Exporting Data from ThermaCAM Researcher  [top]

by Jason Gagnon
ITC Technical Support Manager

Questions often arise about how to export data from ThermaCAM Researcher into other, more standard formats. This article will discuss some of the most common export techniques. Note that all instructions are based on ThermaCAM Researcher 2.7 Professional. All options may not be available in older versions of the program.

Part 1: Open the images

1. Researcher can analyze two types of IR files. A sequence file (*.SEQ) is an IR movie file that can be recorded directly to the PC’s hard drive with a live connection to the camera or to the internal memory of an S60 camera using the burst recording mode. An image file (file extension varies depending on what type of camera is used) is a single IR file that can be stored in the camera and then transferred to the PC. Researcher can also store a single IR file or a series of IR files to the PC’s hard disk when you have a live connection to the camera.

2. Select Image > Open in Researcher to select the sequence file or image files that you want to analyze. Highlight the images of interest and click the Add button to add them to the session. You can add several sequences and image files to a session. Click OK once all the images have been added.

Part 2: Set selection to export

1. By default all of the images currently open in the session are selected. You can, however, reduce the selection to only a specific set of images. To set a new selection, drag the Image slider to the starting point of the new selection. Click Set selection start to set the starting point.

2. Now drag the Image slider to the end of the new selection and click the Set selection end button. The blue highlighted area represents the selection that will be exported.

Part 3: Copy selection to another format

1. Select Recording > Copy Selection from the pull-down menus to export your selection. The save options are as follows:

a. SEQ: This will copy the current selection into a new sequence file. This option will only appear if the source is a sequence file. You can’t convert a series of individual IR image files into a new SEQ file.

b. Bmp: This will convert each frame in the current selection into a Windows BMP image file. You have the option to include the temperature scale and analysis tools or to export just the image with no tools or scale.

c. Avi: This will convert the current selection into an AVI movie file, which can be viewed using Windows Media Player. Compression options vary depending on what Codecs are installed on the PC.

d. Matlab file: This will convert each frame in the current selection into a Matlab (*.MAT) file for use with Matlab data analysis software. Specifics on the formatting of the data file can be found in the Researcher Help file.

e. FLIR Public Format: This will convert each frame in the current selection into an FPF file. FPF is a public format that can be used by software engineers to integrate IR images stored with Researcher into custom image processing software. The image format is fully described in the Researcher manual and Help file.

2. Once the output format has been selected and you click OK all of the frames in the selection will be exported to the chosen format.

Part 4: Export a single image file

1. To export a single IR image, select Image > Save As from the pull-down menus. The save options are as follows:

a. IR File: This will save the image in an IR format so it can be opened again in Researcher or used with other FLIR analysis software such as Thermacam Reporter and Image Explorer.

b. Bitmap file. only IR: This will save the IR image as a BMP file with no temperature scale or analysis tools.

c. Bitmap file. IR, Scale and Analysis: This will save the IR image as a BMP file with the temperature scale and all analysis tools.

d. Matlab file: This will save the IR image as a Matlab (*.MAT) file for use with Matlab data analysis software. Specifics on the formatting of the data file can be found in the Researcher Help file.

e. CSV file: This will export the entire image into a text file where each pixel temperature in the image is separated by a comma. CSV is a standard format that can be read by many programs such as Microsoft Excel.

f. FLIR Public Format: This will save the IR image as an FPF file, which is a public format that can be used by software engineers to integrate IR images stored with Researcher into custom image processing software. The image format is fully described in the Researcher manual and Help file.

g. JPEG file: This will save the IR image as a standard JPEG file without the temperature scale and analysis tools.

Part 5: Save an area as a CSV text file

1. An area box, circle, or polygon tool can be exported as a text file with a user-defined delimiter. The resulting text file will contain each temperature value in the selected area separated by the delimiter. To export an area:

a. Select Image > Save Area As from the menus. Select the area of interest from the list and then type a delimiter. The Delimiter is the character that separates each temperature value in the text file. A comma is the default selection and the most commonly used delimiter, but you can change this to any character.

b. The Rotated check box will rotate the area 90 degrees when it is exported (new in Researcher 2.7 Pro).

c. The last step is to set a filename and location for the text file. Once all the settings are made, click OK to save the new text file.

Note that in Researcher 2.7 Pro circles and polygons will retain their shape when exported to CSV format. Previous versions would save a rectangle regardless of what shape is used on the image.

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