In this first chapter, we will go over everything considered foundational for a successful professional-level shoot such as hardware and software needed, body and facial performance capture solutions, timecode, retargeting, and virtual cameras. These core fundamentals should be established well before anyone calls “Action!” on set. Your shoot will only be as strong as the base we’re creating here. As such, this chapter goes broad and deep. This is the first drop in the larger learning path where we’ll cover stage tools, shoot prep, shoot day, and content turnover.
Our goal is to tell you exactly how to set up your own virtual production studio from start to finish. This is not intended to be just some high-level, show-and-tell so we can get quite technical in some areas. But don’t let that deter you, this is the exciting part! Where we gaze at an empty canvas, dreaming of what it’ll look like when we come out the other side. Now let’s get to work!
To authors:
please, are You certain that connections of LTC a sync drawn in the schematic “Hardware configuration used for linear content visualization guide” in Hardware guide chapter are SDI? Didn’t You want to write BNC or something else? TC and trilevel genlock from Ambient isn’t distributed over SDI to my best knowledge, it is a normal legacy analog LTC and trilevel signaling; that’s actually why Aja Kona is needed for PCs I believe as Blackmagic support SDI anc embedded TC only and there is no trivial way to generate such SDI from Ambient…
Thank You,
Stepan
Thanks for the comments. BNC is the name of the connectors at either end of the SDI cables. Ambient provides cables that convert the 5 pin Lemo outputs to BNC connectors. See image.
Image also shows male to male BNC barrels added that allow the connection of SDI cable. SDI will transport LTC signals. You can use this LTC from Ambient as input to Kona and Bluefish capture cards. LTC is an audio signal and can also be input via the computer audio input. This is not ideal as the signal can be noisy via the motherboard audio input and may drop frames. To help keep the LTC audio clean if using this method you can input LTC to an external audio device that connects via USB to the workstation. For example Focusrite Scarlet or similar devices.
Blackmagic Decklink cards require timecode via a VITC signal, which is a video signal embedded with Timecode. They will not intake the LTC audio. Sync is separate to timecode and the Ambient Lockit used here can send tri level 1080i/PsF and 1080p from 23.976 to 60 FPS
I will update the diagram to note the TC in the illustration is LTC. The diagram is exactly how we initially set up our hardware and is just an illustration for this project. Higher end systems may want a more robust Master Clock to send Timecode and Sync such as an Evertz 5600. Read on in the chapter to “Timecode and Synchronization” for more details on how to get Timecode and sync into the Unreal Engine.
I mean - we call the (Your SDI) cables as BNC (connector) and 75ohm coaxial cables. For us, SDI is exclusively Serial Digital Interface - Serial digital interface - Wikipedia – i.e. signals that flow in a cable - coax can be used for SDI, blackburst, 3level genlock, analog video… but throughout my (pretty long) career, I haven’t heard that people would call coax cables as SDI ones, frankly - but please, it is up to You!, I don’t push You or anything… just for me, it is most unusual.
Indeed, this VITC (also known as TC embedded in ancilliary SDI data) can be distributed via SDI video stream as SDI is the self clocking protocol.
For audio, usually XLR ballanced cables are used or coax once again for MADI and such protocols. It’d be… so confusing to say that we pass audio MADI data over SDI cable, frankly… (SDI being video data, MADI being audio data…)
I am just at the process of a design of a distribution of trilevel genlock and LTC at a very large MoCap stage, we use Evertz 5601 actually… and as this Evertz lacks SDI out, I have it a bit more complicated (just XLR LTC and 3level analog out).
Will update to Coax so there is no confusion. Have also used the Evertz 5601 and have the 5700 that runs our main stage. Yes little more complicated but do the same thing and convert the XLR to coax and pipe through DA to distribute over Coax to rest of the stage. Thanks for your insights and will tidy up our specific language.
