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Mimic Focus Recording — Use LEARN Mode, Not LIVE; Keep Acceleration Moderate

Summary

When recording focus pulls into a Mimic move, always set the focus axis to LEARN mode rather than LIVE mode. In LIVE mode, Flair replays focus moves from a pre-existing keyframe curve at the same time as recording new robot motion — this contaminate the recording with old focus data. In LEARN mode, Flair records whatever the focus axis actually does during the physical performance. Separately, keep acceleration settings moderate during Mimic recording — high acceleration causes the robot to overshoot waypoints as it tries to track a rapidly-changing position target, producing a jerky or unstable recorded move that doesn't match the intended performance.

Symptoms

  • Recorded Mimic move has wrong or unexpected focus data — focus doesn't match what was pulled during recording.
  • Focus appears to replay an old curve rather than the freshly performed pull.
  • Recorded move plays back with axis overshoot — jerky, oscillating, or unstable motion.
  • Move felt smooth during recording but plays back differently.
  • Focus is correct during recording but incorrect on playback.

Community Guidance

[RESOLVED] Use LEARN Mode for Focus Axis — Not LIVE

Community consensus

The Mimic recording system has per-axis mode settings:

  • LEARN mode: Flair records the actual physical position of the axis in real time as you operate it.
  • LIVE mode: Flair replays the existing keyframe curve for that axis during recording — intended for axes you want to preserve from a previous pass, not for axes you are actively operating.

If focus is set to LIVE during a Mimic recording, Flair will play back the existing focus curve (from a prior pass) and record that old data into the new recording, not the focus you actually pulled. Always set focus to LEARN before recording a new focus performance.

In Flair 7: Mimic Settings → set all axes you are physically operating to LEARN.

confidence_score: 0.90

[RESOLVED] Keep Acceleration Moderate During Mimic Recording

Community consensus

During Mimic recording, the robot tracks the operator's real-time position inputs. If acceleration is set too high, the robot responds too aggressively to position changes and overshoots — the resulting recorded curves have sharp spikes and oscillations. Keep acceleration at a moderate value (typically 50–70% of maximum) for mimic recording:

  • High acceleration: robot tracks fast but overshoots and oscillates
  • Moderate acceleration: robot tracks smoothly with minimal overshoot
  • Low acceleration: robot lags behind and the recording has latency-induced errors

After recording, you can apply smoothing in the Cartesian Graphics view to clean up any remaining artefacts.

confidence_score: 0.88

[INFORMATIONAL] Focus AC Coordination for Cinema Camera Packages

Community

When recording focus with a cinema camera and lens package, coordinate timing with the focus AC: - The AC should pull focus in real time during the Mimic recording pass - Focus motor response (if using a lens motor via UltiBox or similar) has inherent latency — account for this in the recording - Consider doing a separate focus recording pass (robot pre-programmed, focus operator records only) rather than trying to record both robot motion and focus simultaneously

confidence_score: 0.85