KEYWORDS: Cameras, 3D modeling, Visualization, Image segmentation, Head, 3D image processing, Projection systems, Composites, Volume rendering, RGB color model
This contribution describes a studio system that supports the production of dynamic 3D content. The system is based on a multi-camera approach to capture dynamic scenes in a studio equipped with a chroma-keying facility. This paper focusses on the real-time functionality of the system. Three different methods for the computation of the visual hull from silhouette images were implemented and compared. Two methods use a volumetric representation (3D-array and octree representation). The third method uses a new line representation and has been shown to deliver more accurate surface approximations of objects.
Further to the capture functionality, the system provides visualisation tools for planning the production and on-set visualisation. The latter includes a pre-view of the composed programme for the director and an immersive feedback for the actor. The immersive feedback is implemented using a view-dependent projection onto a special retro-reflective chroma-keying cloth and is not interfering with the shape capturing sub-system.
Virtual production for broadcast is currently mainly used in the form of virtual studios, where the resulting media is a sequence of 2D images. With the steady increase of 3D computing power in home PCs and the technical progress in 3D display technology, the content industry is looking for new kinds of program material, which makes use of 3D technology. The applications range form analysis of sport scenes, 3DTV, up to the creation of fully immersive content. In a virtual studio a camera films one or more actors in a controlled environment. The pictures of the actors can be segmented very accurately in real time using chroma keying techniques. The isolated silhouette can be integrated into a new synthetic virtual environment using a studio mixer. The resulting shape description of the actors is 2D so far. For the realization of more sophisticated optical interactions of the actors with the virtual environment, such as occlusions and shadows, an object-based 3D description of scenes is needed. However, the requirements of shape accuracy, and the kind of representation, differ in accordance with the application. This contribution gives an overview of requirements and approaches for the generation of an object-based 3D description in various applications studied by the BBC R and D department. An enhanced Virtual Studio for 3D programs is proposed that covers a range of applications for virtual production.
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