Set up your system

A complete solution
EthoVision XT is not just tracking software. It is much more. EthoVision XT is a software platform for automated tracking and analysis of animal movement, activity, and behavior. The software guides you through the experiment from Experimental set-up via Data acquisition to Data Analysis.

The basics
A basic set-up of EthoVision XT consists of an analog or firewire camera connected to a laptop or PC with EthoVision XT installed. When you order the EthoVision XT software, you receive a slip case containing the software CD, a sample projects DVD, a reference manual and, most importantly, a hardware key (dongle). This hardware key is in fact your license and is programmed to use EthoVision XT Base and any other module you might have ordered. Of course, you can choose to upgrade your license at any time if you wish to extend your EthoVision XT system with another module. You are free to install EthoVision XT on as many computers as you like, only data acquisition is restricted to one computer at a time.
 
The reference manual is an extensive guide on how to use EthoVision XT in your research. It helps you get to know EthoVision XT, whether you need to answer some basic questions or need a guide through your complete experiment.
Additional documentation is available through this web site, including application notes.

Set up your experiment
With EthoVision XT you can easily predefine your experiment. You can set-up a trial list with all the information you need, such as animal identification number, age, sex, or the treatment they will receive. You can of course copy this data from an existing database, such as Microsoft Excel. After you acquired your data, you can use all these variables to select data for analysis.

Definition of the arenas the animals are tested in is easy with the use of the intuitive drawing tools. The same tools are used to define zones of interest, such as the platform in the morris water maze. EthoVision XT provides the option to set start and stop conditions based on the animal’s behavior which makes your experiment more efficient. You can even use these conditions to control external equipment when using the Trial and Hardware Control Module. This fully automates your research.