How to use PTP sync with an external clock master (Camera Sync Unit)

The Camera Sync Unit (CSU) can be used with any Qualisys camera system and configured to synchronize with an external clock master using the standard PTP protocol.

On Arqus and Miqus cameras, and the Camera Sync Unit, the PTP mode must be set to "standard" using the Camera Configuration Tool. For detailed information about changing the PTP mode, please refer to the manual of the configuration tool. For information about download and use of the Camera Configuration Tool, see chapter Camera Configuration Tool.

For changing the PTP mode on Oqus cameras, see chapter How to use PTP sync with an external clock master (Oqus).

Make sure that all Qualisys cameras and the Camera Sync Unit are set to standard PTP mode. When the PTP mode differs between Qualisys devices, synchronization will fail.

Connecting to an external clock master

The external clock master should be connected to the same Local Area Network as the cameras. The following requirements apply to the external clock master:

  • Standard: IEEE 1588:2008 (PTPv2)
  • ipv4/udp
  • Delay mechanism: End-to-End (E2E)
  • Two-step clock
  • Sync message interval: 1s

For adding the timestamp to the motion capture frames, activate the timestamp option on the Synchronization page under Project Options and set the type to Camera time, see chapter Timestamp.

Oqus systems can use PTP sync without a Camera Sync unit, but it requires extra configuration, see chapter How to use PTP sync with an external clock master (Oqus).