Decapod 0.3 Walkthrough

I. Introduction

Decapod is a project focused on building a low-cost digitization solution that will allow for rare materials, materials held in collections without large budgets, and other scholarly content to be digitized into a high-quality PDF format.

On this page, we'll be walking through Decapod 0.3, an early prototype of the solution.

II. Walkthrough

1. Decapod hardware setup	2. Initial application screen
The user starts by setting up the Decapod hardware rig, which consists of two digital cameras, camera mounts (either via a BookLiberator, as shown, or two tripods), cables connecting the cameras and computer, and a computer loaded with the Decapod software.	Upon starting the application, the user is greeted by an empty workspace. The screen's left side shows thumbnails of captured page spreads, while the screen's centre stage shows the full page spreads. The screen's lower portion contains the action buttons (capturing a page spread, and exporting the book).
3. Detecting the cameras	4. Taking pictures
When the user clicks "Take picture" for the first time, the application will detect whether compatible cameras are connected to the computer. If this passes, the user is taken to steps #4 and #5. Otherwise, the user is taken to #6. This step occurs only once in a session if compatible cameras are detected the first time.	The actual process of capturing the page spread takes a perceptible moment, as the cameras must both take the pictures and upload them to the computer.
5. Page capture success	6. Unsuccessful detection of cameras
Upon completion of the page spread capture, the application informs the user that the action was successful, and shows the page spread in the screen's centre stage. Note that the page numbers read 1-2 in the thumbnail, indicating that the capture was of a full page spread, as opposed to individual pages.	If the camera detection from step #3 was unsuccessful, a dialog is displayed indicating that compatible cameras were not detected, and suggestions on potential next steps are provided.
7. Moving pages around	8. Deleting pages
After taking captures of multiple page spreads, the user can reorder the pages using a simple drag-and-drop interaction with the thumbnails. (This situation typically arises when a user accidentally captures pages out of order.)	The user can delete page spreads by hovering over a thumbnail and clicking "Delete". (This situation typically arises when a user has taken multiple captures of the same page spread.)
9. Exporting the captures
Once the capture of page spreads is complete, the user can export all the captured pages into a single PDF by clicking on "Finish Book and Export".

III. Further information

Decapod 0.3

Decapod 0.3 Release: Information about the Decapod 0.3 release, including download and installation information, user guide, list of features and known issues, and planned improvements.

Decapod in general

Decapod Homepage: General overview and contact information about the Decapod project.
Decapod Wiki: Our community working space for Decapod design and development.
Decapod FAQ: Answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about Decapod.
BookLiberator: A related open source book digitization project. Decapod is compatible with the BookLiberator's book cradle.

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