LightBurn Camera Lens Calibration

[@horsemanship101]

Finally a video about calibration that shows what I found when I was trying to calibrate mine. I had so many, what I thought were issues and now seeing this, he has the same issues and lets us know that this is normal and how to correct it. Thank you so much for posting.

[@NathanBaerreis]

So in the video you keep saying "where you hold the pattern card..." aren't we supposed to be doing the calibration on the laser bed proper?

[@NathanBaerreis]

@@lightburnsoftware7189 Thanks for putting this out- I bought my camera from y'all in June of 2020 and never could get it to work. This is great.

[@zakrosheen]

calibration has been a nightmare.... Calibrate lens, align lens, and still laser is off when I attempt a project. Good to know its not just me having issues.

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

Are you using a LightBurn camera or third party? Many of the presets are available for LightBurn cameras. If 3rd party, make sure the the calibration pattern is clear, sized to toughly match what is seen in the calibration wizard, and it really helps to attack it to something like a piece of cardboard to keep the paper from bending.

[@shannonc.4257]

Good video but how about a link to the next video to finish things up.

[@LaserLivestream]

Great walkthrough Lightburn! Nice to see how to do this calibration from the source! Thank you!

[@arialf9637]

thank you for the video but where do you plug it, on your computer or directly to the machine

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

@@arialf9637 - Directly into the computer.

[@arialf9637]

@@lightburnsoftware7189thank you for answering, so I cannot use the camera if the computer is not connected to the machine?, because I use the machine wifi, with a LAN cable plus a router

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

@@arialf9637 - the camera is USB only.

[@chrislx2006]

I've just gone through this process for a new camera today before seeing this - great timing lol. Had issues with the honeycomb bed but I just covered it up with sheets of plywood. At first I thought this process was easy but I just finished running the thing 6 times because of... issues. Now I think it really needs some more work lol!

[@OnlyDIY]

what is the webcam even used for?

[@stevenmarston8923]

I haven't attempted to calibrate my camera yet but I have been giving some thought to how I intend to try. I was planning on piercing the calibration card at each corner and threading some equal length monofilament and tie them at the same length to a small ring or something. Then by taping the ring near the camera, I can then swing the card towards each of the nine positions and keep it perpendicular to the camera (or at least close). This would swing in a spherical shape environment. Theoretically only useful for fish eye cameras. Hopefully that makes sense.

[@thomascorcoran2975]

So I can hold the pattern to do this calibration is what im getting out of this video, do I need to change the size of the pattern b4 I print it

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

No, you can just move it closer to or further from the camera. That is the same as changing the size.

[@thomascorcoran2975]

@@lightburnsoftware7189 so I can hold it and just have to move closer or further to change size just double checking that I understood your response and thanks for the quick response your videos are awesome

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

@@thomascorcoran2975 - correct

[@IndecentIncident]

Excellent clarification. I had always assumed that it mattered that the circle pattern be on the laser bed based on the example images in LB. I'd bet that replacing those with some stills of you holding the card in the appropriate positions would eliminate some user confusion. I spent a good bit of time trying to figure out how best to cover my honeycomb and get nice even diffused lighting for the test originally without great success. Going to try it this way now!

[@IndecentIncident]

I also see now that the walkthrough does say it pretty clearly. I tend to treat those like Denny's menus, just scanning for the pictures that look most appetizing.

[@FC-eo9tn]

I have the expansion for our sculpfun laser with the size 935x400. And I am using a sculpfun honeycomp 400x400. But my honeycomp is starting at 467,5 in y-position. When I calibrate the camera lense, the first part with the points works fine. Then when I have to put my sample in the middle of my honeycomp and and click on “Frame” the laser is driving his frame in the middle of my long side, not in the place as it is. I can’t choose this start position and also my camera is in the middle of the homecomp not in the middpe from the extension. How can I change this?

[@B.Cote39]

darn ..i just disassembled my printer, can i just burn the pattern on a white material?

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

The issue is that if there is any warp or distortion in the actual engraving the calibration will assume it is the camera lens and correct for it moving forward. You can certainly try but printed on paper is what is recommended for best results.

[@B.Cote39]

@@lightburnsoftware7189 thank you for responding, this answers my question perfectly🙄cheers guys, keep up the great work!

[@HoftsWoodshop]

Wait so you can just hold the card in front of the camera? It doesn’t have to be facing the work bed?

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

We say repeatedly in the docs and in the videos that the lens calibration part has nothing to do with the laser at all - it’s only measuring the distortion of the camera lens. You could do it on the moon. :)

[@davidmythalamouth2583]

this and the alignment video were very helpful thanks, got it to work with my fiber laser and is fairly accurate +/- .2 on the shift, generic 2mp with 120* lens

[@axeldejesus2060]

Thanks for this video. I calibrated my camera per the instructions, and it works great, however I am having some issues. When I put a small piece of material (round piece of wood the size of a nickel) on the board and do my update overlay to capture what is on the bed the engraving is a little bit off. I place it in the middle of the piece on my screen, but it engraves off centered. Any ideas on how to fix that? Thanks

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

Have you ran the Camera Alignment Wizard? You will want to do that after you calibrate the lens. You can follow the steps outlined toward the bottom of our documentation here: docs.lightburnsoftware.com/UsingACamera.html#the-camera-lens-calibration-wizard

[@dennisk8930]

So I was just laying the paper on the bed and getting bad results. Then I glued it flat to a piece of MDF and the numbers dropped way down. Just a slight wrinkle apparently makes a big difference.

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

Lighting, proper scaling of the dots, and having it completely flat make a HUGE difference. Glad to hear that you got big improvements with the MDF backing.

[@joeking5211]

Confused.potential customer. So you can just wave and shake the camera just about anywhere as long as you get

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

The purpose of the paper with the dots is to calibrate the camera. Since they are wide angle lenses they will be distorted and the dots are used to correct this so that both scaling and view are correct. Generally speaking it is easier to calibrate the camera prior to mounting so you can move the camera/calibration card as needed and lighting is also generally better outside of the laser. That being said you certainly can calibrate it in the laser but it may take some additional lighting or few extra tries to get a good score. The alignment process is the process you will need to do with the camera installed. This is to ensure that alignment of design onto image is as precise as possible. If it is off, a correction (bump/shift) will be added in LightBurn to compensate for it. Here is the documentation on the alignment process: docs.lightburnsoftware.com/Camera/Alignment.html#preparation So in summary the calibration is for the camera distortion, which is why it doesnt have to be mounted, and the alignment is for dialing in your camera/workspace overlay and must be mounted in place.

[@shirazparacha2024]

So we don’t have to mount the camera for this . Since your camera is actually on the bed rather than mounted on top . Is that correct ?

[@woogaloo]

Great tutorial. I recently bought a camera, but haven't tried to calibrate or align it.

[@kittyrings]

Why does LB not recognize the LB camera ? It did when I first put it up. Had to take it down when I moved, and now I have some odd name camera listed AVStreamMedia. Yes, it worked....but it's slightly distorted, and LB Camera (5 - 120) was never a problem and the preset was smack on. I've updated LB to the lastest version (ver. 1.2.04) as of yesterday. And I've recalibrated lens and alignment...still distorted? Am I missing something????? Why doesn't show the LB camera? UPDATE: Well, it is not LB fault...that's the first thing. Good O' Windows 10. I did a little research on AVSTREAM MEDIA....low and behold, Windows did their famous update . I went in and Disabled it, and in Device Manager I chose to have Windows check for changes and there was LightBurn Camera choice back...and the software picked it up as well. All is back to normal. I'll guarantee there will be others that will run into this.

[@swp466]

So, the camera does not need to be installed in the machine in order to do the calibration? Also, what does the honeycomb check do?

[@swp466]

@@lightburnsoftware7189 Thanks -- that makes sense that the camera can (and probably should) be calibrated prior to installing it. Afterall, it's just correcting for lens geometry, which has nothing to do with the machine. I guess once calibrated and installed, you just need to make sure it sees the entire bed.

[@foresaken5000]

What isnthe point of camera calibration? I mean what is it's purpose? I see the steps but it's actual purpose does make sense so far. And when I do 1rst part and then frame my laser always crashes

[@jf6720]

How large should the circle card be? I have watched numerous videos and everyone seems to skip that part. Doesn't it matter?

[@Tj-oq2lw]

Thanks for the tutorial, too bad this didn’t come out 24 hours ago. I spent forever making little mistakes and having to watch different users vids to get it right . But I really love it now that I got it dialed in .. do you know what the tolerance is on how close you can get and if I can adjust it to be exact without recalibrating ?. Right now im about 1 -2 mm off. On the x axis

[@chrislx2006]

Just tweak it with the X-shift on the Camera Control Window then save the settings. Burn a small circle, update the overlay, then move the image so they match.

[@billg3903]

Hello to Lightburn Software. Is there a way I can use VCarve Pro ( to my CNC machine) and use those files on Lightburn for my Laser... I cant seem to figure out the file format that both understand... Can you give me insight on this.?

[@IceCreams62]

Hi Thanks a lot for the video, very helpful. So LB 1.1.00 is arriving :-) ??

[@camdunnage6214]

I’m a bit new to laser burning. Can you please explain what this camera is used for??

[@camdunnage6214]

Sounds like a great idea. I look forward to future camera setup videos. By the way where can I purchase one of these. I’m currently using a Sculfun S9 and often get asked to do what you explained above.

[@Novoworks]

Have tried getting this to work all week... when I click on "capture" nothing happens. No preview, no score, no nothing. Have tried moving the camera, changing angle, pattern placement, etc. No capture or score

[@emailausdrucker]

Is the red 3d printed camera holder available for download?

[@sawmilldan]

I think i saw it in the forum

[@dog0311]

Did you ever find the camera case pattern file for 3D print. I've had nothing but problems with my cam and mount. It's never correct. I've even hot glued every spot, and I have to re adjust it every time I can't ever count on it to be correct. It's odd that the cable has to come out of the front. LMAO

[@MakingLemonadeCreations]

Lightburn freezes and crashes every time I try to calibrate it. I constantly get the Pattern NOT Found or astronomically high numbers but never get past the 2nd capture before it crashes.

[@MakingLemonadeCreations]

@@lightburnsoftware7189 No I covered it with paper.

[@GaryGraham66]

Brilliant! I have been using a webcam fixed to the roof about 1.5m above the laser and using a small (A5) printout of the calibration image, this has given some success but it tended to drift depending on where the laser was cutting. ie it would be way off at the edges of the bed (600x400). To get the thumbnail image the same relative size it had to be A4 sized, now working beautifully with calibration figures at 0.05 to 0.07 This was the critical help required to get the thumbnail to match the printed image on the laser bed. Thanks for the video and the software I would be lost without it. 👍👍 Now I just need to sort the rotary device and will be 100% chuffed.

[@GaryGraham66]

@@lightburnsoftware7189 Thanks I have it scaled to 190, working great! 👍

[@Elmojomo]

I've been banging my head against the wall for over a month, trying to get my LB to report anything but "pattern NOT found - try again". I've done everything suggested on the forums, and everything shown here, except hand holding the target, since that's 100% against everything advised elsewhere, including their own documentation. Maybe I'll rip the camera out of the laser and try it again in free air? This is amazing software, but the camera system REALLY needs some more attention. Like pronto. :/

[@ruftime]

Lightburn❤️ I bought the Lightburn camera in January 2020, worked right away on my Custom 1300x900😎

[@zebo-the-fat]

Ohh.. I have been doing it wrong for the last few months! I thought the camera needed to be mounted on the laser and the card on the laser bed! Now I have to do it all again!

[@LowVisionUKTerrysView]

very helpful. thank you. Now just need the camera mounting video, and I will be sorted...Terry

[@jacobhn2]

Why not let the laser make a square and then let it calibrate to that

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

@@jacobhn2 - because if your laser isn’t calibrated correctly then the lens wouldn’t be either, and a single square isn’t enough to calculate the distortion. We need many “items” we can find.

[@pjkoths]

Why is the camera pointed at you instead of the laser bed? It isn't logical to do the calibration as you present it in the video.

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

The *lens calibration* stage, as the name suggests, is only measuring the curvature of the camera lens and has nothing at all to do with the laser. It says this in the video. It is far easier to calibrate the lens *before* mounting the camera to the laser.

[@markhopsonwoodworks9482]

Camera is so bright we can’t see anything. Unusable.

[@GoldenBearKarl]

This is one of the most frustrating things I’ve done tbh. A lot of patience

[@8mmmauser896]

You really should have done this with a 410x400 diode laser and the most common co2

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

That would miss the entire point of the video. The lens calibration step does not involve your laser at all.

[@ruJora]

I am first. Good like✌️

[@LpMaker]

aucun intérêt ..

[@chrisboyle6135]

I thought computers made things EASIER? Give it a year and some grad student will develop an AI based solution that will do it in 10 seconds.