Define an entry zone

Aim

To define a region of the arena where the subject must be immediately before moving into the hidden zone and disappearing from view.

It is important that at least one sampled location of the subjects’ body point (in the example below, the center point) is found in the entry zone, for the subject to be considered in the hidden zone. Otherwise, the subject is considered missing. So, make the entry zone large enough!

 

See also the Troubleshooting topic:

The animal is in the hidden zone but the data show “missing sample”

Prerequisites

You have defined a Hidden zone. See Shelters and other hidden zones.

To define an entry zone

1.In the Arenas and Zones section, select the Entry Zone Group row.

 

2.Draw a zone that covers the area, overlapping the hidden zone, to define as an entry zone.

 

The size of the entry zone is critical, it must be wide enough, but not too wide so that:

When entering. The subject never goes straight away from the area outside the entry zone to the hidden zone; There should be at least one instance of the subject's body point within the entry zone, before disappearing from view. If necessary, increase your sample rate to make sure that this happens.

When exiting. The subject's body point is far, but not too far from the hidden zone when it crosses the entry zone border to the rest of the arena; just enough for it to be considered as having left the hidden zone. This only applies if you select Use this entry zone also as leaving zone (see step 7).

You can use the Integrated Visualization to help you set the right size.

3.If the Auto-label zone is activated, The Add Entry Zone window opens. If the auto-label option is switched off, click the Add Zone Label button on the toolbar and click the zone to open the Add Entry Zone window.

 

 

4.In the Add Entry Zone window, link this entry zone to the appropriate hidden zone by selecting the Link box under Linked hidden zone. You can link more than one entry zone to a hidden zone, but you cannot link more than one hidden zone to an entry zone.

5.If you want to define the entry zone also as a leaving zone, select the check box for Use this entry zone also as leaving zone. This will be applied on all hidden zones in your Arena Settings. Each entry zone will be also used as leaving zone for the hidden zone associated to it.

6.Click OK to assign the label to the entry zone.

Notes

▪To display the hidden zone while drawing the entry zone, in the Arenas and Zones section, select the check box in the View column of the Hidden Zone Group row, next to the Color column.

▪If you have multiple arenas, create first hidden zones and entry zones in the first arena, then duplicate that arena and its contents. See Duplicate an arena.

To link a hidden zone to an entry zone

If you did not link an entry zone to its hidden zone when you defined the hidden zone (see above), you can do one the following:

▪In the video image, right-click the hidden zone label or right-click the hidden zone row in the Arena Settings window. Select Link Entry Zones and select the Link check box of the appropriate entry zone in the Links to Entry Zones window.

 

▪In the video image, right-click the entry zone label, or right-click the entry zone row in the Arena Settings window. Select Link Hidden Zones and select the Link check box of the appropriate hidden zone in the Link to Hidden Zone window.