New Term: New goals and research

I wrapped up a few weeks ago after learning a whole bunch about scanning processes. I am actually in the process of condensing everything from my previous posts into a short writeup, which I have found quite therapeutic. I was a bit all over the place and it helps to summarize in a formal way.

One immediate goal I have in mind is to apply to the Thoughtworks / Scatter volumetric filmmaking residency. It is paid (!!!) and requires a project proposal that uses their tool Depthkit. The deadline is April 25th which is very soon.

I have been poking around and evaluating the tool https://www.depthkit.tv/faq

My first concern is, yes, it's volumetric and uses a depth sensor. However, it is not a fully 3D reconstruction. In fact I was a bit underwhelmed by their sample files... rotating more than 5-10 degrees will greatly break the illusion.

At the angle of capture...



oh no

oh noo

The support for multiple sensors is planned but not yet released.

That being said, their resume of artists / projects that used their tool have come up with some stunning works that work with the 'hologram' style capture. Usually by leveraging a tastefully stylized shader (they call "Looks", which are paid features).
There is also no other tool like Depthkit, which makes volumetric video so easy to obtain and use.

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In other news, I have a rough overview of research goals.

Week 2	Project approved
Week 3	Scout Shoot locations Come up with a couple options, document each
Week 4	Material Scanning Tests Ground Vertical surface Complex materials Decide on location
Week 5	First Shoot Process Pointclouds
Week 6	Reshoot Process Pointclouds
Week 7	Optimize Major assets Skydome Ground planes Large static objects
Week 8	Cont Optimizing Optimize mid range objects Static Props
Week 9	Additional elements Atmospheric effects lighting
Week 10	Flex time/Polish