Configuring your DSLR Camera to work with RightBooth

This article takes you through the steps of setting up your DSLR camera to record videos and photos and to get them to appear in your RightBooth events (via the digicamControl app).
Where required we will make reference to the Canon EOS 80D and the Nikon D7100.

1 - Prepare your DSLR Camera

Make sure your camera:
  • is fitted with a fully charged battery OR is mains powered
  • is using a large capacity SD card.  Something like 64Gb or 128Gb would be ideal, especially if you are going to be recording videos.  ( Note: If you attempt to use your camera using only its in-built memory you will likely experience problems accessing the camera from RightBooth ).
  • is configured to not power off after periods of inactivity. 
    Example:  On Canon cameras, locate the Auto power off setting (on the camera menu) and set it to Disable
  • is configured to record either MP4 or MOV video files.  RightBooth can accept both video file formats.  In the example image below, the Nikon D7100 has been set to record MOV files at 1920x1080x30fps.
  • is configured to capture JPG photos.  Most DSLR cameras can capture photos in RAW format and/or JPG format, but RightBooth can only process JPG format files.  In the example image below, the Canon 80D has been set to capture high quality 6000x4000 JPG files and to not ​capture RAW files.  Having said this, we recommend that you keep your capture resolution lower than this possibly down at 3M pixels (S2), which is plenty good enough even for A4 sized prints.
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Nikon D7100 Movie settings menu
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Canon 80D Image quality menu

2 - Set the DSLR Camera Mode Dials

2a - Canon Cameras
Set the Canon main mode dial to any of the following modes:  P, Tv, Av, M or B.     Do not select A+
Picture
Canon 80D
Set the Canon Live Mode switch to Camera:
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Canon 80D
2b - Nikon Cameras
Set the Nikon main mode dial to any of the supported modes. Here we have set full Automatic mode:
Set the Nikon Live Mode switch to Video:
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Nikon D7100
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Nikon D7100
You should also manually configure your camera with appropriate exposure, aperture and ISO settings.

Set-up Considerations for Mirror Booths

If you are planning to use your DSLR camera inside a mirror booth, then do the following during your set-up:

Set the camera and lens to full auto, then take a shot of a subject approx 1.5 - 2 meters away from the booth with a 18/55 lens set to 18.
Then when you are happy with the photo, set both the lens to manual focus and the camera dial to manual (M).
Or for those of you who are using led camera lights, set the camera to no flash.

The reason for taking a full auto test shot from behind the mirror is to allow for the drop in light that the mirror causes.  Otherwise if you left the camera on full auto it would later struggle to focus on anything moving (e.g. people) and would probably fail to take some of the photos within the allotted RightBooth capture time when the event is playing.

3 - Connect the DSLR Camera to the PC

Turn the camera on and connect it to a fast USB port (USB 2 or 3) on your computer.

The first time the camera is attached to your computer you will be prompted to decide what will happen when the camera is connected.

Choose the option: 'Take no action' (see image)

4 - Configure RightBooth for DSLR Photos and Videos

Ensure your computer is connected to the computer and is switched on.
  • Run RightBooth
  • On the main window, click Settings
  • In Settings, click the tab: DSLR (1)
  • Click the option: Start digicamControl with RightBooth  (2).  This will start the digicamControl app that is used to send commands and files between RightBooth and your camera.  Note: You may need to restart RightBooth for this setting to take effect.
  • If you plan to take photos with your DSLR camera, tick the option 'take photos'  (3)
  • If you plan to record videos with your DSLR camera, tick the option 'record videos'  (4)​​
  • Make sure the Temporary folder (5) references a folder on your computer that has full access rights for creating and writing files.  This folder will be used by digicamControl as a holding area for photo and video files that are transferred from the camera to the computer.  In our example we are using the folder C:\dcctemp.
  • You should make sure that the temporary folder name and path is composed of alphanumeric characters only.  So for example, this is an acceptable folder name:  c:\temp123,  and this is not acceptable:  c:\temp-123
  • Use the Photo test and Video test buttons (6) to check that RightBooth can capture files from your camera.  Note: If your temporary folder is not set up correctly you will receive a warning message.

IMPORTANT
Digital cameras can capture photos with very large dimensions and as such, excessively large photos may cause memory issues with RightBooth, therefore we strongly recommend that you use reduced width and height values in order to reduce your digital photo files to more manageable processing sizes.  We suggest that the photo files for use in RightBooth are no larger than approximately 2000 x 1500 pixels.  Note that the values you enter into the W and H boxes (in the settings panel above) should match the aspect ratio of your chosen camera photo size.  For example, if you have set your DSLR camera to capture photos at size 8000 x 6000, then you could enter W = 2000, H = 1500, or (better still) W = 1000, H = 750 pixels, which maintains the 4:3 aspect ratio of the original photos.  If your W and H values do not match the aspect ratio of the original photos, then the photos that appear in RightBooth will incur some stretch distortion.

If everything is set up correctly. RightBooth will then be able to capture photos and videos from your DSLR camera and you will be able to use the camera when playing events.

5 - Other points

5a - Wait for the digicamControl Application to Start
Each time you start RightBooth,  the digicamControl application will also be started at the same time and it will then appear minimised on the Windows Task bar (see image).  On some systems this process can take a while and you will therefore need to wait until the digiCamControl icon appears on the Taskbar before RightBooth can capture photos and videos from your camera.
5b - Reduce your Camera SD Card Storage Requirements
You can configure digicamControl to only save photos to the PC and not to use the camera's SD card.  This will help to reduce the chance of filling up the SD card with files.  To do this:
  • ​​Right click on the digicamControl icon (on the Task bar) and select 'digicamContol' from the popup menu.  This will reveal the digicamControl window.​
  • At the bottom left corner of the digicamControl window, click on the Transfer option and choose 1. Save to PC only
Note this option only applies to photo files. Video files will continue to be recorded to the SD card before being copied to the PC.

5c - File Transfer Time
After each photo or video is captured by your camera, there will be a delay while the file is transferred to the computer (via the USB cable).  When RightBooth is playing an event it will display the Busy screen during the file transfer process.
You can try to reduce the transfer delay by:
  • lowering the camera's preset photo capture file size and/or JPG quality and also reducing the camera's preset video recording size and/or frame rate.  Refer to your camera documentation for details
  • connecting the camera to a high speed USB port on your computer.

If you find that the transferred videos and files are not appearing in RightBooth it may be because the transfer wait time needs increasing.   You can increase the transfer wait time for photos and videos in RightBooth Settings --> DSLR (see screenshot above).