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Virtual Sets In the smoke and mirrors world of TV and Film, a semblance of reality is provided by sets such as these.
And in news or weather studios, the presenter is constantly interacting with visuals he can't actually see. And in movies, actors have to interact with virtual characters and a virtual background that are only added in post production - a process that could take months in a painstaking, frame-by-frame special effects process. But all of that's about to change.
However, the set doesn't really exist. It is a virtual set and of course, all being put together by Discreet Logic. "Tell us about it," Pat prompts Christopher. Christopher: "What you see here is really a virtual studio. What we do is taking the blue out from behind us and replace it with 3-D imagery behind us generated by our software and the computers that run that." Pat: "What would that mean to someone like me who works in studios?" Christopher: "What it means is that I could take you in this blue box, which could be in Johannesburg, and move it to a situation in New York or fly us through into a completely different set." Pat: "This is magic, it is trickery! What would this mean to someone who is sitting at home?"
Virtual set technology is transforming broadcasting to such an extent that in the near future, wets will be limited only by the designer's imagination. So how do virtual sets actually work? Firstly, a background is generated by using a three dimensional design tool similar to the CAD systems used by architects. Once the set is complete, it is fed into the computer, which seamlessly integrates it with the movements of the presenter and the studio cameras, in real time. Now we are capable of putting virtual actors with real people, in a virtual world. It is pretty remarkable. By tracking the camera's movements, the computer makes the background behave exactly as if it were real. The Silicon Graphics' Onyx Super Computer is drawing all of this in real time.
Gerhard Strydom at Henley Production Facilities: "Virtual set technology is going to bring around a whole new mind set to the industry, something that we haven't seen before. It is much easier to interact with - all the elements of the set around you rather than acting in front of a blue screen, not seeing the final product while you are actually doing the presentation."
In this classic scene from the move, "Forrest Gump", virtual set technology was used to place actor Tom Hanks in an existing film of the late President J F Kennedy. The fact that ll of this can be done in real time has not gone unnoticed by sports broadcasters, who transmit events live. Adverts and billboards, even animated ones - can be integrated into the images of a sport event, with the replacement fitting exactly in the place of the original. A real "Mars Bar" billboard can be replaced by a virtual "Snickers" billboard. You could send different adverts to different countries, simultaneously. The virtual billboards are created by using the images from the cameras located at the event. These images are first identified by the software, which captures the image of the real billboard. It then isolates barriers in front of or around the board, and tracks its movement across the screen. Once that's done, the real board can then be substituted for a virtual one.
CONTACTS:
Gerhard Strydom |
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Contents and images © 1998 All rights reserved |
In dramas, they create the illusion of a home, or a trendy teenage hang-out, but ultimately that's all they are - an illusion, with finite limits. For example, you can't shoot low angles, because you'll see the lights. You can't go too wide, or you shoot off set.
"In Touch" recently visited the National Association of Broadcasters, a convention held in Las Vegas, Nevada, where broadcast technology is redefining the stage set. The leading virtual set exhibitor at NAB was a company called Discreet Logic. Pat Pillai, "In Touch" presenter and Christopher Young stand in a beautiful set that looks like it could cost millions.
Christopher: "Well, because this is computer generated, we can add anything we want to the scenery. We can have objects running around or even characters that are animated and people can interact with at home, like to game shows or for kids who want to interact with what you call a virtual character in a show."
A newer innovation is for the computer to use the changing perspective of a bar-graph pattern to manipulate the virtual background.
Similar virtual technology is now seeing even broader applications. Hollywood producers are now talking about not just a virtual set, but entire virtual back-lots.
So, as virtual worlds become increasingly indistinguishable from real ones, don't let anybody tell you that 'the camera never lies'. With the latest technology, the camera can be made to see virtually anything you want it to.