BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, ENGLAND – Clear Angle Studios (www.clearanglestudios.co.uk), a leader in high-end 3D and 4D capture, has launched the Volumetric Capture Rig (VCR) - an advanced system for dynamic Gaussian splat capture. This approach provides VFX artists with photoreal dynamic assets, recreating real-world performances faithfully in digital scenes. Located at Pinewood Studios, the VCR was developed to meet growing industry demand for highly believable digital performances while requiring fewer manual post production steps.
The rig is designed to be adaptable for the specific requirements of each shoot and can be configured for a range of applications. This includes close-up facial capture, single performer work, stunt performances, groups, crowds and larger volumetric performance spaces. With the VCR, productions can capture dynamic performances in a studio, which VFX teams can then authentically replicate into a CG environment.
For example, large crowd scenes can be populated with extremely lightweight, photoreal Gaussian splat assets, with performers captured in groups in the VCR and re-lit in post. This approach also reduces costs for VFX teams, where a Gaussian splat workflow can require far fewer production hours to reach the final product than a standard pipeline.
Current workflows rely on reconstructed geometry involving significant manual cleanup, texturing, lighting and animation in post to provide photoreal results. A Gaussian splat asset, by contrast, inherently preserves the exact original behavior and natural lighting of the captured performance, providing high-fidelity datasets in a fraction of the time.
The VCR was first showcased in partnership with Union VFX, which used Clear Angle Studios’ data to develop a new re-lighting solution for Gaussian splats. The rig features an array of 40 high-speed, machine-vision cameras with 6K sensors that record at 60fps. There are 450 individually-programmable light nodes, and 12-bit image capture allows for massive raw information throughput. The volume can scale to 2.5 cubic meters and offers 360-degrees of coverage. Highly-customizable lighting is capable of up to 120 different scenarios, including point source, one-light-at-a-time and shadow-cast setups.
“Our entire ethos is about being faithful to reality," explains Dominic Ridley, CEO of Clear Angle Studios. "The VCR delivers a dataset which fully preserves the talent's original nuanced performance, in all its glory. By providing VFX teams with robust, accurate data as a foundation, we make life easier downstream and ensure the final result is completely grounded in truth.”