FEATURE | L I DAR SCANN I NG
THE RISE OF VIRTUAL VISUALISATION
Working to an extremely tight deadline to meet Gaggenau’s product launch date, we streamlined our production approach by refining the storyboards at the shoot location using cutting-edge LIDAR scanning equipment. This allowed us to create a 3D point cloud of the whole environment, giving our team ultimate flexibility in pre- visualisation to identify overall shots. On the consumer side, we know augmented reality (AR) as technology that can overlay digital content onto a real-world image, such as through a smartphone’s screen and camera. But in shoot production, that capability is taken to a much grander level with the ability to see live-action and CG footage side by side in real time, right there on the set. Being able to walk into the Washington woodland holding a consumer-grade tablet to map out elements quickly and accurately eliminated creative roadblocks before they even appeared. We completely deviated from the way production is traditionally carried out. If your shoot schedule doesn’t allow the flexibility to return another day, then you can harness the power of CG to complete projects or tweak results. LIDAR scanning can be used to capture useful data about the location, in case you need to rebuild assets after the fact. Considering that agencies and creative production studios alike are under ever- tighter turnarounds, and increasingly have less time to work things out on set, efficient pre-visualisation tools have proven invaluable. With your CG environments and backdrops ready and waiting, you can receive immediate feedback on camera measurements and positioning, ensuring that you can adjust shots as needed in the moment. That also lets you check that 3D assets line up correctly and that all the plates match.
Soon, the point and shoot method will be obsolete. It will become assimilate and shoot
WHAT’S NEXT? ASSIMILATE AND SHOOT
If Gaggenau has taught us anything, it’s that integrated production methods – blending the real and digital worlds – allow for much more flexibility than a strictly traditional pipeline. Of course, you always want to capture as much as possible on set, but it’s reassuring to know that much can be addressed after the fact – and 3D scans will play a key role in this ongoing shift. Soon, the ‘point and shoot’ method will be obsolete. Productions will need to consider capturing the full 360° environment if they want to deliver immersive content to an audience seeking new experiences. ‘Point and shoot’ will become ‘assimilate and shoot’.
James joined Saddington Baynes in 1998 as a junior re-toucher. Now, 20 years on, he is the driving force behind production as executive creative director. His role involves overseeing the studio’s diverse creative team and developing the Engagement Insights® service. This is a neuroscience-based tool created by Saddington Baynes to identify an audience’s non- conscious reaction to images and video, helping brands to tell their stories in the most emotionally resonant way. CREATIVE DIRECTOR, SADDINGTON BAYNES JAMES DIGBY JONES EXECUTIVE
ABOVE Setting up the LIDAR scanner.
70 DEF I N I T ION | FEBRUARY 20 1 9
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