How to choose animal behavior tracking software

Check 1

Start with your species and arena

The software has to find your animal against your background. A dark mouse on a pale floor, a larval zebrafish in a well and a fly in a crowded arena are three different jobs.

Ask

• Does it track my species and life stage?
• Does it see my animal against my arena floor, whatever the coat color?
• Can it follow several animals in one arena and keep each one apart?
• Can it run several arenas or wells from one camera?

Check 2

List your tests and what each one reports

Many tests need only position, such as time in a zone, distance and entries. Others need the body, such as the nose for object exploration, the paws for gait or the whole body for freezing and grooming. Match the software to the numbers you publish.

Ask

• Are my tests built in, or will I set up the zones and rules myself?
• Can I draw my own zones for a custom arena?
• Does it follow the body parts my test needs?
• Does it score behaviors such as freezing, grooming or rearing?
• Can it sync with doors, lights or a stimulator during a trial?

Check 3

Try it on your own videos

A sample video shows how the software does on someone else’s footage. Yours has its own lighting, glare, bedding and camera angle. Run your hardest videos in the trial, score a few by hand and compare the two.

Ask

• Can I try it on my own videos before I pay?
• Does the trial include my species and my tests?
• Can I watch the track on the video and check it frame by frame?
• What can I do when a track goes wrong?

Check 4

Check your camera and computer

Some software works with a camera you already own, and some is sold with its own. Some needs a particular operating system or graphics card, so check before you plan a purchase around it.

Ask

• Will it work with my camera, or do I need to buy one?
• Can it track videos I have already recorded, and in which file types?
• Does it track live during the trial, after the trial, or both?
• Which operating system and graphics card does it need?

Check 5

Decide what data you need to keep

A summary table may be enough for one figure. A reviewer or a later reanalysis may need the position of each animal in each frame. If your funder or journal asks you to share data, you will want files anyone can open.

Ask

• Can I export frame-by-frame positions as well as summaries?
• Do the files open without the software that made them, as CSV does?
• Can I change a zone later and reanalyze without tracking the video again?
• Does my video stay on my computer, or does it leave my network?
• Can I bring in videos or data from the software I use now?

Check 6

Ask who will run it and who will help

Some tools ask you to write code or label your own training videos before they track. That can suit a lab with a programmer. Other labs need software that a new student can learn quickly.

Ask

• Does it need coding, or labeling my own videos first?
• How long will a new student take to run a test alone?
• Who do I contact when a track looks wrong?
• Will the setup still work after the person who built it leaves?

Check 7

Read the license before you buy

Add up the cost over the length of your grant, with each seat, species and test package your lab will need. Then ask your purchasing office how it wants to pay.

Ask

• Is it a yearly license, a multi-year term or a one-time purchase?
• What does each extra seat, species or test package cost?
• Does it need a USB key, and can I move it to another computer?
• Are updates and support included, and for how long?
• Can I still open my results after the license ends?
• Can I pay by purchase order?