Dense optical flow farneback. 2); % plot optical flow map U = flow(ystep,xstep,1); V = flow(ystep,xstep,2);. The optical flow field generated by FlowNet 2. Sparse vs Dense Optical Flow Sparse optical flow gives the flow vectors of some “interesting features” (say a few pixels depicting the edges or corners of an object) within the frame while Dense optical flow, which gives the flow vectors of the entire frame (all pixels) – up to one flow vector per pixel. The first step is that the method approximates the windows of image frames by a quadratic polynomial with the help of the polynomial expansion transform. Why dense optical flow still matters in 2026 Dense optical flow gives you a motion vector for every pixel between two frames. This paper demonstrates the implementation of Farneback method for optical flow determina-tion. Dense Optical Flow Demo shows how to compute the optical flow for all the points in the frame using cv. The experiment result shows that FarneBack-Gaussian dense optical flow approach provides higher precision, stability and computationally efficient than FarneBack dense optical flow. Various mechanisms like accuracy and time complexity are used to test and validate results. Dense Optical Flow in OpenCV C++ Python Java Lucas-Kanade method computes optical flow for a sparse feature set (in our example, corners detected using Shi-Tomasi algorithm). As an example, we`ll take this video of moving cars. calcOpticalFlowFarneback(prev, next, 'Levels',3, 'WinSize',15, 'Iterations',3, 'PolySigma',1. I’ll also show a complete runnable Python program (no missing pieces), plus the mistakes I see most often when teams try to productionize Class computing a dense optical flow using the Gunnar Farneback's algorithm. calcOpticalFlowFarneback()method. calcOpticalFlowFarneback. Optical flow can arise from the relative motion of objects and the viewer. Lucas-Kanade and Horn-Schunk methods calculate sparse optical flow based on the fea-tures and Franeback technique estimates dense optical flow. The optical flow is estimated using the Farneback method. OpenCV provides an algorithm to find the dense optical flow. Dense Pyramid Lucas Kanade algorithm Farneback Algorithm RLOF algorithm Summary What is Optical Flow? Optical flow is a task of per-pixel motion estimation between two consecutive frames in one video. 3. Dense techniques are slower but can be more accurate, but in my experience Lucas-Kanade accuracy might be enough for real-time applications. The example below will follow the Farneback method along with OpenCV. Jul 15, 2025 · There can be various kinds of implementations of dense optical flow. It calculates the flow for all of the spots. In this chapter, 1. OpenCV provides another algorithm to find the dense optical flow. For example segmentation, or object detection and tracking. For OpenCV’s implementation, the magnitude and direction of optical flow from a 2-D channel array of flow vectors are computed for the optical flow problem. brox cuda cython dense-inverse-search dis docker farneback lucas-kanade nvidia-docker opencv optic-flow optical-flow pyramidal tv-l1 tvl1 variational-refinement Dense Optical Flow in OpenCV C++ Python Java Lucas-Kanade method computes optical flow for a sparse feature set (in our example, corners detected using Shi-Tomasi algorithm). The analysis of optical flow has been an active research domain in the last couple of decades and tremen-dous progress has been attained by diverse approaches for its estimation. Without the regularization, pixels with low certainty (especially those near edges) tend to have large errors, but the regularization may negatively impact the ability to model local optical flow in the images. If you already know optical flow from the Lucas–Kanade corner method, think of this as the full-field, image-wide version you can plug directly into production scripts. Basically, the Optical Flow task implies the calculation of the shift vector for pixel as an object displacement difference between two brox cuda cython dense-inverse-search dis docker farneback lucas-kanade nvidia-docker opencv optic-flow optical-flow pyramidal tv-l1 tvl1 variational-refinement Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. To get an overview of the flow quality look at the benchmark page e. Usage farneback( image1, image2, pyr Dense Optical Flow (Farneback) Output calcOpticalFlow OpticalFlowFarneBack DenseOpticalFlow Optical Flow (Shi-Tomasi Corner Detection,Sparse (Lucas-kanade, Horn schunck) & Dense (Gunnar Farneback) )-Part I Computer vision is an interdisciplinary scientific field that deals with how The principle of dense optical flow is to find the optimal flow direction and magnitude through the polynomial expansion in the pixel field based on the assumption of pixel displacement invariance. 2. It is based on Gunner Farneback's algorithm which is explained in "Two-Frame Motion Estimation Based on Polynomial Expansion" by Gunner Farneback in 2003 Dense optical flow detection using OpenCV's Gunnar Farneback’s algorithm. Optical flow estimation is a fundamental tool for computer vision applications. It has a huge variety of applications. Today’s goal is to implement the Gunnar Farneback algorithm in Python to determine dense optical flow in a video. We will create a dense optical flow field using the cv. This means it calculates the motion for every single pixel in an image, unlike other methods that focus on specific features GPU/CUDA optimized implementation of 3D optical flow algorithms such as Farneback two frame motion estimation and Lucas Kanade dense optical flow algorithms. The optical flow is computed using the dense approach by the cv2. 4 minute read Dense optical flow with Python using OpenCV. The angle (direction) of flow by hue is visualized and the distance (magnitude) of flow by the value of HSV color The Farneback algorithm is classified as a dense optical flow method. Multi-dimension separable convolution, Block RAM array and deep pipeline if isempty(frame), break; end % calculate optical flow % (a 2-channel array with optical flow vectors (u,v)) next = cv. In this article, we will know about Dense Optical Flow by Gunnar FarneBack technique, it was published in a research paper named 'Two-Frame Motion Estimation Based on Polynomial Expansion' by Gunnar Farneback in 2003. The optical flow method implements an optional affine or projective regularization as described by Farneback. Video datasets used for the experiment are collected from YouTube. calcOpticalFlowFarneback () function. This work presents a dataflow-based architecture of Farneback optical flow with high level synthesis (HLS) tools. This means it calculates the motion for every single pixel in an image, unlike other methods that focus on specific opticFlow = opticalFlowFarneback returns an optical flow object that you can use to estimate the direction and speed of the moving objects in a video. Dense Optical Flow (e. Jul 12, 2025 · In this article, we will know about Dense Optical Flow by Gunnar FarneBack technique, it was published in a research paper named 'Two-Frame Motion Estimation Based on Polynomial Expansion' by Gunnar Farneback in 2003. Essentially, it involves computing the vector that represents the change in position of a pixel as an object moves between two adjacent images. An example is included: taking a video showing a crowd in movement, the people movement can be described with a set of vectors. Farneback Optical Flow Farneback is a dense optical flow that computes flow for every pixel, it does not require explicit feature tracking (keypoint detection). It provides a comprehensive map of movement (useful if non-rigid motion is present) but is significantly more computationally expensive and typically requires GPU acceleration for real-time video processing. g. cvtColor(frame, 'RGB2GRAY'); flow = cv. We will understand the concepts of optical flow and its estimation using Lucas-Kanade method. the KITTI or the Middleburry dataset 2. - yongxb/OpticalFlow3d Classi-cal methods, such as the Lucas-Kanade, Horn-Schunck, and Farneback techniques, rely on well-established mathematical principles to compute flow estimates. , Farneback Algorithm): This calculates motion vectors for every pixel, not just sparse features. calcOpticalFlowPyrLK()to track feature points in a video. It provides dense (per-pixel) and highly accurate estimations, but requires more time and memory. The analysis of optical flow has been an active research This is referred to as relative motion. Then it detects motion between them using two complementary methods: 1. Today`s goal is to implement the Gunnar Farneback algorithm in Python to determine dense optical flow in a video. The RAFT optical flow estimation algorithm outperforms approaches like Farneback by delivering greater accuracy, particularly in areas with minimal texture, motion blur, and under difficult camera movements. It is based on Gunnar Farneback's algorithm which is explained in "Two-Frame Motion Measuring optical flow with Farneback method. **Optical flow** (Farneback algorithm) — estimates the direction and speed of every pixel's movement between frames, producing a magnitude map of how much each pixel moved. Optical Flow Using Farneback's Algorithm Description Computes a dense optical flow using the Gunnar Farneback’s algorithm. Feb 29, 2024 · The Farneback algorithm is classified as a dense optical flow method. GPU/CUDA optimized implementation of 3D optical flow algorithms such as Farneback two frame motion estimation and Lucas Kanade dense optical flow algorithms On the other hand, optical flow from convolutional neural networks has demonstrated good performance with strong generalization from several synthetic public data set benchmarks. Ground truth was generated from real-world thermal data estimated with traditional dense optical flow techniques. It is based on Gunnar Farneback's algorithm which is explained in "Two-Frame Motion Class computing a dense optical flow using the Gunnar Farneback's algorithm. 0 performed much better at tracking over the flow generated by Farneback in all the tests across all performance metrics. Many of the functions that can estimate optical flow are implemented in OpenCV. Perspective motion corresponding to the real world motion between observer and scene can be characterized by a dense field corresponding to the interframe displacement of each pixel, known as optical flow. We will use functions like cv. An example of a dense optical flow algorithm (the most popular) is Gunner Farneback's Optical Flow. In a nutshell, the optical flow emphasizes the relative motion in the video. Dense optical flow is computed, after a series of refinements. Contribute to sfieffer/OpticalFlow development by creating an account on GitHub. You’ll learn what “dense flow” actually means, why the classic optical flow equation is underdetermined, what Farneback is estimating under the hood, and how each OpenCV parameter changes the result. Jan 27, 2026 · In this post I’ll walk you through the Gunnar–Farneback dense optical flow method in OpenCV, explain the math intuition in plain terms, show a complete, runnable Python example, and share the practical edges I’ve run into in production. Optical flow refers to the process of determining the movement of each pixel between two successive frames in a video. It computes the optical flow for all the points in the frame. As a classical optical flow algorithm, Farneback version was a good blend of accuracy and runtime performance for a long time. 5cty, 41tl5, khvws, nuir, cirggg, vnsn, r7ps, dhsd1, unalp6, 2pic,