What is XR shooting technology? With the gradual entry of virtual entertainment into people’s field of vision, many TV, online programs and even corporate meetings have begun to use XR shooting technology to achieve virtual pictures in a large area, and XR shooting technology is mainly a technology that interacts with virtual and real environments. , mainly to place live products in a metaverse-like virtual world, and apply virtual scenes to real products. There are already short films in China that use XR shooting technology. The 2020 League of Legends global finals stage also uses XR technology for real-time live broadcast. The virtual live broadcast system recently launched by Polyway also applies this technology to all walks of life. in the live broadcast.

XR can use camera tracking and real-time image rendering technology to make the virtual scene displayed on the large screen track the camera’s perspective in real time, and synthesize it with the real picture before the camera lens, thereby creating an infinite sense of space. For example, in the film and television industry, actors can build a shooting scene with an XR real-time rendering engine, output and synthesize through the server, map the spatial relationship between characters and scenes in real time, and use rendering technology to restore the dynamic digital scene in the camera on the LED screen. The performance can be performed in the virtual space constructed by the LED screen.

The application of this 3D stereoscopic scene template and real lighting simulation technology to enterprise live broadcast can create a depth of field change like reality for the audience, enrich the live broadcast picture experience, and the audience can freely switch the viewing vision up, down, left and right, making the live broadcast content clearer Three-dimensional, presenting the ultimate visual experience to the audience, narrowing the sense of distance between the two parties, allowing the viewer to directly participate in the live broadcast.

Extended reality (XR) is a form of stage performance that can closely integrate virtual and reality. To put it simply, XR can visually output the rendered virtual background to the LED screen without the use of external equipment such as glasses. This method can not only make the scene feel immersive, but also enhance the live broadcast output. Video effects that integrate large-screen content with virtual foregrounds.

Simply put, extended reality technology achieves the final effect through a systematic work-flow consisting of an ultra-high-definition LED screen, a camera tracking system and a powerful graphics rendering engine.

In actual work, the graphics rendering server will output the 4K signal generated by real-time calculation to the large screen to form an XR background vision, so that the virtual foreground and the large-screen content are integrated. In this way, the large-screen virtual content can also be based on The movement of the virtual camera on the scene produces a real three-dimensional perspective effect, which perfectly solves the problem that virtual technology can only generate the foreground but cannot create the background content. It can also enhance the interactive effect of the scene, so that the actors and the audience can be more immersive on the stage. Visual experience.

Use art to make technology more moving

The only BLUEBOX XR Studios virtual shooting studio invested by BlueFocus Group in China that meets the Hollywood movie XR virtual shooting standards held an opening ceremony and announced that it was officially put into use. This also means that in terms of hardware conditions, Chinese film and television workers are on the same starting line as their Hollywood counterparts in the field of virtual production.

However, technology is just a tool, and whether it can be used well depends on the users themselves. For film and television workers who are accustomed to traditional production processes and production methods, the emergence of this new technology is not only a rare opportunity brought by the wave of “technological culture”, but also a complete subversion of previous work experience. On the opening day, the studio also ushered in the “Yuanli Unbounded” Blue Universe x NetEase Media Strategic Cooperation Conference. The entire press conference was shot using XR technology.

XR Virtual Shooting Site

XR technology, an industrial revolution in production

For film and television producers, XR technology is like an industrial revolution in the field of production: “Before, the “Matrix” and “Star Wars” series have used XR technology to complete some of their special effects production. Most of the scenes in “The Darrow” were shot with XR technology, the original construction, transition and part of the post-production costs were saved, and the production cost was also reduced to an exaggerated figure.”

In addition to lower production costs, for film and television production work, the application of XR technology also means that shooting can be unaffected by the weather and can be started at any time without fear of wind and rain; You can see the overall special effects picture; the MR expansion layer is free from the shackles of the studio space, and it truly realizes how big the heart is, the bigger the studio is. The end of technology is to be surpassed and eliminated. What we can do before the end is to make full use of it as much as possible.

At present, the application of XR virtual production technology is still in the stage of “crossing the river by feeling the stones in the deep water area”. “Although we have done many XR shootings before, this time we still found a lot of places that can be adjusted and optimized, and made corresponding improvements. For example, in order to ensure sufficient efficiency and accurate shot scheduling in live shooting, we provide the director for the director. The team developed a set of exclusive OSC control programs to control the virtual screen switching and automatic lighting system. In the arrangement of the lighting system, in order to provide the camera with unlimited freedom of movement, the team chose ARRI after repeated tests. The SkyPane series of lighting equipment, in the way of theatrical stage lighting, put most of the equipment on the lifting system. In order to better cooperate with the MOSYS-StarTracker and the camera’s hardware compatibility, we hand-customized a complete set of quick brackets, ten thousand Accessory equipment such as arm, energy compatible devices, etc.

The XR Studios virtual shooting studio was completed and put into use, which is undoubtedly another new starting point for the application of XR virtual shooting technology in China. It is believed that in the future, more LED display companies will join the field of XR virtual shooting technology and continue to explore the boundaries of XR technology applications.