M378E 15.10.NF.25 *M378EN25* NIS-Elements AR (Advanced Research) User’s Guide (Ver. 4.50) Thank you very much for choosing Nikon. This manual explains installation and use of the NIS-Elements Advanced Research. For trouble-free operation, read this manual before using the program. No part of this manual may be reproduced and transmitted without Nikon’s permission. The content of this manual is subject to change without notice. Nikon has carefully prepared this manual. However, we make no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assume no responsibility for such errors or omissions. Be sure to read the instruction manuals for the microscope and PC you plan to use with the NIS-Elements Advanced Research. Trademarks: Microsoft® and Windows® are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States or other countries. Products and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. The “TM” and ®marks are not used to identify registered trademarks and trademarks in this manual. To run NIS-Elements Advanced Research optimally, the following specifications are required. Minimum PC Specification: CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo or higher RAM for 32bit OS: 2GB or higher RAM for 64bit OS: 4GB or higher Operating system: Windows 7 Professional SP1 64bit (English) HDD: 2GB or more of available hard disk space for installation Display: 1280x1024 pixel (True Color mode) User rights: Administrators for installation * Operation cannot be guaranteed on all computer models. For further information, contact your nearest Nikon representatives. NIS-Elements AR Table of Contents 1. Command Line Startup Options ........................................................................................... 1 2. Installation and Settings ..................................................................................................... 5 2.1. Installation and Updates .......................................................................................... 5 2.2. Additional Modules Available in NIS-Elements AR ..................................................... 12 2.3. User Rights .......................................................................................................... 14 2.4. NIS-Elements Preferences ...................................................................................... 21 2.5. NIS-Elements ER Package ...................................................................................... 23 3. User Interface ................................................................................................................. 25 3.1. Main Window Components ..................................................................................... 25 3.2. Image Window ...................................................................................................... 28 3.3. Arranging User Interface ........................................................................................ 31 3.4. Layouts ............................................................................................................... 32 3.5. Layout Manager .................................................................................................... 33 3.6. Modifying Toolbars ................................................................................................ 34 3.7. Modifying Menus ................................................................................................... 36 3.8. Running a Macro Upon Layout Change ..................................................................... 37 3.9. Appearance Options .............................................................................................. 37 4. Cameras & Devices .......................................................................................................... 41 4.1. Basic Workflows .................................................................................................... 41 5. Image Acquisition ............................................................................................................ 63 5.1. Introduction to Image Acquisition ............................................................................ 63 5.2. Shading Correction ............................................................................................... 64 5.3. Camera ROI ......................................................................................................... 65 5.4. About ND Acquisition ............................................................................................. 67 5.5. Time-lapse Acquisition ........................................................................................... 69 5.6. Multi-point Acquisition ........................................................................................... 73 5.7. Z-series Acquisition ................................................................................................ 77 5.8. Multi-channel Acquisition ....................................................................................... 79 5.9. Large-image Acquisition ......................................................................................... 81 5.10. Inputs/Outputs Control ........................................................................................ 82 5.11. Combined ND Acquisition ..................................................................................... 83 5.12. Capturing to Ring Buffer ....................................................................................... 87 6. Displaying Images ............................................................................................................ 89 6.1. Open, Save, Close Images ...................................................................................... 89 6.2. Image Layers ........................................................................................................ 95 6.3. ND Dimensions ................................................................................................... 100 6.4. Large Images ..................................................................................................... 123 6.5. LUTs - Non-destructive Image Enhancement ........................................................... 125 6.6. Organizer ........................................................................................................... 134 7. Image Analysis ............................................................................................................... 139 7.1. Preparation ........................................................................................................ 139 7.2. Image Segmentation ........................................................................................... 143 7.3. Binary Layers ...................................................................................................... 149 7.4. Regions of Interest - ROIs ..................................................................................... 157 8. Measurement ............................................................................................................... 163 8.1. Basic Workflows .................................................................................................. 163 8.2. Manual Measurement ......................................................................................... 179 8.3. Automated Measurement ..................................................................................... 184 8.4. Time Measurement ............................................................................................. 186 8.5. Measurement Features ....................................................................................... 191 9. Creating Reports ........................................................................................................... 213 9.1. Report Generator ................................................................................................ 213 9.2. Report Objects ................................................................................................... 214 9.3. Report Templates ................................................................................................ 215 10. Macros ....................................................................................................................... 217 10.1. Creating Macros ................................................................................................ 217 10.2. Running a Macro ............................................................................................... 219 10.3. Macro Language Syntax ..................................................................................... 219 10.4. Controlling Cameras by Macro ............................................................................ 227 10.5. Macro Preferences ............................................................................................ 227 11. Movies ....................................................................................................................... 229 11.1. Capturing AVI Movie ........................................................................................... 229 11.2. Save ND2 as AVI ............................................................................................... 229 11.3. Creating a Movie ............................................................................................... 230 11.4. About Video Compression .................................................................................