Vision Camera problem?

[Zer0beaT]

Hey,

I'm trying to use my vision camera so I can scan a card.

Problem is, I don't see how to do that. I checked the manual and it didn't help only saying you do it in the garden at any time?

The weird thing is that my camera actually turns off (the green ring on it goes out) when I start VP:TIP

I'm worried that my camera isn't working properly, but maybe I'm just not doing something right in the game?

I tried the camera with another game just to be sure (Pinball FX) and it works fine. I wonder why VP isn't recognizing the camera?

Anyway. What do you do to use the vision camera?

Thanks a lot and Squazzils rule!!!!

[Zer0beaT]

I just tried UNO to be sure, and my camera seems to be working.

Perhaps this is an unlockable feature and I'm being impatient? If so I apologize.

[the_galagoogoo]

I just tried UNO to be sure, and my camera seems to be working.

Perhaps this is an unlockable feature and I'm being impatient? If so I apologize.

Yeah, I think after you beat Langston's Challenge.

[Zer0beaT]

Ah, good to know. I did do the Bispotti challenge already.

Guess I'll just have to wait.

Well maybe this post will be helpful to someone else worried that their camera is busted.

Thanks!

[jimmcq]

There are general tips for scanning cards in the wiki's Pinata Vision article.

What gardener level are you? I have seen other people mention that the camera didn't become available until they hit level 4, but I haven't been able to confirm that yet.

[Br26]

i'm around 11, and i have been trying all day to get a card scanned but to no avail. all four corners appear but it does nothing. it's also tiring holding up the card to the camera for a long time...the slightest move will make it dissapear. agh...

i guess once i finally get it, it'll be easier, but still, pretty annoying..

[jimmcq]

Make sure that you've got bright enough lighting in the room. Is it drawing lines around all four sides of the card?

[Elwakka]

The camera won't start working until the popup menu comes up saying that you can now use your camera.

Just like you can't build until willy comes.

Edit:


Also, anybody get the 10% coupon to work? It's coming up as either red or amber all the time.... i scan it in the shop and as i'm checking out... nothing.

The professor pestor cards seem invalid as well....

[Br26]

Make sure that you've got bright enough lighting in the room. Is it drawing lines around all four sides of the card?

yep, on all four sides. and the light's on in the room...ill try moving it to other areas of the room and see what i can come up with.

[BIGsheep]

For the OP, you should find that when you are in your garden, when you haven't selected anything with the cursor and no popups or cutscenes are running, your camera should go green. At this point you should be able to scan it.

The camera won't start working until the popup menu comes up saying that you can now use your camera.

Just like you can't build until willy comes.

Edit:


Also, anybody get the 10% coupon to work? It's coming up as either red or amber all the time.... i scan it in the shop and as i'm checking out... nothing.

The professor pestor cards seem invalid as well....

If it goes yellow then that probably means you've already scanned it. If it goes red then it can't read it properly, check your lighting and focus.

As for the Pester card, if he's already selected a target then there's nothing you can do.

[Quintrixx]

The camera won't start working until the popup menu comes up saying that you can now use your camera.

Just like you can't build until willy comes.

Edit:


Also, anybody get the 10% coupon to work? It's coming up as either red or amber all the time.... i scan it in the shop and as i'm checking out... nothing.

The professor pestor cards seem invalid as well....

Snap, I cant get the 10% card to work either. Also the reverse of the card that came with the game seems to refuse to play ball. Please post if you have a answer for the 10%!

[BIGsheep]

What is it exactly doing? Are you getting a red bar, is your camera working at all, where are you scanning it?

The best I can do is say check the focus and the lighting, as suggested here. (http://pinataisland.info/viva/Pi%C3%B1ata_Vision#Tips_for_scanning_a_card)

[Br26]

for me, i just added an extra lightbulb and it finally worked. i havent tried the 10 percent off though, i got the preztail.

[rashberry]

Feel free to add/edit this info to the wiki page...

Pinata Vision unlocks at level 4 or when you've completed or skipped the first three challenges.

Once you've had the Pinata Vision intro PIP, you can use the camera whenever the green light on the camera is on. The camera is turned off when you are busy doing something else in the garden and use of the camera would be in appropriate, e.g. viewing a PIP, directly a pinata. When the cursor is just idling in the garden, the light should be green.

The discount cards won't provide any physical evidence that they are working other than the prices being lower in the shop. You won't get a PIP or a 10% sale graphic appearing. When you exit a shop, the discount is cleared so your next visit will be back to full price.

If you scan a discount card whilst in the shop, move the cursor from the currently selected item and back again to see the price update.

Most cards can only be used once per pinata day (actually 24 pinata hours), which may explain why people haven't seen the 10% discount card work. Wait for a couple of nights to pass and then try it again.

If you have no difficulty in using the 'place a pinata' cards, your lighting, camera focus and card handling skills are fine and it will be something else that is preventing you from using one of the other cards types.

Rashberry

[Quintrixx]

Thanks for the advice ill try it tonight after work. All the other cards I have tried seem to work ok, it was purely the 10% and whatever the card is in the game package with what looks like a gold coin on it... sorry for the bad decriptions.
ps.... Gotta love BarkBark!

[Ayla2656]

Hey,

I'm trying to use my vision camera so I can scan a card.

Problem is, I don't see how to do that. I checked the manual and it didn't help only saying you do it in the garden at any time?

The weird thing is that my camera actually turns off (the green ring on it goes out) when I start VP:TIP

I'm worried that my camera isn't working properly, but maybe I'm just not doing something right in the game?

I tried the camera with another game just to be sure (Pinball FX) and it works fine. I wonder why VP isn't recognizing the camera?

Anyway. What do you do to use the vision camera?

Thanks a lot and Squazzils rule!!!!

i think i can tell you your exact problem, go on www.xbox.com, login and go to your profile then your settings, chances are you have your view cam on friends, or block and that will not let you use your vision cam, i had to do this for my kids accounts i had to set it for them to use cam with everyone in order for the green light to come on and them to scan

[rashberry]

i think i can tell you your exact problem, go on www.xbox.com (http://www.xbox.com), login and go to your profile then your settings, chances are you have your view cam on friends, or block and that will not let you use your vision cam, i had to do this for my kids accounts i had to set it for them to use cam with everyone in order for the green light to come on and them to scan

I do not believe that is correct. The Live privileges for the camera have nothing to do with VP:TiP.

The camera light is only on in VP:TiP when you have played sufficiently in the game to have Pinata Vision introduced AND you are in part of the game that supports Pinata Vision and the player cursor isn't busy.

Is is quite normal for the light to be out initially or turn on and off as you play.

Rashberry

[thatgeekgirl]

Oh man I had the worst problem with these cards last night- my boyfriend and I tried scanning them (both from the stat guide and the one included in the game case) and after an HOUR finally got one to work. The rest would come up red so we gave up.

Now, maybe its just my camera is bad (I've never had the need to use it before) but does it come up in blue-scale for everyone else? Kinda like black and white but its blue? Because if not maybe its the cam.

But yeah, we moved the cam into a brighter area, even brought over a halogen light, tired keeping it still, it would read all four corners but not scan it in. Literallly, spent an hour and only got one to work. I hope its just the stupid camera!

[rashberry]

The game does present the camera image preview in a blue shade to match the style of the UI, so that's perfectly normal. When a card is read, the card portion of the preview window will flash full colour.

If the UI is flashing a red light, it's probably the camera focus that needs adjusting. You might want to try the camera settings in the consoles dashboard to check that the focus is good whilst holding a card up at the right distance. And don't forget to hold the card sideways on so it fits the shape of the camera view better.

Rashberry

[jimmcq]

I found it best to turn the focus-ring all the way counter-clockwise, and then dial it back about a quarter turn. If that still doesn't work then try adjusting the focus a little.

[rashberry]

I'll see if we can't knock up some example video's at Rare to demonstrates the "do's" and "don'ts" for success with Pinata Vision and get them online.

Rashberry

[thatgeekgirl]

OK good, glad my camera isn't busted. Yah we tried fidgeting with the focus on it, and we could see the picture just find, but the game wouldn't read it. We were trying to get the preztail or something small like that. I'm going to try scanning it here on my computer screen in a few minutes and see if that works better.

Oh yeah and def. held the cards horizontially. It wouldn't even see the cards any other way! hehe

[thatgeekgirl]

And Rash, that would be excellent. Anything that would save the frusteration of trying to figure it out and it not working would be great.

I think its still a neat feature, my question is, do you think kids could be able to use it? I can see alot of mom's and dad's getting called to help lol!

[blazini]

I show that i have one card scanned in not sure which one. My garden came with a Pretztail in it does that card that came with the game give me another?

[conorlord]

i dont have the game but most people seem to be having trouble with it so i was just wondering what is the right thing to do?

[blazini]

Plug it in and once you hit gardener lvl 4 it will allow you to actually use the camera. If you use search there are many post that will help you.

[steinbeck11]

I got the nine in the book scanned and the two included with the game and did not get the 10 card achievement. Has anyone else had that problem?

[conorlord]

kk thanks and where do u get the vision cards from?

[conorlord]

oh never mind i didnt see stienbecks post

[thatgeekgirl]

I got the nine in the book scanned and the two included with the game and did not get the 10 card achievement. Has anyone else had that problem?

I've only gotten one to successfully scan in but it gave me the 1 card achievement for it. I don't know if I'll ever get to 10 cards! lol

[rashberry]

I got the nine in the book scanned and the two included with the game and did not get the 10 card achievement. Has anyone else had that problem?

Did you actually place the pinata in your garden that you got from the cards when scanned or did you discard any? The cards don't count if you cancel the placement of the pinata. I'm sure if you keep going it'll soon unlock the achievement.

Rashberry

[Ayla2656]

well my son was level 8 or 9 at the time we weren't doing anything and the green light would not come on at all, i went on the computer changed his settings, then the light came on right away as he held the card in front so it was his settings were set on block and the cam won't work at all if it is set to block

[FeralKitty]

... the cam won't work at all if it is set to block

It does work even if it's set to block. The Xbox Live privacy settings don't affect the game's use of the camera.

Perhaps your cursor was outside the garden boundary?

[Zap657]

So.. I don't know if I missed that part of the tutorial somehow, but I never got the message allowing me to use the cam. (And yes, I'm way above level 4 :p)

[ruinsedge]

I've spent more time trying to get the cards to scan then actually playing the game itself. The room the xbox is in has a ceiling fan, with 3 lights on it, and plenty bright enough. The lines show up around all 4 sides of the card, but wont do anything 90% of the time. I keep moving the card in and out, focusing, everything.

I've had a few cards scan now, maybe 3-4, but it probably took an hour of messing per card to actually scan.

The best luck I've had with the cards is to unplug my xbox, move it across the room, put the camera in the closet and try to scan the cards in there. Its SUPER bright in the closet, way too bright for your average room though.

I honestly don't see how this is going to work for everyone, with the many different lighting conditions in houses today. I think a bigger preview window, with full color would work better.

[ruinsedge]

Ok i finally got them to work right, but i had to scan my cards and make them 2x as big as they were for them to scan. So if you are printing them out, make sure they are nice and big.

[Zer0beaT]

I got a pop up message from Leafos that activated the camera either after doing the frog dudes challenges or getting to level 4. So there you go, it has to be unlocked.

Unfortunately I can't get the pretztail to scan but I'll have to mess around with the focus some more.

[jimmcq]

I never got the message allowing me to use the cam. (And yes, I'm way above level 4 :p)

Umm... silly question... do you have the camera plugged in?

Check with Langston and see if all the tutorial challenges are done.

[BIGsheep]

I show that i have one card scanned in not sure which one. My garden came with a Pretztail in it does that card that came with the game give me another?If they are different cards, then yes, you will get another.

i dont have the game but most people seem to be having trouble with it so i was just wondering what is the right thing to do?I don't want to be cruel, but 99% of problems is because the camera isn't in focus or the lighting isn't correct. If you follow those rules then the cards are mostly reliable... I say mostly to cover my back.

I got the nine in the book scanned and the two included with the game and did not get the 10 card achievement. Has anyone else had that problem?Did they all scan with green bars?

So.. I don't know if I missed that part of the tutorial somehow, but I never got the message allowing me to use the cam. (And yes, I'm way above level 4 :p)Have you got your camera plugged in? It will only show this if the camera is plugged in and some activity is detected.

[Galagowho]

It's easy to scan once you get the hang of it. Like BIGsheep said, 99% of problems is because the camera isn't in focus or the lighting isn't correct. If you follow those rules then the cards are mostly reliable.

While I was holding my card, I was SLOWLY turning the focus nob. Also, I was able to scan right from my computer. Just by holding my camera to the screen. *make sure to enlarge the photo first.*

[kisumi]

im trying to scan pics of cards that people have made and posted up on this site but nothing seems to happen when its all aligned

[rashberry]

im trying to scan pics of cards that people have made and posted up on this site but nothing seems to happen when its all aligned

Have you read through this thread from the start? Have you looked at the Pinata Vision page on the wiki?

What do you actually see happen? Is the camera light on? Is the UI popping up? Does the UI show the 4 edges of the card? Does the traffic light indicator ever show Red, Amber or Green?

Rashberry

[vinsonbar]

I have found that the vision camera for this game is pretty much crap. I have gotten it to work but it's almost as frustrating sometimes as it is to get the pinata the regular way. it's a good effort but it isn't nearly as good as it should be. the eye of judgement works much better. but hey w/e who am I to judge. lol.

[fr33k5h0w]

Pinata Vision doesn't seem to be working for me. Does anybody know why? My camera thing is working fine and I'm doing what it says in the instruction manual to make it work, but it just isn't doing anything.:mad:

[FeralKitty]

Pinata Vision doesn't seem to be working for me. Does anybody know why? My camera thing is working fine and I'm doing what it says in the instruction manual to make it work, but it just isn't doing anything.:mad:

Read through this thread and/or the wiki's Pinata Vision article for tips and suggestions.

[o Potential o]

I have the same problem...i'm level 4 and i got a message saying vision is enabled...but when i put the card in front of the screen it will only highlight the top, nothing happens to the rest. once for about half a second it highlighted the whole card...but nothing happened.

[thatgeekgirl]

Really, its a neat technology and they probably did their best with what they had but the vision cam itself isn't really the best technology ever. I've tried numorous times and so far have only gotten one to scan. I'm eventually going to try to get 10 just for the achievement but thats probably it- maybe the one for the "special" pinata from the site.

All in all, it just doesn't work the best but keep trying.

[Bastion6six6]

Was a cool idea, but no amount of reading the "this is how many lights you need on in ur room" FAQ will get the cards to work, the vision camera is a fun toy, but simply cannot achievement precision tasks like this. would much rather just have the game generate a code for every pinata and have to painstakingly type it in in order to xfer pinatas, at least that wouldnt be as frustrating as standing in front of ur camera for an hour only to get nothing in return.

[o Potential o]

i figured it out...if you are having trouble, sit your camera on the ground and lean the card against the wall, standing straight up...thats how i did it.

[rashberry]

i figured it out...if you are having trouble, sit your camera on the ground and lean the card against the wall, standing straight up...thats how i did it.

That's actually how one of our testers did it.

We'll get some videos up early next week that will hopefully help people get the hang of it.

Another thing to note if you are printing them out: Make sure they actually come out the same shape as the original image. If the printed card is stretched in one direction more than the other, they won't work.

Rashberry

[snuggles]

I am having the worst trouble with this too. I have spent maybe 12 hours and have only gotten 4 things to scan. 1 was a card, the rest were from the internet on my pc. My room is very bright. All 4 edges of the card are there. There is a box around the card. The camera is completely still. The card is completely boxed perfectly, I keep using the focus dial. But nothing happens. Eventually after constantly turning the focus button for an hour or so, a red light will come on under the camera box on the tv.

I HATE the xbox live camera. It is really crappy technology. It is not made for precision things like these cards require. If I knew what a hassle and time waster it would be, I would not have gotten this game. I can't even focus on trying to get a card to scan- too many sick pinatas in the garden because I have spent over an hour just trying to get 1 card to scan. I seriously wish that rare would have made some random generated codes instead of this camera thing.

[BIGsheep]

If you are trying to scan a playing card sized object, the general advice for focus is to turn the focus all the way anti-clockwise and then turn it back a smidge clockwise. This seems to set it to the right focal distance.