Virtual Sets
The term Virtual Set has been blurred somewhat after a while, originally meaning to employ a computer and a camera tracker to generate a background in realtime to chromakey talent into, Virtual Sets now encompass both live and post, tracking and trackless solutions, and it is even used to talk about simple blue/greenscreen work where talent is keyed right into a studio. There are many different types of virtual sets; I'll let you know that these are commonly used:
Virtual Sets
Standard Definition, Hd, and 4K are used with Post Production programs like editors and compositors. They are offered as layers allowing you to create the illusion that the talent is standing behind a desk and that video is playing within the monitors.
NewTek's Tricaster SD and Tricaster XD versions run using their proprietary hardware, but make operating a live virtual set a breeze, scaling the talent into the set, placing the B Source to the screens and adding reflections. The main difference between the two is resolution, the XD having the capacity to produce in Hd and that the XD are capable of doing virtual camera moves like zooms.
The 3D Studio MAX version is optimized for realtime rendering, it's really a 3D version uniquely situated for use with realtime rendering platforms but it's lighting a part of the textures, it is not very editable.
NewTek's Lightwave 3D version is among the most powerful and flexible, but also the most technically demanding to work with giving you full treatments for every aspect of the set and a true 3D environment for assist tracking markers.
Virtual Set Production falls into two main categories, Live and Post. The first sort giving you feedback in realtime in regards to what your greenscreen composite looks like, the later providing you with more flexibility and control to generate decisions at your leisure. The opposite main difference being price, you can get into virtual set post production for hundreds of dollars vs. thousands of dollars for live productions.
Live Production
Long the domain from the six figure budgets virtual sets took a surprise turn in the late nineties with all the release of Play’s Trinity. With a built in chroma keyer plus some unusual virtual set features it turned the industry’s perception of what a virtual set was on it’s ear. Years later NewTek released it’s Video Toaster system which in version 5 had similar functionality, allowing for realtime keying, scaling, and reflections of talent along with a B source. That technology followed onto their Tricaster line and matured using their XD products; an HD switcher with virtual set abilities together with a trackless zoom. The Tricaster products are already very popular due to their comparatively low pricing, multiple functionalities, and different virtual set abilities not found in other products at any price point.
Post Production
Any program with a chroma keyer can create the illusion of the virtual set in a far lower cost than live production. These include a few better editors for example Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, and similar. These can be as simple as keying your talent on the background, or as complex as tracking markers and layering together a complex scene with camera motion. www.videovirtualsets.com now offers virtual set design services to switch any of their existing library of virtual sets in order to create a virtual set custom from scratch, examples and pricing can be found on their website. Some productions require changes to the set, or the client prefers to have a unique identity, no matter the need the ability to modify sets for your client’s designs is available.
With amazing network quality productions coming out of garages and classrooms because of modern computing power, innovative software, and cheap virtual set backgrounds it’s difficult to imagine what will come next. Now in beta testing, intensiKey's post production virtual set software promises to offer the power of a true 3D program without the complexity.
Virtual Sets
Virtual Sets
Standard Definition, Hd, and 4K are used with Post Production programs like editors and compositors. They are offered as layers allowing you to create the illusion that the talent is standing behind a desk and that video is playing within the monitors.
NewTek's Tricaster SD and Tricaster XD versions run using their proprietary hardware, but make operating a live virtual set a breeze, scaling the talent into the set, placing the B Source to the screens and adding reflections. The main difference between the two is resolution, the XD having the capacity to produce in Hd and that the XD are capable of doing virtual camera moves like zooms.
The 3D Studio MAX version is optimized for realtime rendering, it's really a 3D version uniquely situated for use with realtime rendering platforms but it's lighting a part of the textures, it is not very editable.
NewTek's Lightwave 3D version is among the most powerful and flexible, but also the most technically demanding to work with giving you full treatments for every aspect of the set and a true 3D environment for assist tracking markers.
Virtual Set Production falls into two main categories, Live and Post. The first sort giving you feedback in realtime in regards to what your greenscreen composite looks like, the later providing you with more flexibility and control to generate decisions at your leisure. The opposite main difference being price, you can get into virtual set post production for hundreds of dollars vs. thousands of dollars for live productions.
Live Production
Long the domain from the six figure budgets virtual sets took a surprise turn in the late nineties with all the release of Play’s Trinity. With a built in chroma keyer plus some unusual virtual set features it turned the industry’s perception of what a virtual set was on it’s ear. Years later NewTek released it’s Video Toaster system which in version 5 had similar functionality, allowing for realtime keying, scaling, and reflections of talent along with a B source. That technology followed onto their Tricaster line and matured using their XD products; an HD switcher with virtual set abilities together with a trackless zoom. The Tricaster products are already very popular due to their comparatively low pricing, multiple functionalities, and different virtual set abilities not found in other products at any price point.
Post Production
Any program with a chroma keyer can create the illusion of the virtual set in a far lower cost than live production. These include a few better editors for example Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, and similar. These can be as simple as keying your talent on the background, or as complex as tracking markers and layering together a complex scene with camera motion. www.videovirtualsets.com now offers virtual set design services to switch any of their existing library of virtual sets in order to create a virtual set custom from scratch, examples and pricing can be found on their website. Some productions require changes to the set, or the client prefers to have a unique identity, no matter the need the ability to modify sets for your client’s designs is available.
With amazing network quality productions coming out of garages and classrooms because of modern computing power, innovative software, and cheap virtual set backgrounds it’s difficult to imagine what will come next. Now in beta testing, intensiKey's post production virtual set software promises to offer the power of a true 3D program without the complexity.
Virtual Sets