LONDON — Disguise’s (www.disguise.one) new integration with SaaS platform Volinga.ai enables filmmakers and virtual production specialists to quickly generate 3D environments. Users can now capture real-world 2D content with their phones, upload the footage to Volinga's AI platform, and, through the RenderStream bi-directional protocol, translate it into immersive virtual scenes.
To recreate environments shot on location for a virtual production volume, users simply upload their phone footage via the Volinga RenderStream plug-in and modify the weather or atmosphere of the scene. This can be done without having to recreate it in 3D from scratch. Scenes can easily be run in realtime with little optimization needed.
This seamless workflow uses NeRFs, an AI technology that enables the capture and representation of 3D scenes from 2D images. Offering a robust, user-friendly pipeline for 3D content generation, it overcomes common bottlenecks in VFX and virtual production workflows, such as extensive 3D asset creation and complex photogrammetry.
The Volinga Suite allows for the efficient, fast creation of 3D environments with the full parallax effect, which is essential for dynamic perspectives and depth in a 3D environment. Because of this, DPs can move the camera freely on a virtual production set without any restrictions.
“With this new integration, Disguise and Volinga users can easily create and navigate 3D environments for virtual production, dramatically reducing the time and effort required in creating 3D environments,” explains Volinga co-founder Fernando Rivas-Manzaneque. “This signifies a massive step-change in virtual production capabilities.”
So far, more than 700 beta users have provided feedback, noting the significant reduction in time and budget needed to create photorealistic environments.
“By providing native support for 3D generative AI in Disguise, we will ease the process of capturing, manipulating and visualizing 3D environments, bringing techniques previously exclusive to high-budget productions to mid and lower-budget productions,” explains Disguise solutions director Peter Kirkup. “This will drive the adoption of digital twin creation and democratize virtual production for all.”
To get started, users can download the Disguise RenderStream plug-in for Volinga, upload images or videos of a 3D environment to the Volinga.ai platform, and convert them into a NeRF. This will be in the form of an NVOL file that can be rendered in both Unreal Engine and Disguise RenderStream software for use in virtual sets.