Time stamp for SR300 Raw Streams (C# )

[idata]

So my lab is using an outdated SDK (sigh) to record on our SR300, specifically a C# Raw Streams program that has been finicky but usable for collecting data. The main issue now is that we want to add a time stamp to the videos, which I have been told is possible by adding a line of code. Can someone give me a starting point for how to do this? I have next to no computer science knowledge and haven't the foggiest idea how to open up the source code for this program, let alone what to write in it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[MartyG]

The SR300 is actually compatible with the new RealSense SDK 2.0. Its record and playback system can apply timestamps to a recording. You can record and playback in the pre-made RealSense Viewer program that comes with the SDK.

https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense/blob/master/src/media/readme.md librealsense/readme.md at master · IntelRealSense/librealsense · GitHub

You can download SDK 2.0 here:

https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense/releases/ Releases · IntelRealSense/librealsense · GitHub

[idata]

Unfortunately, due to some weird bureaucratic bs that I don't understand, we are being required to film with the old SDK. We actually did try 2.0 at my suggestion but we went back to the old one almost immediately for some reason -___- I can try to push for it again, but...I'm not very optimistic.... Working with the SDK we have is at least something I can do on my own without having to get administrator permission.

[MartyG]

I investigated your situation thoroughly but cannot see a way to add a timestamp function without using the source code, unfortunately. If you were able to edit and build source code, you could try using the RealSense SDK 'R2 2016' SetTimeStamp instruction.

https://software.intel.com/sites/landingpage/realsense/camera-sdk/v1.1/documentation/html/index.html?settimestamp_pxcimage.html Intel® RealSense™ SDK 2016 R2 Documentation

I wonder if it would be easier for you to 'cheat' and add a timestamp over the video footage externally once it is recorded, using a video editing program that can do such a thing. Google 'add a timestamp to video' for more details.

[idata]

The 'cheat' thing would be really useful actually, as we've taken a lot of footage without any sort of timestamp--thanks for the tip!

I also realized that my lab had tried to install the 2016 SDK R3 instead of SDK 2.0 (those are different, right?), but were unable to work with the R2 videos we had already recorded. Is it possible to run these R2 videos in 2.0? If not, can we run both programs on the same computer (i.e. not have to update SDK R2)?

[MartyG]

I'm glad I could help!

Yes, the '2016 R3' and 'SDK 2.0' are totally different. '2016 R3' from the end of 2016 is no longer updated by Intel. SDK 2.0, which began in October 2017, is now the standard SDK for SR300, D415 and D435 RealSense cameras.

Although these two SDKs have totally different architectures and should both be able to run on a computer at the same time, it is possible that only one SDK at a time may be able to use the camera to stream if that SDK 'claims' the attention of the camera and prevents the other SDK from accessing it until the app that is currently using the camera shuts off

'2016 R2' RealSense stream videos were recorded in a format called .RSSDK (standing for RealSenseSDK), which was based on the .H264 video codec. In the past I have suggested that people who want to convert these videos to other formats treat them as .H264 videos and use a video converter that can convert the .H264 format (e.g .H264 to MPEG4).

The current SDK 2.0 dropped the RSSDK video format. The choices available are now to record 'bag' files called rosbags, or to save the stream as a PNG.

ROSBAG

https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense/blob/master/src/media/readme.md librealsense/readme.md at master · IntelRealSense/librealsense · GitHub

PNG

https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense/tree/master/examples/save-to-disk librealsense/examples/save-to-disk at master · IntelRealSense/librealsense · GitHub