Session with Serra – Page 8 – Carolwang 22005359

-> 2024 10 Apr.

Session 2 – Unreal Engine / Motion Capture

In today’s lesson, Sere introduced some examples of experimental animation using Unreal Engine. One example that stood out to me was “Life After BOB,” a planned eight-part anime miniseries by Ian Cheng. It explores the merging of humans and AI, leading to turbulent consequences.

Life after BOB animated film – video ( I like it!! )

Ian Cheng: Life after BOB

-> 2024 17 May

Motion Capture

Some notes for today’s lesson.

How to engage with the audience
Be experimental!

Today’s session introduced us to motion capture technology in the workshop. It’s fascinating to discover this new method of animation, where we record all body movements while wearing a special suit embedded with numerous sensors. I believe leveraging this motion capture resource at LCC will greatly benefit our future projects, allowing us to explore innovative animation techniques.

Vcon is really cool because there are lots of cameras around the main stage, all against a green background. With this setup, it can generate 3D images using data from these cameras.

A WIP test video I recorded: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/107664247336639499

In addition to the motion capture resources available at LCC, I also participated in an online workshop hosted by Rokoko Motion Capture. Rokoko is a company that specializes in developing new technology and suits for motion capture in software like C4D, Maya, and other 3D animation software.

Rokoko’s mocap tools are easy to use and deliver top-notch data quality. They work smoothly with various 3D animation software, making them a budget-friendly choice for studios and animators alike. In summary, Rokoko streamlines animation processes, helping creators bring characters to life effortlessly.

https://www.rokoko.com/

It’s important to me that the capture method is not disruptive to the talent or voice director. I find Rokoko to be a great tool for this because I can set up my iPhone away from the microphone and record my takes from the other side of the booth, making it a perfect workflow.

-> 2024 10th Apr.

Session1 – Vicon

Introduction to the brief /Vicon

Today, we learned how to use a virtual camera (Vcam) in Unreal Engine. This tool lets us see and interact with our 3D worlds using a phone. Setting it up was easy, and it was exciting to explore our 3D environments directly from our phones. This session showed us how Vcam can be used in games, virtual production, and architecture. It was fun and interesting to see how Vcam makes working with 3D content easier and more interactive.

Step to set Vcam:

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use Vcam in Unreal Engine:

Enable the following plugins in UE 5.3:

Take Recorder
Take Recorder Multi-User Synchronization
Apple ARKit
Live Link
RemoteSession
Virtual Production Utilities
Virtual Scouting
VirtualCamera
VirtualCameraCore After enabling these, restart Unreal Engine.

Connect your phone to your computer’s network by creating a hotspot on your phone and connecting your computer to it.
On your computer, press Windows + R, type cmd, and press Enter. In the command prompt, type ipconfig and press Enter. Note the IPv4 address.
In Unreal Engine, go to Project Settings > UDP Messaging and find Unicast Endpoint. Enter your IP address, followed by :0 (no spaces and it’s a zero).
In Project Settings, go to Rendering > Light Units > Advanced > Frame Buffer Pixel Format And set it to 8 bit RGBA.
In your scene, create a Vcam Actor. In the Details panel, find Output Providers and check Is Active.
On your iPhone or iPad (Android is not supported), download the Live Link Vcam app. Enter your computer’s IP address (do not include :0). Make sure your antivirus or firewall is turned off on your computer.

Testing of Vcam by using my phone

Using the Vcam tool in Unreal Engine was mind-blowing!!

With just my phone as a controller, I could roam freely in the 3D worlds I created. It felt like stepping into a virtual reality of my own making, all from my fingertips. This technology has huge potential for future commercial use. Picture using it for virtual property tours or interactive marketing campaigns. The possibilities are endless, and I can’t wait to see how it transforms industries like architecture and advertising.