OptiTrack Documentation: link
Motion Capture Licenses: As of 3/4/2025, we have 2 Unlimited and 4 Tracker licenses (Features for each license: link). The Unlimited licenses are in the Dance Studio and Field & Construction. Please ask SRC staff about upgrading licenses if needed.
Login/Auth for SRC MoCap Computers: Please ask SRC staff (Zen) for login / authorization.
Each MoCap Room has a KVM that allows a user to control the MoCap computer remotely via web interface if connected to the local network (Ex: SRC, eduroam, Stanford, Stanford Visitor). To connect, enter the public domain name (i.e. SRC-KVM-Dance.stanford.edu) into a web browser. Accept the security risk by clicking Advanced, and Accept the Risk and Continue.
The website should prompt for a user and password login. Please contact the SRC Lab Manager, Zen Yaskawa ([email protected]) for the username and password.
Once logged in, one may be prompted for the user and password for the MoCap computer. Please contact the SRC Lab Manager, Zen Yaskawa ([email protected]) for the password.
Open the Motive application to access the MoCap system.
Ideally, it is best to stream data over the SRC network instead of directly connecting via ethernet to Optitrack computers to avoid others from losing the ability to stream data. It would be best to send a Wifi MAC address for your laptop/device that would like to stream Optitrack data to Zen. We can then request the network manager in EE to assign static IP addresses for your devices to be on SRC network. Note that the device needs to be on SRC network in order to receive streaming data.
There are also multiple options to stream Optitrack data. Listed here are instructions for NatNetSDK and ROS2 VRPN.
Note that the above only works if the device is registered with Stanford.
Important
We have noticed that streaming mocap data in different Bays/rooms at the same time causes both data streams to lag. Thus, please make sure to check if any other MoCap systems are streaming data, and disable as necessary. Additionally, when not using MoCap, please disable data streaming.
Definition of MAC address:
A MAC address is a unique 12-digit hexadecimal number that identifies a network interface controller (NIC) for communication on a computer network.
It's typically represented in the format XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX or XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX, where XX represents a two-digit hexadecimal number.
For example, a MAC address might look like 00:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E or 00-1A-2B-3C-4D-5E
To obtain your wifi MAC address, one can go into Network settings and go into Details to find their wifi MAC address. For example, for Apple devices, click Settings, click Details and there should be an associated MAC address. Please make sure to turn off Rotating on Private Wifi address since assigning a static IP requires a static MAC address. The MAC address should be the same regardless of the network one is connected to.
One can also find their wifi MAC address by running ifconfig in a terminal and knowing which network interface matches wifi. Typically, wifi MAC addresses are interface: wlan0, wlp2s0, wlo1, ... though the interface can change depending on the device.
One can similarly obtain a Ethernet MAC address with the above methods if you would like a direct ethernet connection to the SRC network. Typically, with running ifconfig to checking interfaces, ethernet is eth0, en0, enp45s0, ... though sometimes it is confusing since ethernet interfaces can be used for wifi (ex: en0 is wifi for my MacBook Air)
To stream data to a sample client, download the NatNet 4.3 SDK from Optitrack: Link to Ubuntu / Fedora / Windows
For Ubuntu Linux, once installed, set the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH by running export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=~/Downloads/NatNet_SDK_4.3_ubuntu/lib/, while making sure that is the correct file path to the NatNet_SDK_4.3_ubuntu/lib/ directory. Then navigate to the NatNet_SDK_4.3_ubuntu/samples/SampleClient/build directory and run the Sample Client: ./SampleClient for the CPP package.
One can also use the Python Client package by navigating to the NatNet_SDK_4.3_ubuntu/samples/PythonClient directory and run python3 PythonSample.py. This should prompt for a Client and Server IP address. The client IP should be the static IP address assigned to the device for the SRC network and the server IP address should correspond to the IP address streaming on MoCap interface.
If the computer is connected to SRC wifi and one has enabled streaming on Motive, there should be available IP addreses to stream from:
One can select the correct stream by pressing the corresponding key/number in brackets next to the corresponding IP address to stream from. Note: Apparently Linux SDK is the fastest performing, followed by Windows and then the python API used for Mac.
For Apple/MacOS computers, use the following Python API: Python API for Dance Demo
Install on local machine using git clone https://github.com/rhea-mal/optitrack_dance_demo/tree/dev/controller, navigate to drivers/PythonClient and adjust the client and server addresses appropriately in StreamDataSkeleton.py. The server address should be the IP address of the computer that one is streaming from (as of 1/26/2026, 172.24.68.67) and the client address should be the IP address of your computer that should be assigned via the SRC network.
Then run python3 StreamDataSkeleton.py
Follow the instructions listed below for ROS2 VPRN MoCap: vrpn_mocap
Make sure that NatNet has streaming enabled, the transmision type is Multicast, and VRPN streaming is enabled. Make note of the server IP address and Broadcast port number in Optitrack:
Note that when you run
ros2 launch vrpn_mocap client.launch.yaml server:=<server ip> port:=<port>, where <server ip> is the IP address MoCap is streaming from (i.e. in the screenshot, 172.24.69.108) and <port> is the Broadcast port (i.e. in the screenshot, 3883).
If you get a VRPN Connection Bad message from running the command above, likely one will need to install netbase with sudo apt update; sudo apt install netbase as listed in the Github issues here: link
License: Motive Tracker
Public Domain: SRC-KVM-HRI.stanford.edu
License: Motive Unlimited
Public Domain: SRC-KVM-Dance.stanford.edu
Important
Please make sure to reset Optitrack and network settings to what was originally there. This helps to mitigate configuration issues and running the dance demo.
For dance studio, the Optitrack IP address you would like to stream over would be 172.24.68.67 if the ethernet cable is connected correctly to the switch. The correct settings for this configuration should have the Optitrack computer with wifi turned off and Ethernet 2 (i.e. the network adapter) set to DHCP.
Once your device is assigned a static IP, one should be able to stream data from the Optitrack computer at 172.24.68.67 when connected to the SRC network.
License: Motive Tracker
Public Domain: SRC-KVM-Domestic.stanford.edu
For the domestic suite, the Optitrack IP address you would like to stream over would be 172.24.69.66 if the ethernet cable is connected correctly to the switch. The correct settings for this configuration should have the Optitrack computer with wifi turned off and Ethernet 2 (i.e. the network adapter) set to DHCP.
License: Motive Tracker
Public Domain: SRC-KVM-Kitchen.stanford.edu
For the kitchen, the Optitrack IP address you would like to stream over would be 172.24.69.102 if the ethernet cable is connected correctly to the switch. The correct settings for this configuration should have the Optitrack computer with wifi turned off and Ethernet 2 (i.e. the network adapter) set to DHCP.
Once your device is assigned a static IP, one should be able to stream data from the Optitrack computer at 172.24.69.102 when connected to the SRC network.
License: Motive Unlimited
Public Domain: SRC-KVM-Fieldbay.stanford.edu
For the field bay, the Optitrack IP address you would like to stream over would be 172.24.68.77 if the ethernet cable is connected correctly to the switch. The correct settings for this configuration should have the Optitrack computer with wifi turned off and Ethernet 2 (i.e. the network adapter) set to DHCP.
Once your device is assigned a static IP, one should be able to stream data from the Optitrack computer at 172.24.68.77 when connected to the SRC network.
License: Motive Tracker
Public Domain: SRC-KVM-Warehouse.stanford.edu
For Logistics & Manufacturing, the Optitrack IP address you would like to stream over would be 172.24.69.108 if the ethernet cable is connected correctly to the switch. The correct settings for this configuration should have the Optitrack computer with wifi turned off and Ethernet 2 (i.e. the network adapter) set to DHCP.
Once your device is assigned a static IP, one should be able to stream data from the Optitrack computer at 172.24.69.108 when connected to the SRC network.