Frequently Asked Questions

If you do not find an answer to your question on this page, please contact us.

Questions most often asked by users of BioRAS software:

1. Computer requirements

1.1. What are the minimum requirements for a PC running LabTrack?
1.2. Will LabTrack and LabMicorbe run on a Windows 7 computer?

2. License system

2.1. I have installed LabTrack on a new computer, but the trial key that you sent me earlier does not work anymore?
2.2. Do I have to enter the Trial code everytime I open a new session of LabTrack
2.3. When I open LabTrack, a box pops up saying "Problem creating license key". It does not prompt me to insert the license key anywhere nor can I find a tab that allows me to do it manually.
2.4. I uninstalled and reinstalling one of your programs, and when I reinstalled I got an error code 2042300.  I was not asked for a license key or given a new request code

3. LabTrack FAQ

3.1. When I tried to open a movie to begin tracking the dialog window for selecting the video file never popped up
3.2. I have problems with the evaluation of speeds of swimming in LabTrack. The videos are not read in real time in LabTrack and speeds are thus falsified
3.3. The software does not recognize any particles. I have tried a pretty wide range of settings, but may be doing something wrong
3.4. What is the maximum number of particles that can be tracked and the maximum frame rate for Labtrack?
3.5. I have trouble with analysing my movie files with LabTrack, the video loops every 30 seconds. The files are H.263 and appear play smoothly in LabTrack and in Quick Time
3.6. When I try to run a video in LabTrack it only shows a short sequence in the beginning of the video and repeats this sequence. The videos are in MP4 format and include a sound track
3.7. Tracks terminate spontaneously and are continued by new tracks

4. LabMicrobe FAQ

4.1. I would like to count FISH stained bacteria, but my images contain both red and green bacteria. Can LabMicrobe only count the green ones?
4.2. Can LabMicrobe count cells on a counting grid?
4.3. Can LabMicrobe count clustered cells?

Answers

1. Computer requirements

1.1. What are the minimum requirements for a PC running LabTrack? 
Answer:
A standard PC works for LabTrack analysis, 2 GB RAM and Windows XP or newer is enough.
1.2. Will LabTrack and LabMicorbe run on a Windows 7 computer?
Answer:
LabTrack, LabTrack 3D and LabMicrobe work with Windows 7 64 bit operation system.

2. License system

2.1. I have installed LabTrack on a new computer, but the trial key that you sent me earlier does not work anymore?
Answer
The trial keys are only valid for the computer they were created on, the old activation key will not work on the new computer.
2.2. Do I have to enter the Trial code everytime I open a new session of LabTrack?
Answer:
During the trial period LabTrack will ask for the code everytime you open a new session. For permanent licenses the code is only entered once. The trial version of LabTrack is fully functional.
2.3. When I open LabTrack, a box pops up saying "Problem creating license key." It does not prompt me to insert the license key anywhere nor can I find a tab that allows me to do it manually.
Answer
The problem is most likely caused by lack of computer administration rights. In order to create a license, the installer needs to write into the Registry, which needs administration rights. When opening the program for the first time, right click the program icon, and choose "Open with administrator priviliges". After that the license key can be added. 
2.4. I uninstalled and reinstalling one of your programs, and when I reinstalled I got an error code 2042300.  I was not asked for a license key or given a new request code.  
Answer:
The error code appears when LabMicorbe or LabTrack have been installed twice. The reason for that is that LabTrack and LabMicrobe contain two installers (one for iMaq vision and one for LabTrack/LabMicrobe). Every second time the installer is activated, it uninstalls the program. It seems like the two installers might have been come out of phase, which should be OK after another round of uninstalling and reinstalling the program. Uninstalling and reinstalling LabTrack/LabMicrobe again should solve the problem.

3. LabTrack FAQ

3.1. When I tried to open a movie to begin tracking the window never popped up where you select the video.
Answer
LabTrack uses QuickTime, which seems to be missing. Make sure you have QuickTime installed on your computer. Download QuickTime for free from: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
3.2. I have problems with the evaluation of speeds of swimming in LabTrack. The videos are not read in real time in LabTrack and speeds are thus falsified.

Answer:

The timing of LabTrack video sequence analysis can be adjusted. Go to Export, and set the Time step, which is in seconds (if you have a frame rate of 25/second the Time step will be 1/25 = 0,04).

FAQ export

The number of frames to be analyzed can be adjusted in “Movie control” in the “Play and processing” tab. Per default every 1 frame will be analyzed. Skip every second frame by adjusting the number to 2. Skipping frames will influence the time step, which should be adjusted accordingly in the Export tab.

FAQ movie control

3.3. The software does not recognize any particles. I have tried a pretty wide range of settings, but may be doing something wrong?
Answer:
The problem is most likely image quality. When zooming in, you can see that there is noise in the image. My guess is that the noise blurs the signal, so that LabTrack has difficulties following each particle. Higher image resolution would solve the problem.
3.4. What is the maximum number of particles that can be tracked and the maximum frame rate for Labtrack?
Answer:
There is no limit to the number of tracks LabTrack can handle, as long as the organisms producing the tracks can be distinguished from one another. Because LabTrack analysis is off line (video clips are analyzed after they have been filmed), there is no maximum frame rate.
3.5. I have trouble with analysing my movie files with LabTrack, the video loops every 30 seconds. The files are H.263 and appear play smoothly in LabTrack and in Quick Time.

Answer:

The problem seems to be the H263 video compression, which is a time compressed video format. Index frame compression is a time compression where one frame is used as index frame, and the program calculates surrounding frames from the index frame. This applies to the following formats: H263, H264, MPEG4 ect. We found no problems with the uncompressed AVI format, Movie JPEG. QuickTime can show continuous films which are comressed, but LabTrack uses single frames, which creates conflicts. After saving the video in AVI format without compression there was no problems with looping (see below).
3.6. When I try to run a video in LabTrack it only shows a short sequence in the beginning of the video and repeats this sequence. The videos are in MP4 format and include a sound track.
Answer
The problem with the MP4 format is that the files are compressed using index frames. Index frame compression is a time compression where one frame is used as index frame, and the program calculates surrounding frames from the index frame. This applies to the following formats: H263, H264, MPEG4 ect. We found no problems with the uncompressed AVI format, Movie JPEG. Export of the MP4 file to a format not using index frame compression should solve your problem (see below).
Furthermore, the sound track is not compatible with LabTrack analysis, and should be removed.
We found QuickTime Pro to be very efficient for converting video formats. QuickTime Player can be upgraded to QuickTime Pro by going to Help -> Buy QuickTime Po from the App Stor (price around 30 US$, 21 €). The QuickTime Pro registration code will be sent to you via email, and should be entered via System Preferences.
Remove sound track 
In order to remove the Audio track: In QuickTime use Ctrl+J and a window with showing video and audio tracks will open. The audio track can be deleted choosing the audio track, delete and then save.
Converting MP4 file into a format compatible with LabTrack
  1. Open the movie in QuickTime Pro, and remove the sound track
  2. Mark the timeframe of interest, as shown below:
  3. Go to Edit -> Copy (copy the part of the movie of interest)

  1. Go to File -> New window, to create a new movie file. Go to Edit -> Paste the movie section
  2. Save the new movie: In the Fil menu, choose Export, 

  1. A new window will open. Export Video to AVI, and click Options (“Valg”)

  1. A new window will open, click "Settings" (“Indstillinger”)

  1. Again a new menu will open. Choose no compression:

  1. Set the Frame Rate to Current or Optimal to make the video flowrate as it was originally. In order to reduce file size, the resolution may be lowered, if necessary.
  2. Click OK, and Save to accept. 
3.7. Tracks terminate spontaneously and are continued by a new tracks.
Answer: Tracks are being fragmented.
A. Look for large stationary particles (e.g. dust) at the point of track fragmentation. Take care to avoid unnecessary particles in the material.
B. If the fragementation was not caused by dust, the edge detector should be adjusted:
  • Apply a less sensitive edge detector by decreasing the video resolution,
  • In the Tracking sub-windowby, the object size can be defined more precisely with the Min pixel size control 

4. LabMicrobe FAQ

 4.1. I would like to count FISH stained bacteria, but my images contain both red and green bacteria. Can LabMicrobe only count the green ones?
Answer:
LabMicrobe works with grey scale colours only, and can not distinguish between different colours., LabMicrobe will not be able to count green bacteria only, but will give you the total bacterial number. 
4.2. Can LabMicrobe count cells on a counting grid?

Answer:

A grid witch interferes with the counts, counting grid is not compatible with LabMicrobe
4.3. Can LabMicrobe count clustered cells?

Answer:

If cells are clustered, some of them may not be distinguished from each other by the image analyzer, and the cell number may be underestimated.