ThunderCam Focusing the Image and Proper Setup

Preface: The goal of this article is to walk you through how to set your ThunderCam or built in camera up for the best image prior to calibrating and aligning it. This article was written using a Nova 35 and W85 ThunderCam but the same concept applies to Bolt and Aurora cams. You will need to be somewhat familiar with Lightburn and the machine functions (Like Autofocus) in order to be successful

For this article you will need:

-Your computer with Lightburn installed

-Your camera and usb cable connected to the computer

-Printed copy of an eyechart or similar. PDF example is attached at the bottom of this article

Camera Mounting considerations:

It is best to mount the camera so that it looks straight down at the bed to minimize the keystone effect. You want the edge width of the honeycomb to be the same width Top vs Bottom, Left Vs Right. More on the Keystone effect here.

Good Example	Bad Example

The Process:

Step 1:

Start by opening Lightburn, connecting to your machine and plugging the camera into the computer. To bring up the camera window in Lightburn go to Window>Camera Control in the upper tool bar.

Step 2:

In the Camera control window, select your camera and then un-dock (drag it to the work area) the Camera control window and enlarge it so that you have a large image window. You may have to de-select and then re-select your camera again to get Lightburn to display the live image correctly. If the live image is upside down, you either mounted the camera wrong or the camera on your Bolt needs to be flipped. Remount the camera properly or use this procedure to flip your Bolt camera.

Step 3:

-Autofocus your machine so that the honeycomb is the surface that gets focused to. This is the "focal plane"

-Then place the eye chart on the honeycomb bed, near the center of the view

Turn off the Auto Exposure feature on the camera control window.

Step 4:

Focus the camera by turning the lens. Use small increments and re-check the live preview. If the picture begins to get blurry again, you have gone too far in the current direction and need to turn back

Before Focusing	After Focusing

Turn the Auto Exposure back on:

If applicable, tighten the mounting Knobs one last time and then go and calibrate the camera in Lightburn. See below in the reference article section for specific information how to for each model.

Reference Articles:

ThunderCAM Installation Manual

Thunder Bolt Camera Information, Calibration and Setup

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