Tracking the set position of roving video cameras and performers, or establishing a "director camera's-eye view" in real time computer graphic scenes, is easy and economical with the Studio Camera Tracker from Motion Analysis Corporation.
By attaching a "marker array" on a studio camera, the system can record six degrees of freedom of the camera roving in areas 40' x 50'.
Two versions are available:- CG Tracker: Allowing a single markered camera (or any object) to roam during capture to define viewing perspectives.
- Virtual Set Studio Camera Tracker: A high resolution system tracking up to three cameras for virtual set use.
The system is capable of tracking up to three cameras as well as the performers' locations all at once.
The most obvious application is in virtual sets, where Studio Camera Tracker will provide an economical method of tracking a wild camera and performers without using mechanical devices.
The bigger application is wherever computer graphics and video images are coming together. Directors working with computer generated characters are blind to how they will appear in a scene. Sometimes they do not see the final image until after a lot of money is invested in generating the graphics and then it is too late or prohibitively expensive to reposition the graphics. Studio Camera Tracker provides the economical, efficient answer.
Additional features of the Studio Camera Tracker software are the ability to map the studio camera lens disortions at different zoom positions and automatically aligning the optical axis of the virtual camera with that of the studio camera. This allows the virtual cameras to exhibit the same lens distortions and project the same field of view as the studio camera.