Automated Image Exports with FinishLynx

Updated 1 week ago

This article explains how to automatically export images from FinishLynx using AthleticLOCAL.

Description

As you click images in FinishLynx, AthleticLOCAL automatically exports an image from one of your cameras. Images are branded with your logo (if you have an Enterprise site) and the AthleticLIVE logo. The order in which you boot your cameras determines the Window #.

There are two kinds of images:

  1. Athlete Images (Focused on a single athlete): Each athlete has an ID, so we can associate the image with a particular result. Images appear next to corresponding results on the live scoreboard and on final results. This is usually from your Identilynx Camera (Window 2).
  2. Event Images (A wide picture capturing top finishers): An image is taken as soon as all entries are marked in FinishLynx for a given heat. All images for a given round will appear on the corresponding event page. This is usually from your Primary Line Scan Camera (Window 1)

Requirements

The following software is required to upload FinishLynx images to AthleticLIVE

  1. FinishLynx with Remote Control Plugin (RCP is included at no extra charge in FinishLynx since version 10.11)
  2. AthleticLOCAL v1.0.0 or greater. You are not required to send FinishLynx and HyTek data via AthleticLOCAL, but it must be running in order to send images to our servers.
  3. Email live@athletic.net if you want to use this functionality. We need to enable it on your account.

Part 1: Configure FinishLynx

Configure the Remote Control Plugin

  • Go to File -> Options -> General
  • Remote Control: Network (listen)
  • Port: 7100 is a good default unless it is already in use on your computer (it probably isn't)

Set up a scoreboard to send results to AthleticLOCAL

FinishLynx must tell AthleticLOCAL when a result is ready for image export via this scoreboard

  • Go to Scoreboard -> Options and click "New"
  • Script: alive-image-gen.lss
  • Serial Port: Network (connect)
  • Port: 6600 is a good default unless it is already in use on your computer (it probably isn't)
  • IP Address: Enter the IP address of the computer running AthleticLOCAL (127.0.0.1 if FinishLynx and AthleticLOCAL are running on the same computer)
  • Running Time: Off
  • Results: Auto
  • Paging: Unchecked
  • Results -> Options: Always Send Place: Checked

Image Export Settings

It is possible to adjust the image export quality to achieve higher or lower quality

  • Go to Image -> Options
  • Image Export: JPEG Quality: 100 instead of 75

Output Directory

Images are exported to the Output Directory in File -> Options -> Database -> Output Directory. If you change this value, you must restart FinishLynx.

Part 2: Configure your Meet Management System

Note: If you are using RunMeet or the HyTek Database connection, you do not need to do steps 2 and 3
  1. To export athlete images, athletes must have competitor numbers
  2. Upload a roster with competitor numbers before the meet begins, see instructions for HyTek or MeetPro
  3. Results must contain competitor numbers. This happens by default in MeetPro. In HyTek, you must go to Run -> Preferences -> Web Real-Time and check "Include Competitor number".

Part 3: Configure your AthleticLIVE Meet

  1. Edit your meet at admin.athletic.live
  2. Near the bottom of the form under "Image/Photo Settings", select "FinishLynx Image Export" as the "Image Export System". If you do not see this option, email live@athletic.net. We need to turn this functionality on for your account.
  3. Save the meet

Part 4: Configure AthleticLOCAL

  1. Open AthleticLOCAL (v1.0.0 or greater)
  2. Choose an active meet
  3. One of the groups of protocol settings should be "FinishLynx Image Export", if you do not see these settings ensure that the options from Part 3 are set correctly
    1. FinishLynx Output Image Directory: where FinishLynx exports images to, should match your File -> Options -> Database -> Output Directory setting in FinishLynx
    2. AthleticLOCAL Port: the network port set on the alive-image-gen.lss scoreboard in FinishLynx (probably 6600)
    3. FinishLynx IP Address: the IP address of the computer running FinishLynx (127.0.0.1 if FinishLynx and AthleticLOCAL are running on the same computer)
    4. FinishLynx Remote Control Port: the network port set under "Remote Control" in FinishLynx File-> Options (probably 7100)
    5. Generate Athlete Images?: whether or not you want to export out images for each result
    6. Athlete Images Window Number: which camera/window athlete images should be export from (see tip below)
    7. Generate Top Finisher Images?: whether or not you want to export out images at the top finisher time of each race
    8. Top Finisher Images Window Number: which camera/window top finisher images should be export from (see tip below)
    9. (Advanced) Athlete/Top Finisher Images Line Scan Before/After: if an image is from a line scan camera (not an IdentiLynx) how many pixels before and after the time should be included in the export for each image type
  4. Click "Start" at the bottom of the page, image export starts automatically with other AthleticLIVE upload protocols
What is a "window number"? A window is one camera view when you're in a FinishLynx event, and every FinishLynx Window has a number. This number is not unique to a camera. It can change based on the layout of your camera images and in which position you have your camera images (e.g. Left, Right, Bottom). In almost all cases (unless you have modified your Window Layouts in Advanced Settings), Left is Window 1, Right is Window 2, and Bottom is Window 3. If you have modified your Window Layouts or cannot find your Window Number, see the "Test It" section. Try testing with different Window Numbers to find out which Window Number you want to use.

Test It

Use the testing feature to make sure your connection works and to get your images as perfect as possible

  1. Open a previously-saved FinishLynx race
  2. After you have started a meet in AthleticLOCAL, navigate to "Lynx Image Export Test" from the sidebar under "Meet Settings"
  3. Choose the type of images you want to test, enter the time you want to export from, and click "Submit"
  4. If everything worked, you will see the picture that was just export at the top of the page
  5. Try another test with a different time or image type
  6. If something goes wrong, double check your network settings and reach out to support at live@athletic.net if issues persist

Recap

It takes a little while to set up, but once you set it up, you'll be automatically generating branded athlete and event images for every click in FinishLynx

Email live@athletic.net with any questions

Notes

  1. AthleticLOCAL exports a athlete images one at a time. If you open a FinishLynx race with 150 finishers, AthleticLOCAL won't export any. You have to start from a clean slate and as you click finishers one at a time, AthleticLOCAL will export those images.
  2. Event images are only generated when every athlete has a place, be it a valid numerical place or DNS, DQ, etc.
  3. For line scan camera (not IdentiLynx) image exports, the camera orientation must be set correctly in FinishLynx for AthleticLOCAL to know which direction is before vs after the desired time. To adjust image orientation, from the main "Hardware Control" page in FinishLynx, double click on a camera. In the "Setup" tab, set "Image Orientation" to "Left" or "Right" depending on the direction that athletes run from the perspective of the camera.

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