Immersive Video

Get Premiere Footage Ready (GoPro)

When shooting 360 videos there are several important steps along the way to making sure your footage is ready to edit in  premiere. 

First, You must make sure your go pro settings are correct. 360 video, 5.6k Resolution, 30 FPS. 

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If the camera is not already on 360, press the icon in the bottom left corner of the screen. This will change to 360 modes. 

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You are now set up to start recording some video, but you are not done yet. Once you have your footage, off of the go pro, it will be in a format called 360. 

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You will need to get the official GoPro Player and open your 360 files with it. Once open, Go to file Export As and select 4k.

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You will then get the menu below. Again, the Resolution should be 4k. The Codec should be H.264. Finally, turn off World Lock and Horizon Level. Keeping this setting on will still footage spin. 

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You can Name and Save your video. It is now ready to be edited in premier pro. 

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Happy Filming!


Getting started with Unreal Live-Action Cinematics

This guide is a work in progress.

About

This guide provides an OVERVIEW of Unreal live-action cinematic video. Covered in this guide include tutorials to get familiar with Unreal, tools and hardware required, the checklist of operations, and an overview of the template project. To avoid confusion, this guide does not cover the capturing and exporting video from Unreal. Another guide will be posted.

This guide makes use of OpenXR systems but no one will be wearing the headset in a traditional sense.

Prerequisites

New to Unreal?

Checklist of items:

Order to activate equipment

OpenXR equipment is still early technology and can sometimes lose tracking, freeze, and other challenges. Keep in mind you may need to restart devices, re calibrate, and more. The good news is every year bugs, software, and hardware improves.

At the time of this writing, the following should be turned on and checked for calibration in this order, please read the FAQ below:

FAQ

Verify plugins are enabled in your project

Overview of template project

Open up the CinematicMap map. Take a moment and review all the actors in the Outliner. Before getting started, let's open a couple of tabs that may not have imported.

 
Quick fixes

Go to Window/Virtual Production/Composure Compositing and dock this window as a tab next to Outliner. You'll find there is an item called 0010_comp with three items as children. All of these are actors in our map.

Go to Window/Layers and dock this window as a tab next to Outliner and Composure.. Our Foreground layer was not saved when the project was zipped so let's recreate it. Right click in the Layer tab, create an empty layer called FGLayer. This layer will be for all the foreground objects that sit over top the green screen and background objects. You do NOT need to create a background layer.

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Now click on the Composure... tab, click on FG, and within the Details panel, go to Composure/Input/Capture Actors/Index [0]/ and verify the ActorSet has FGLayer assigned. If not, assign the layer.

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Actors overview

A demo of the following will be presented during your class.

The following are the actors in the outliner along with their purpose.

 
Setup

If everything is running properly, go to Window/Virtual Production/Live Link. Click the button + Add Source and choose LiveLinkXR Source and check all the boxes. You should see your HMD, two controllers, and most importantly, the Vive Tracker. If not, close the editor and ensure everything is working. If you see the tracker, close this window.

Click on CineCameraActor. In the Details panel, scroll down in the components window (it's tiny) and choose LiveLinkComponentController (screenshot below). Under Live Link in the Details panel, make sure to assign the tracker under Subject Representation.

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Now we need to get the DSLR feed. Ensure the DSLR is turned on.

Open the Content Drawer, go to Movies/NewMediaPlayer and open it up. In the top left of the video preview is a tiny folder icon, just below the Save icon. Select it, choose Video, and choose the DSLR camera. If you can see the video feed, you can MINIMIZE this window.

DO NOT CLOSE the NewMediaPlayer window after you open the video feed or you will "close" the video feed!

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From here, select the actor 0010_comp and verify everything is working, including tracker, camera feed, etc.

 

Where to go from here?

The next steps would be to prepare both the studio and the Unreal world for cinematic capture. This takes time and planning, particularly with lighting, perspective, and positioning of both real-life and CGI objects. Consider recording a few tests and making a composite before officially recording your takes. Another guide will be posted on an overview on capturing within the Unreal environment and exporting the footage.

DSLR Camera Information

The cameras owned by SCiL are “digital single-lens reflex” (DSLR) types, specifically the Canon EOS 5D Mk IV. 

Helpful manuals and guides for this camera are available online. 

Important! This equipment is expensive, so you must treat it with care.

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DSLR cameras tend to look a lot like older film cameras of the SLR type. Let's break this acronym down:

            Digital - the camera produces images digitally instead of on film

            Single-Lens - there is one path for light to enter the camera

            Reflex - the light entering is split via mirror to both imaging chip and viewfinder

SLR cameras, whether digital or film, are notable for allowing simple switching of different lenses to accomplish various photographic techniques. Both SCiL camera kits come with a Canon 24-105mm lens. A selection of other lenses is available as needed. 

Helpful manuals and information about this lens are available online.

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CCD vs. CMOS

Digital cameras usually use one of two types of image sensor, either a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS). 

CCDs used to be the more common technology, but newer cameras outside of specialized applications tend to use CMOS because they operate more quickly, allowing DSLR cameras to shoot video in addition to stills.

The E0S 5D Mk IV uses a CMOS sensor.

ISO

ISO stands for the International Organization for Standardization (it is technically not an acronym). This organization established a numerical scale to rate how sensitive different kinds of film were to light (called a film's speed). The current standard dates to 1974. 

The ISO film speed standard was retained for digital cameras, even though light sensitivity is now determined by the camera's computer software and light sensor hardware, rather than the chemical composition of film. 

When you change the ISO value on a DSLR, you may think of it as swapping out a physical roll of film and replacing it with a new roll that is more sensitive or less sensitive to light.

One big advantage of a digital camera is that you can change the ISO with the press of a button and from shot to shot, instead of only when you change the roll of film.

This short video shows how to set ISO on the Canon EOS 5D Mk IV.

Here are some important things to know about camera ISO:

Higher ISO numbers are more suitable for dark environments but make the image grainier.

 Lower ISO numbers are more suitable for bright environments and the image will usually be less grainy.

ISO 100: Suitable for a bright, sunny day

ISO 800: Suitable for indoor spaces when not using a flash

ISO 1600+: Suitable for dim or dark environments (but the picture will be increasingly grainy looking)

In the diagram below, note how the higher ISO number produces a much lighter, but also much grainier image.

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F-stop and Aperture

The F-Stop setting determines how much light is allowed to enter a camera through the lens to reach the imaging sensor. F-stop is normally a setting of the lens that is attached to the camera, and is controlled mechanically, by opening or closing the lens aperture.

Different lenses have different apertures and so can handle different f-stop ranges. 

The Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens that is normally kept on the SCiL DSLR cameras has an adjustable f-stop range from f/4 (wide open) to f/22 (nearly closed). It will retain the f-stop you set through its entire zoom range from 24mm to 105mm.

When the camera is set to video mode, you can set the f-stop on the Canon EOS 5D Mk IV using the large dial around the "set" button located at the lower right of the camera body.

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Lower f-stop numbers (like f/4) indicate that the aperture is more open, allowing in more light.

Higher f-stop numbers (like f/22) indicate that the aperture is more closed, allowing in less light.

F-stop settings influence the depth of field.

f/1.2 - f/2.8 - lets in a lot of light, with a correspondingly shallow depth of field.

f/4 - f/8 - useful in many scenarios, with a somewhat wider depth of field.

f/11 - f/32 - best for bright settings, with a wide depth of field.

In the chart below, see how different f-stop settings change the amount of light reaching the sensor and the depth of field:

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Shutter Speed

Shutter Speed

The shutter speed, aka exposure time, is the time that the image sensor is exposed to light when capturing an image. The shutter is a mechanical window inside the camera that opens and closes to allow light into the sensor for a selected amount of time.

This video explains more about different types of camera shutter.

Shutter speed is not necessarily the same as frame rate, which determines how many exposures will be taken per second. For example, it is possible to have a frame rate of 24 frames per second (fps) but have a shutter speed (exposure time) of 1/1000 of a second instead of 1/24 of a second.

A fast shutter speed, such as 1/1000 of a second, will allow light into the sensor extremely briefly. This will work in bright lighting conditions but may not allow enough light to impact the sensor in dimmer light.

A slower shutter speed, such as 1/250 of a second, will allow more light into the sensor, and may work better in lower light conditions. However, a lot can happen over longer periods of time, so faster moving subjects or camera movement may result in a blurry look. This could be an intentional, artistic effect, or could simply ruin your shot or take.

Extremely slow shutter speeds (for example ½ second, 1 second, or more) will allow a LOT of light into the sensor and will almost certainly result in blur effects. However, these shutter speed settings could also be used to capture long exposure photos with their own unique aesthetic appeal.

The Canon EOS 5D Mk IV shutter speed is set using the small dial located on the top right side of the camera. You will notice that this setting has different limits when shooting in video mode vs. still image mode. 

When shooting in video mode, you will usually want to leave the shutter speed setting around 30-60. Faster exposure times are possible if you set your ISO and aperture accordingly but will tend to introduce "flicker" into your video.

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In the image below, note how a 1/30 second shutter speed produces an image with less blur, while a 15 second exposure time adds considerable blur to the waterfall, resulting in an appealing, soft look.

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Exposure and the Exposure Triangle

Exposure

Overexposure: the recorded image or video appears too bright, and details may be "blown out" in a wash of white light.

Overexposed images may look too bright because they were captured with settings that allow too much light into the sensor: 

Underexposure: the recorded image or video appears too dark, and details may be hidden or lost in artificially deep shadows.

Underexposed images may look too dark because they were captured with settings that allow less than expected light into the sensor:

The Exposure Triangle

As you can see, there is a three-way relationship between these three important settings:

An adjustment to any one of these settings will impact the final exposure of the image. It is up to the photographer/videographer to set all three in balance, to achieve the desired depth of field, motion blur, exposure, and aesthetic look.

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Depth of Field

The depth of field is the distance between the nearest and furthest in-focus objects in an image. A narrow depth of field will have a very narrow area in which objects will be in focus. A wide (or large) depth of field will put most elements of the image in focus. 

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Depth of field is influenced by several camera settings including aperture (f-stop) and the lens focal length.

Lower f-stop settings (f/1.2 - f/2.8) have shallow depths of field.

Higher f-stop settings (f/11 - f/32) have wider depths of field.

Longer focal lengths (like the 105mm setting on the Canon EF 24-105mm lens) will have a shallow depth of field.

Shorter focal lengths (like the 24mm setting on the Canon EF 24-105mm lens) will have a wider depth of field.

Turning the focus ring on the lens will adjust the position of the in-focus area, or focal point. 

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Shallow Depth of Field
Aperture = f/1.4. DOF = 0.8 cm

Medium Depth of Field

Aperture = f/4.0. DOF = 2.2 cm

 Wide Depth of Field
Aperture = f/22. DOF = 12.4 cm

The camera's distance to the subject can also influence depth of field.

The depth of field will be wider when the camera is focused on more distant subjects.

The depth of field will be shallower when the camera is focused on closer subjects.

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Camera Settings: the Mode Dial

Mode Dial

SCiL's Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR has a mode dial, located on the upper left of the camera chassis. The mode dial allows you to choose which mode the camera will operate in. The available modes are:

Which mode should you use? That will depend on what you are trying to accomplish. However, some modes are more commonly used than others. The modes you are most likely to use are:

As a matter of convenience, it can sometimes speed up your workflow to use partially automated settings:

 

White Balance

Digital cameras require a certain amount of calibration to capture color information (RGB) properly. This calibration is called white balance, because the camera is being given the information it needs to identify white areas of the image and reproduce them correctly.

The image below shows the same scene white balanced to different color temperatures:

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You can (and should) confirm or set the white balance on the Canon EOS 5D MkIV camera before capturing images or video. You can do this by pressing the WB button on the top right of the camera chassis. A menu will appear (it looks slightly different depending on whether you are shooting in image or video mode), and you can use the large dial on the right side of the camera chassis to select the white balance mode. The available white balance options are:

Which setting should you use? It will depend on what you are trying to accomplish, but the most usual settings would be:

You should check and confirm your white balance setting before you begin a photo or video shoot. Typically, you will want to leave the white balance setting alone once you set it to your preferred selection. 

In video mode, the display screen on the camera will show you a preview of the color result from different white balance settings. In still image mode, you can take a test picture to see the effects of your white balance setting (the test picture will briefly appear on the display screen after you take the picture).