Knowledge Base

Create a New Experiment from Scratch

Aim

To create an experiment without predefined settings. You can also create an experiment in EthoVision XT using a template, for example for a Morris Water Maze test, or a Radial Maze test, and for a specific animal, like the rat, mouse, or zebrafish. See Create an Experiment from a Predefined Template.

Procedure

1. Choose File > New, or in the EthoVision XT Startup window, under New Experiment, click New, or press Ctrl+N.
2. In the New Experiment window, enter a name for your experiment.
3. Browse to the location in which you want to store your experiment. Do not create an experiment on a removable disc, like a USB Flash drive or an external hard disk.
4. Additional options:
   • Select GLP Experiment if you want EthoVision XT to support you in making a Quality Assurance-compliant experiment. For this, you need the Quality Assurance add-on module.
   • Select DanioVision Experiment if your PC is connected to a DanioVision system and you want to create a DanioVision experiment.
   • Select Live Mouse Tracker Experiment if you want to import Live Mouse Tracker data. For this, you need the Live Mouse Tracker add-on module. See Live Mouse Tracker: Workflow.
5. Click OK.

Notes

• You can find the experiment file (*.evxt) in a folder with the same name as the experiment. See File Locations for the default experiment locations. You can specify the default experiment location during installation. You can change it any time in the Preferences for Default Folders.
• If you select DanioVision Experiment, the EthoVision XT interface is adjusted for DanioVision. Unnecessary functions like the Manual Scoring Settings are not available. Detection settings are optimized for detection of zebrafish larvae and the arenas are detected automatically. For more information, see the DanioVision DVOC-0041 - Reference Manual.

Save an Experiment

Procedure

Choose File > Save or press Ctrl+S.

Notes

• You can also choose to save the data automatically at regular intervals. Choose File > Preferences > Auto Save, select Enable Auto Save and enter the auto-save interval.
• When you make changes to your experiment, e.g., changes in settings, these are saved with save or auto-save.
• During data acquisition and track editing, data are saved to file immediately.

Save an Experiment with a Different Name

Aim

To create a copy of an experiment, with a different name and saved in a different location (optional). Do not rename the experiment file *.evxt and any other files within the experiment, as that would invalidate the data within the experiment. Instead, save the experiment with a different name. Do not save experiments within the folder of another experiment.

Procedure

1. Open the experiment in EthoVision XT.
2. Choose File > Save As.
3. Enter the new experiment name and choose the destination folder.

Notes

• By default, the destination folder is the same folder as that of the original experiment.
• When you save an experiment with a different name, a new experiment folder is created in the destination folder with the same name as the experiment.

Open an Existing Experiment

Procedure

Choose one of the following:

In EthoVision XT

• In the EthoVision XT Startup window, under Open, click one of the experiments in the recent experiment list. To open a different experiment, click Browse and open the folder where your experiment is stored. Select the file with the extension evxt and click Open.
• Press Ctrl+O. Browse to the location where your experiment is stored, select the file with the extension evxt and click Open.
• Choose File > Open. Browse to the location where your experiment is stored, select the file with the extension evxt and click Open.

With the File Explorer

• Using the Windows File Explorer, open the folder where your experiment is stored. Right-click the file with extension evxt and click Open or Start Experiment.

Notes

• You can open an experiment saved in older versions of EthoVision XT.
• You cannot open experiments made in newer versions of EthoVision XT. Use the newest version to open that experiment.
• GLP compliant experiments that have been made with EthoVision XT 12 or earlier cannot be opened in EthoVision XT 19.

Delete an Experiment

Aim

To remove an experiment from your computer. If video files are included in the experiment folder, these files will be deleted.

Procedure

1. In the Windows File Explorer, browse to the experiments folder.
2. Click the folder of the experiment that you want to delete and press Delete, or right-click that folder and select Delete.