Back in May at GDC 2017 Epic Games presented a revolutionary pipeline for rendering visual effects in real-time using their Unreal Engine. Developed in partnership with visual effects studio The Mill, the outcome of the project was a short promotional video for Chevrolet called The Human Race (above). While the film’s visual effects are stunning the underlying innovation isn’t immediately apparent. The following film by The Mill’s Rama Allen nicely summarises the process.
Behind the visual effects The Mill have an adjustable car rig called The Blackbird. Mounted on the car is a 360 degree camera rig which uses The Mill’s Cyclops system to stitch the video output from different cameras together and transmits it to Unreal Engine. Using positioning data from the The Blackbird and QR-like tracking markers on the outside of the vehicle as a spatial reference, the Unreal Engine then overlays computer generated imagery in real-time. Because all of this is being done in real-time a viewer can interactively reconfigure the virtual model of the car that has been superimposed on the The Blackbird rig while they are watching.
For the film industry this means that CGI and visual effects can be tested on location. For audiences it might mean that aspects of scenes within the final film become customisable. Perhaps the viewer can choose the protagonists car. Perhaps the implications are wider. If you can instantly revisualise a car or a character in the film why not an entire environment? With the emergence of more powerful augmented reality technologies, will there be a point at which this becomes a viable way to interact with and consume urban space?
The videos The Human Race and The Human Race – Behind The Scenes via Rama Allen and The MIll.
Virtual Architectures 