked, the progam will ask for first and last
file and display the file series on the screen at highest speed
- there is no checking yet whether first and last file are of the
same series - PilView uses the last filename to generate the fileseries
- if "movie" is unchecked, the program will display single snap
shots
- useful to inspect test shots, single shots, or go at random
through a file series to look for an event
- if "convert" is checked, the program will produce png output for
each file, using the same name but the .png extension
- I found that png provided the highest quality output
- it is good to play with the other settings first, to make a
nice movie - keep reading!
- I like Windows 7 MovieMaker to generate movies from series of
png files.
- The MovieMaker can be downloaded for free from Windows Life
- http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker
- It's similar to the XP movie maker, but saves a lot of
clicks!
- if "folder" is clicked, the name of the file folder is displayer
in the top left corner, and also part of the png image
- make sure you use useful folder names from which the sample can
be identified
- if "number" is clicked, the filenumber is displayed
- the bottom row of number inputs helps to make images look nice
and to let movies run efficiently
- "max" sets the maximum intensity (default value 100).
- "min" produces a small offset to brighten up the background, if
desired (default value 0).
- "skip" allows to skip n frames. in case a longer file series is
to be inspected
- example: if skip=3 and first file is ~00001, PilView will
display files ~00001, ~00004, ~00007,...
- so far only the linear scale is supported
- "new" starts a new session, according to the choices above.
- "new" will open the file input dialog
- PilView will keep loading movies or snaps, until you say
"Cancel" or "x" on the "open file" window
- the above parameters can only be reset when you stop opening
files
- note: changes become active, when you plot the next batch of files
- another click on "new" gets the program to continue reading files
- NOTE: this program is written to crank it - no time wasted on
niceties!
Crank Away!