Here’s another tutorial, this one on how to migrate the Virtual Production assets from my sample project to your own. Unfortunately I’m finding out that this process has problems. It USUALLY works but sometimes Unreal will crash for seemingly no reason…as in, if you do the same process again, it doesn’t crash. Occasionally there are issues with more complex projects not working 100%
In any case, this method usually works, if you have any problems with it, please let me know and I’ll look into it. And if you know of a better way to package assets like this for installation please share it!
Get the latest release from github before trying this, I’ve made a few changes to make the migration easier…
When Unreal Engine updated to version 4.24, many people noticed their VIVE trackers stopped working. A new system of roles and bindings was added that you needed to setup if you wanted them to work. This tutorial shows how to do that. This applies to Unreal 4.24 and up with Steam VR 1.10 and higher.
In my sample code all the camera properties are in the compcamerarig object. Look in my original tutorial here
this should start where the compcamerarig is shown. The location and rotation of the camera component is the offset from the VIVE tracker to the camera. In my setup the VIVE is on a 6" bolt attached to the same mount plate as the camera. So the VIVE is behind and above the camera and has the USB plug facing the rear.
Hi again! Been quiet a bit because my studio was closed for construction, then just as it reopened and I was about to move back in the Coronavirus lockdown hit California. Actually the timing was kind of lucky because in another day I would have unpacked everything, having all the gear still packed made it easy for me to drag most of it home so I could work there for the next few weeks. Because a lot of people asked for a video showing the equipment I’m using, I made one! It’s up on the channel now.
I think some people may think there is some “secret sauce” or special gear needed to do Virtual Production that’s really not the case. All you need is a webcam. Now granted, better gear will get you more features, like being able to move the camera, and better quality…but if all you want to do is experiment you can do it really cheap. And if you do video conferencing, live streaming or YouTube videos you probably already have most of the gear you need.
Hi Greg, Thanks for sharing all your great work on VP! My question to you is, did you ever figure out how to get the ID of the Vive Tracker? That is currently my biggest pain point… I’m currently just guessing the ID number (which is a pain).
In regard to Vive Tracker ID’s, I found something very interesting that takes out the guess work!
I was poking around the Steam VR settings and ventured into the Developer menu and found a useful tool called the Web Console.
If you click on the** Steam VR hamburger menu > Developer > Web Console** – This opens up a local connection in your Web Browser and you will see a bunch of live data logs from the Steam VR system… when a controller turns on, or turns off, or when Unreal Engine loads and makes requests to Steam VR, you will see a lot of communication going on. Anyway, this is where I can see what the ID number for a specific controller or tracker is:
*“Thu Apr 23 2020 16:21:27.411 - [Status Warning Added LHR-90B73938 Tracker(3)] Searching…” *(it’s highlighted in green text on my web browser).
In the statement above, you notice LHR-******** Tracker 3 – LHR is the serial number, the 3 is the ID number of the tracker!
I know this is sort of a crude way to see the Vive Tracker’s ID, but it’s the only way I’ve found so far… When you turn trackers off and on, you’ll immediately see the ID information.
I still wish there was a better way to do this, but hopefully this helps other people who are looking for the Vive Tracker ID’s.
What I’ve been sticking with is assigning tracker roles and mappings instead of using IDs. This lets you use the motion controler components and identify the trackers as special_1, special_2…etc.
The nice thing about this is that once it’s setup nothing will change…Special_1 always refers to the same tracker which helps a lot.
I never did find a way inside unreal to connect an ID number with the tracker serial number, so I just don’t use it.
Amazing information and I’m very grateful for all the time and effort you’ve put in.
For livestreaming via OBS, what would be the “preferred” input source? Is this viewport editor window, NDI, Spout? Can a blackmagic card or AJA card have an “output” into OBS?
@kinar100 I use OBS for tutorials. I’ve found you can record the PIE window with “window capture” but you get the window frame and title bar. I think if you make a viewport window and go full-screen, you can “window capture” only the content with no frame. It’s also possible to setup a PIE window to do 1080p and crop out the window frame in OBS. One thing that is weird, if you do a window capture or game capture on the unreal editor window, the menus, tooltips and other pop-ups won’t show up in the capture. Only the “display capture” gets these. I’m working on a 4k monitor lately so for youtube I usually capture the whole thing and then crop out just what I want people to see in OBS.
Hey everyone, I just realized I’ve been forgetting to update this forum when I post new Virtual Production tutorial materials. Sorry about that! If you check out my channel Greg Corson - YouTube you will find a bunch of new Virtual Production tutorials since last time. I’ve also got a new sample project up on github called VPStudio that I’m updating every couple of days with more examples and useful VP stuff. It includes multi camera support, teleporting the presenter around the world and a better way of setting up cameras. Below is a recent demo video using VPStudio, there are links to the github in the video description.
My sample project is free and you can feel free to borrow anything you like from it to use in your own work, credit me if you can.
Hi Greg, I just came across your YouTube channel, very useful information, I’d like to thank you so much for all your effort into the community
I have a question about your latest Virtual Production video (Mad Scientist Lab Demo). Do you have a way to preview all the cameras in the scene? As in, using some sort of extra screen to display the cameras in a grid, like a director’s multi view. Is that even possible? This info would be super helpful.
I am learning from Greg’s VPStudio.I was very inspired by this project. Thank you very much. My English expression is not good. I have to constantly test my project. I think I will get inspiration from Gray. I have a question, I can’t drag Greg’s virtual Camera into the blueprint and set it as the current view in my test…
