The Changing Same

How could actors and crew share a virtual location while working in separate rooms?

I planned each virtual scene alongside its physical blocking. I designed the green-screen proxy props, made some of them, and had others manufactured for the shoot. I positioned the virtual camera and backplate, then marked where chairs, props, and eyelines belonged. Cory Allen and the capture team used those references to align the physical camera and set. Once a shot had been set up, I moved in and out of the studio, using the live OBS composite to direct action and performances. Google Hangouts connected the people working elsewhere, and the actors could see themselves inside the scene while they performed. I moved between Blender and Unity as the shot required.

The live composite gave the actor, camera team, and remote directors the same spatial reference. A chair or eyeline could be placed against the image they were all seeing, even when the location existed only in the preview.

How could Harriet keep a recorded face and hands while moving with a complete articulated body?

I designed the capture approach and setup and managed the shoot. We recorded the performer with two camera systems running through different software: Depthkit for the volumetric head-and-arms performance and iPi Soft for the skeletal solve. Afterward I handed the animation files and Depthkit assets to Rad Mora. We anchored the volumetric recording to the skeleton at the hips. Rad worked on the combined figure and designed the dress around it, establishing the full silhouette. In the finished scene, the performer sits at the top of a long stacked figure, thirteen feet above the visitor.

Harriet carries the performer's face, hands, and upper-body motion inside a stable full-body figure. The final character is thirteen feet tall, with the dress defining the silhouette around the joined body.