The Eye, Film, And Video In High-Speed Motion Analysis

Abstract

The unaided human eye with its inherent limitations serves us well in the examination of most large-scale, slow-moving, natural and man-made phenomena, but constraints imposed by inertial factors in the visual mechanism severely limit our ability to observe fast-moving and short-duration events. The introduction of high-speed photography (c. 1851) and videography (c. 1970) served to stretch the temporal limits of human perception by several orders of magnitude so critical analysis could be performed on a wide range of rapidly occurring events of scientific, technological, industrial, and educational interest. The preferential selection of eye, film, or video imagery in fulfilling particular motion analysis requirements is determined largely by the comparative attributes and limitations of these methods. The choice of either film or video does not necessarily eliminate the eye, because it usually continues as a vital link in the analytical chain. The important characteristics of the eye, film, and video imagery in high-speed motion analysis are discussed with particular reference to fields of application which include biomechanics, ballistics, machine design, mechanics of materials, sports analysis, medicine, production engineering, and industrial trouble-shooting.