A leader in live augmented reality (AR), extended reality (XR), and virtual production (VP) solutions, Pixotope, introduced its XR Edition for extended reality productions just before the start of IBC2022. The solution made its debut at IBC2022 on stand 7.D08 at the RAI in Amsterdam, which ends today. Developed in response to the growing trend of LED volume use in Virtual Production and the need for hardware optimization, Pixotope’s XR Edition includes a range of tools to simplify setup and operation by reducing the technical complexities and associated resource costs of XR workflows and environments.
“In the past, XR productions have been limited to select teams with highly specialized technical resources,” says Pixotope Chief Revenue Officer David Dowling. “With our XR Edition, Pixotope has developed an easy-to-use solution that enables wider adoption with tools specifically designed to address pain points like color matching, LED meshing and alignment, camera switching, hardware consolidation, and system resilience. As a result, XR is no longer limited to a small group of specialists, it’s a viable option for productions of all sizes.”
Here is some more information about the new XR Edition solution, shared by Pixotope:
Beyond workflow simplification and innovation, XR Edition brings Virtual Production a step forward in sustainability efforts thanks to the ways it optimizes hardware usage. Key functions that achieve this are XR Edition’s multi-wall support, which features one input and three outputs to render one virtual scene, enabling users to drive several large LED volumes from a single server/workstation; and in-software camera switching to synchronize AR elements and LED walls without a hardware-based switcher.
XR Edition will be available to new and existing Pixotope users from September 2022.
Pixotope is knocking down a major barrier to Virtual Production adoption with XR Edition by addressing the fundamental challenges that have historically made it difficult to leverage XR outside of major blockbuster productions. Its purpose-built tools address common operator pain points while removing the need for proprietary hardware, effectively bringing users an off-the-shelf XR solution.
Key benefits and features in the XR Edition include:
Streamlined, Simplified Set Up
- Unique Color Match Functionality for AR<->XR Workflows
This unique color matching tool enables users to quickly and easily match the colors of in-camera visual effects (ICVFX) and those appearing through the LED volume for seamless AR/XR workflows and effects. This is particularly useful when augmented reality (AR) is used alongside XR for set extension or when adding virtual elements to a scene as color reproduction is affected by both the camera and LED volume, making it difficult to accurately color match. - LED Mesh Import and Automatic Alignment
By combining procedural geometry creation tools and tracking technology, users will be provided with an automated method for converting CAD and geometry representations of LED volumes to virtual LED projection surfaces. These will be further refined using computer vision to ensure perfect registrations for XR and AR set extension, which will significantly reduce setup time.
Reduced and Optimized Hardware Usage
- Multi-Input Switching in Software for Changing Perspectives
When using more than one camera in an XR setup, the images on your LED volume and your AR rendering need to synchronously change perspective when switching between cameras in a single frame. With in-software switching, Pixotope ensures this operation is accurate and hassle-free without the need for additional hardware. - Multi-Wall Support to Optimize Hardware Use
With multi-wall support, Pixotope can drive several LED walls from a single server/workstation. This not only reduces the amount of hardware needed, and therefore cost, but also mitigates many common issues such as output synchronization and sharing of assets over multiple machines.
Resilient, Robust, and Reliable
- Health and Diagnostics Monitoring for Failover and System Resilience
When it comes to live Virtual Production, failure is not an option. With Pixotope, the clear and comprehensive health and diagnostics monitoring enables users to proactively address any issues that might arise and quickly troubleshoot and, in the case of a system failure, seamlessly failover to a backup machine.
Follow the link to Pixotope’s website for a complete list of XR Edition features and capabilities.