SET- UP | NEWS
NCAM LAUNCHES ITS AR SUITE OF TOOLS The Ncam AR Suite is available as either a lite or standard version. Both versions include all the essential tools, an open-source framework and augmented reality pipelines to help bring real-time, photorealistic augmented reality to productions. Ncam AR Suite Lite is compatible with Unreal Engine 4.23.X or 4.24.X and is included with Ncam Reality. Features include a complete solution for producing Virtual Studio and Virtual Overlay augmented reality within UE4. It’s built from the ground up using native UE4 frameworks and has a greatly improved performance over the previous NcamAR plug-in. The Ncam AR Suite includes all features of Ncam AR Suite Lite and extends it with advanced rendering pipelines that allow photographic effects like depth-of-field (so you can naturally pull focus to and from virtual objects), Screen Space Reflections (where you can see the video stream reflected in the virtual objects) and a virtual overlay (where you can render and composite virtual objects into a live video stream). There’s also a virtual studio, which is a virtual replacement of green screen and compositing with keyed elements like 3D Garbage Matte, to mask areas of the video and extend your virtual scene past the edges of the green screen; support for the Ncam Keyer and Real Depth; plus two extended rendering modes that add more experimental and advanced features, like Lens Flare and Bloom.
MPC LAUNCHES NEW VFX DIVISION FOR STREAMING AND EPISODIC CONTENTS
Technicolor’s MPC has announced the official launch of its new episodic visual effects division. The entertainment industry is currently experiencing one of its biggest shifts, brought on by the burgeoning of streaming platforms now available and an unprecedented demand for content. Pair that with the quality of viewing devices, which has enabled consumers to enjoy the highest-quality picture and sound when and wherever they want, there is now heightened consumer expectations around episodic content. Those expectations are often answered through increasingly complex and dynamic stories, putting new demands – and creating new opportunities – within visual effects. As a result, MPC, renowned for its photoreal VFX and animation work, is offering episodic directors and producers access to the pioneering technology and talent behind recent blockbusters such as The Lion King , 1917 , Pokémon Detective Pikachu and Godzilla: King of the Monsters . The division will be headed by managing
director, Thomas Williams, who was previously chief operating officer for MPC Film. Before joining MPC, Williams spent ten years at Sky, working in production planning and technical development. The MPC Episodic team is led by executive VFX supervisor, Pete Jopling ( The Bourne Legacy , Captain America: Civil War , Chernobyl ), head of creative, Gurel Mehmet ( The Witcher , Avengers: Endgame , Inception ) and senior producer, Therese Zambra ( Mars , Frontline ). Williams said: “The episodic landscape has changed at an extraordinary pace, and now feels like the perfect time to launch this exciting new division. MPC has been behind some of the most awe-inspiring film and commercials work of the last decade and is well positioned to bring its phenomenal expertise to the episodic community.” The Episodic division will have its headquarters at MPC’s London studio and will expand on Technicolor’s portfolio of film and episodic VFX studios: Mill Film, Mr. X and Mikros.
The episodic landscape has changed at an extraordinary pace, and now feels like the perfect time to launch this exciting new division
10 DEF I N I T ION | MARCH 2020
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