Tutorial:
MVN Animate Pro and Analyze have Position Aiding and Object Tracking with HTC Vive. This article helps you to get started with the hardware and software setup. However, for Vive and Steam related topics, the appropriate support is leading:
- Vive Support
- Steam Support
After setup, you can follow the appropriate articles here to get started with recording in MVN:
- Position Aiding: HTC Vive
- Object Tracking: HTC Vive
Required Means
Hardware
| Item | Version | Amount |
| Vive Pro SteamVR Base Station (No combination of versions) |
1.0 |
2, more details: Vive play area |
|
2.0 |
2-4, depending on room scale (see below). More details: Using more than 2 Base Stations |
|
| Vive Tracker (No combination of versions) | 1.0 | 1 per actor, 1 per object |
| 2.0 | 1 per actor, 1 per object | |
| Tracker strap / mount | - | 1 per Tracker |
| Base station mounts / clamps | - | 1 per Base Station |
Software
- MVN Animate Pro / Analyze 2020.0
- Steam with SteamVR
1. Software
1.1 Install Steam
1. Download and install Steam
2. Open Steam
3. Create or log in with an existing Steam account
1.2 Install SteamVR
1. In Steam, go to the Store tab and search for SteamVR
2. Press Play Game and follow the instructions to Install SteamVR:
NOTE: Do not use beta versions of SteamVR:
To check this, go to the Library in Steam and Right-click on SteamVR > Properties > Betas.
The option "NONE- Opt out of all beta programs" should be selected:
1. If SteamVR is open, close SteamVR
2. Open MVN
3. Go to Options > SteamVR
This will open the SteamVR Options with the current settings.
Use SteamVR without HMD
By default, SteamVR expects an HMD (Head-Mounted-Display or Headset).
However, for the integration with MVN, the HMD is not required, only the Vive trackers are required.
Enabling this option will allow SteamVR to work without an HMD.
Use Origin from SteamVR
Enabling this option makes sure that the origin of SteamVR will be used. In that case, make sure that you perform at least a Standing Only room setup (see chapter 2.2.4). Otherwise, the position data will not be updated.
Lock Lighthousedb.json while recording
Locking the Lighthouse .json file will prevent SteamVR from changing the lighthouse position during a recording. Check if the location of the Lighthouse .json file is correct (Default location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config\lighthouse\lighthousedb.json).
4. Check the following options:
- Use SteamVR without HMD
- Use Origin from SteamVR
- Lock Lighthousedb.json while recording
NOTE: Changing the status of any of the settings will bring up a "New" settings column. Saving will update those "New" settings into "Current" settings in the SteamVR config file.
5. Press Save and close the SteamVR Options window.
1.4 Check Hardware Status SteamVR
1. Within Steam, click "Run" on the SteamVR application
NOTE: SteamVR will not open if you have an active session in MVN with Position Aiding or Object Tracking. Make sure you disable Position Aiding or Object Tracking or close the active session before you open SteamVR.
2. In the SteamVR window, the HMD should be visible.
NOTE: The hexagon with the "H" stands for the HMD. The "H" can have a black background 
(idle) or colored background 
(active) which can change during a session. This has no effect on the Vive Trackers.
2. Hardware
2.1 Define play area
Multiple Base Stations (V2 only) can be combined to create a play area.
| Play Area | Advised Base Stations |
| 2m x 2m (6ft 6in x 6ft 6in) | 2 |
| 5m x 5m (16ft 4in x 16ft 4in) | 3 |
| 10m x 10m (32ft 9in x 32ft 9in) | 4 |
| Base Station V2 (SteamVR Base Station) |
|
|
Example play areas
|
Example play areas
|
|
More information: Planning your play area |
More information: Using more than 2 Base Stations |
2.2 Set up Base Stations
Once the play area is defined, the Base Stations can be set up on the correct positions. More information on the Base Stations can be found below:
| Base Station V2 (SteamVR Base Station) |
|
 |
 |
|
1 Status light |
1 Status light |
1. Place the Base Station in a high enough, fixed position:
- 2m or more above the floor.
- Pointing down under an angle between 30-45 degrees)
| Base Station V2 |
|
|
|
 |
| Setup Tips Base Station V1 | Setup tips Base Station V2 |
2. Plug-in power cord.
3. Set the right channel for each Base Station, by pressing the button on the back of the Base Station:
- Base Station V1:
- First base station: channel="b" (master).
- Other base stations: channel="c" (slave).
- Base Station V2:
- Default: channel 1: Check this article to set the channel of the Base Station: Configure Base Station Channel. It is also possible to use the button on the back (button only reachable with paperclip). Each button press will increase by 1. Choose a channel that is not yet occupied.
2.3 Set up Tracker
More information on the Vive Tracker can be found here: Vive Tracker 
(1) Vive Tracker
(2) Dongle
(3) Cradle
(4) Micro-USB cable
2.3.1 Update Tracker Firmware
1. Connect the Vive Tracker with micro-USB cable (4) to a USB port in your PC.
2. Wait until the LED indicator on the Tracker turns Orange.
3. In the SteamVR window go to the options by clicking 
> Devices > Update Device
4. If an update is available (indicated by 
), Click on "Update available" and follow the steps.
5. If you are done, the Tracker should be up to date.
6. Unplug the Tracker from the micro-USB cable.
2.3.2 Pair Tracker
1. Plug dongle (2) into the cradle (3)
2. Connect cradle (3) with micro-USB cable (4) to a USB port in your PC (after a short while, Windows should detect the new USB device)
NOTE: using the dongle directly in your PC might interfere too much (it should be >45cm away from any PC)
3. Turn on Vive tracker (1) by holding the Vive logo-button in the middle, until the LED indicator on the Tracker turns blue. Press and hold the Vive Logo-button in the middle again until the blue LED indicator is blinking. Otherwise, the tracker cannot start to pairing.
4. Wait until the tracker and the dongle are paired (the LED indicator on the tracker should turn green once properly paired)
NOTE: if the Tracker is not pairing automatically, check the following steps:
- Right-click on the Tracker in the SteamVR window, and select "Pair tracker"
- Select The HTC Vive Tracker in the Controller Paring window and follow the steps.
After this, the Tracker Icon 
should appear in the SteamVR window
2.3.3 Check TrackerID
1. To check which TrackerID belongs to which Vive Tracker, right-click on the Tracker icon in SteamVR and go to Manage Vive Trackers.
By turning the trackers on and off you can identify which Vive Tracker has which TrackerID. Labeling the Tracker with this TrackerID can be for identifying them later on.
2.3.4 Check Play Area
1. Move the Tracker around in the Play Area. The Base Station icon(s) 
appear in the SteamVR window.
> 
>
> 
NOTE: if Base Station Icon is greyed out 
, it is not visible to the Tracker. Move the Tracker around to make it visible. If that does not help, check if the Channels of the different Base Stations are different by hoovering with the mouse over the Base Station Icon.
To change the channel of a Base Sation, see step 3 of chapter 2.1.
2.2.4 Perform Room Setup
When SteamVR is started, the Room Setup will automatically prompt.
If that is not the case, it can be opened manually in the SteamVR window by clicking > Room Setup.
1. In the Establish tracking window, click Next
2. In the Calibrate your space window, click Calibrate Center.
3. Wait for the calibration to finish and click Next
4. In the Locate the floor window, Set the distance to 0 cm (0 in.) and click Calibrate floor.
5. Wait for the calibration to finish and click Next
6. Room setup is complete, click Next to continue.
NOTE: If in MVN the Vive Tracker is not visible or moving (Object Tracking) and/or the positional data is not updating in the graph (Position Aiding), check if the room setup is performed correctly.
If SteamVR shows the following message, perform the Room Setup (again).
If that does not solve the issue, try updating the Seated Position. In SteamVR, go to > Reset Seated Position.
2.3.5 Manually Adjust floor height (optional)
In the Standing Only Room Setup, the floor height is adjusted to the headset location. Because there is only a virtual headset, the origin plane might my different than the actual floor.
To manually adjust this, follow the following steps.
1. In MVN, start a session with Object Tracking. open the Objects tab in the navigator window and select an Object Tracker that is set on the floor.
2. If you are using MVN Animate, first make a recording and then open the recording (live data graphs are not available).
3. Open the Graph view 
and drag the Object Tracker Position to the Graph.
4. In the graph, click on the Show Values button 
, to see the vertical offset of the Tracker (Z-axis), in the bottom example -0.341207 m.
5. Close the MVN Session and SteamVR.
6. Locate the "chaperone_info.vrchap" file, typically located in C:\Program Files\Steam\config
7. Open the "chaperone_info.vrchap" file using Notepad and search for the "seated" play area.
8. in the "translation" line change the second coordinate to offset the Z-axis value found in step 4. The correction value should be: Correction value = 0 - Offset value. In this case 0.341207 m.
9. Save and close the "chaperone_info.vrchap" file
10. Restart SteamVR
11. Restart MVN.
3. Start recording
1. Now that all Base Stations and Trackers have been found, you are ready with setup and can proceed to:
- Position Aiding: HTC Vive
- Object Tracking: HTC Vive