A step by step example

This section details step by step the process to test FastTrack using data from the Two-Dimensional Tracking Dataset. Illustrations originate from v4.x.y and can differ from the current stable version.

Downloading

In this example, we will use the challenging movie ZFJ_001. This movie features 14 very active juvenile zebrafish. The principal difficulty of this movie is the frequent and complex occlusions. First, download the zip file and extract it. The image sequence is located inside the images folder.

Tracking

1. Open FastTrack and select the Interactive Tracking panel.
2. Import the movie by clicking on File then Open and by selecting one image in the folder images previously downloaded.
3. Compute the background by clicking on the Background tab and selecting these parameters:

• Method: Max (project the maximal intensity)

• Number of images: 199 (all the images)

• Registration: None (No registration is needed)

• And click the Compute button.

  

4. Click the Binarization panel and select these parameters:

• Type: Light Background (dark objects on light background)

• Value: 49

  

5. Click on the Detection panel and select:

• Maximal size: 190 (overlapping objects are rejected in most cases)

• Minimal size: 50 (noise is rejected)

  

6. Click the Tracking Options tab and select:

• Normalization Distance: 50

• Normalization Angle: 10

• Maximal Distance: 75

• Maximal Time: 25

• Spot to track: Head (best for deformable asymetric objects)

  Note: these parameters were found by trials and errors.

7. Click on the Track button to start the tracking

Reviewing

When the tracking is completed, FastTrack automatically opens the Tracking Inspector which allows the user to review and correct the tracking.

With the previous tracking analysis, only seven corrections and six deletions are necessary to achieve a perfect tracking accuracy.

image	id	delete	swap with
17-20	1-0	x
17-20	0	x
22	0		1
23	1		4
27-28	1	x
63	1		8
97	6		12
50-57	1	x
109-121	0	x
114	9		13
116-118	0	x
122	0		13
124	4		12