In Broadcast - November 2013 - 76

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 25 - NOVEMBER 2013

N E W S

InMEDIA
The Rise Of Previsualisation Cont.

76

capture around 1990 and in 2006
founded Take4D to produce that
technology, along with virtual
studio, camera tracking, on-set
visualisation and motion control
systems, for both the entertainment
and industrial sectors.
When the concept of visualising
live action sequences through
animation came up 20 years ago,
Widgery explains, the technology
didn't exist to make it a reality: "In
the last ﬁve to ten years we've been
able to take data captured from
movement, clean it up, manage it
and use it practically to visualise
a whole range of subjects, from
analysing ballistics to creating
animated action in virtual sets."
The Take4D system is able
to work with people in motion
capture suits, shot using cameras
that can be handheld or supported
on Steadicams as well as the
more traditional rigs or cranes
connected to motion control
computers. "What we do is take
visual assets for previsualisation
and pass on the metadata from
that to post-production," Widgery
explains. "There are massive cost
savings to be made when everything
is planned in the ofﬁce because the
production does not have to go to
the stage, set or location until it
needs to. And in many cases the
previs sequences can be used

FrameForge Previz Studio 3 enables the creation of a virtual 3D sets - a storyboard from Wallenda (Rareform Picture)

as part of the production or postproduction sequences."
Motion control has become an
integral part of previsualisation,
with Mark Roberts Motion Control
and Vicon Motion Systems among
the leading developers of this
technology. Vicon started out 30
years ago in the medical field,
moving into entertainment during
the early 2000s. Its top-end T-Series
cameras are used in conjunction
with previsualisation software,
very often Autodesk Maya, for
real time capture of movement for
visual effects.
Vicon Sales Director Andy Ray

Rendering of a high-rise building construction site incorporating
the 3ds Max Design logo (Courtesy of Esref Arkin)

acknowledges the blurring of
divisions between the different
part of the production chain, saying
that "some projects take the data
straight through". He adds that more
enquires about previsualisation
are now coming from the TV
sector, with some production
companies, such as Motek Ent in
the Netherlands, already using it to
make innovative programmes.
For the future Ray sees a growing
demand for ofﬂine working, with
people wanting to take the data back
to their desks where they can work
on it away from the set. This might
seem like taking previsualisation
back to its beginnings but Nick
Manning at Autodesk says the
cloud and new software, such as
123D Catch, can give creatives
even more control and ﬂexibility.
By using 123D Catch photographs
can be uploaded to the cloud

and automatically rendered as 3D
images for use in previs sequences.
Richard Widgery says there is
now talk of "better render engines
in previs", as well as using the
material for ﬁnal effects. While he
says that is "probably a very long
way off", Widgery comments that
LiDAR (light-radar) technology could
be the next tool for previsualisation.
LiDAR is based on remote sensing
by illuminating an object with a
laser and analysing the reﬂected
light, which Widgery says could
be used in conjunction with green
screen systems.
Whatever the means, more
powerful and easier to use
previsualisation systems do have
the potential, as Kenneth Schafer
concludes, to allow directors and
cinematographers to push further
and more creatively into production
and post-production.

3ds Max Design rendering of glass building interior
(Courtesy of Piotr Truszczynski)

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In Broadcast - November 2013

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