VP Day One
- Lesson2 of 6
- Time25 min
Words you'll hear
Outcome
Use twenty virtual production terms correctly, including frustum, genlock, moiré, nDisplay, VAD and brain bar.
Mapped to 2 ScreenSkills checklist lines
- ScreenSkills virtual production competencies: camera roles · Supplying and maintaining camera and related equipment for virtual production: "ensure that any camera used for VP is gen lock enabled"
- ScreenSkills virtual production competencies: camera roles · Using equipment to capture quality images for virtual production: "Consider moire when selecting focus point"
ScreenSkills checklists are guides, not accreditation. This course is not endorsed by ScreenSkills.
Watch
1 film · about 8 minutes
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Films are made and owned by the channels named, and play from YouTube. Inclusion here is not an endorsement either way.
The wall and the picture
- Inner frustum: the part of the wall the camera sees, redrawn for the camera's position. Outer frustum: the rest of the wall, used mainly as light and reflection.
- Pixel pitch: the gap between LED pixels, in millimetres. Smaller pitch lets the camera focus nearer the wall without problems.
- Moiré: a ripple pattern when the camera focuses on or near the wall's pixels. Keep focus on the actors and the wall soft.
- Processor: the box that turns the video signal into light on the panels. Refresh rate: how often the panels redraw.
Timing and tracking
- Genlock: locking the camera, the wall and the engine to the same timing signal, so the picture doesn't tear or flicker.
- Tracking: how the system knows where the camera is and where it's pointing. Lens data (focus, zoom, distortion) goes with it.
- nDisplay: Unreal Engine's system for driving many screens as one wall.
People and places
- VAD: the virtual art department, which builds the 3D worlds in prep with the production designer.
- Brain bar: the operators' desk at the volume: engine, tracking, media server and colour.
- Previs: planning shots in 3D before the shoot. Techvis: working out the technical set-up. Postvis: temporary effects for the edit.
- Plate: filmed footage played on the wall (2D), as opposed to a 3D environment.
Check
3 questions drawn from 8 · pass mark 80% · safety-critical questions must be right · 3 attempts in 24 hours · new questions each time
Watch the films to open the check.
Do
Your VP word list · 10 minutes
Write ten of the terms from this lesson in your own words, one line each, as if explaining them to a new runner.
How it's marked
- Ten terms, each correct
- Plain words a newcomer would understand
- Includes frustum, genlock and moiré
Met or Not yet, with a comment from a trained reviewer. Until accounts open, open the model answer after you submit and mark your own work against it.
Model answer (open after you submit)
Example lines: 'Inner frustum: the bit of the wall the camera sees, redrawn for where the camera is.' 'Genlock: everything ticking in time so the picture doesn't flicker.' 'Moiré: ripples when you focus on the wall itself.'
Reflect
Record
This is everything kept about this lesson. In the pilot it's held by Futures in Film CIC in your account; Screen Sisters CIC sees named records only if you agree. Your data
Moving on doesn't complete a lesson. A lesson is complete when the films are watched, the check is passed and the task is marked Met.