In General XR News
December 15, 2022 – Arcturus, a provider of volumetric video editing and streaming tools, has announced the release of several updates for its HoloSuite platform, including a new beta feature developed to connect volumetric video clips and blend them together. With the new features, content creators can populate full virtual production scenes with real people, build live-action branching narratives with no gaps and offer original experiences for the metaverse using people instead of CG avatars, according to the company.
“Volumetric video isn’t just offering content creators new ways to do old things better; with the right tools, it offers possibilities that simply weren’t there before,” said Kamal Mistry, CEO of Arcturus. “Our new tools will open up a huge range of potential uses across multiple industries, and soon we will begin to see content unlike anything that’s ever been seen before.”
This latest HoloSuite update includes the release of the “Blend” tool in beta for the first time. With Blend, HoloSuite users can take a volumetric video clip featuring a live-action performance and connect that clip to other related clips, creating an imperceptible transition from one segment to another. Artists can also use Blend to loop the end of a clip back to its start, creating a recording of a photorealistic subject moving and interacting that continually repeats.
Arcturus stated that creators can now take a blended volumetric video clip and insert it into a digital environment to populate a virtual scene with live-action 3D performances, without needing to create countless digidoubles, or try to force 2D video into a 3D setting. The Blend feature will also give users the ability to build live-action branching narratives with no perceptible change between video tracks, providing creators with an original way to explore new forms of digital storytelling, build augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) experiences and more.
Working with existing HoloSuite users and clients, Arcturus will continue the current beta testing over the next few months, fine-tuning the Blend functionality and ensuring both compatibility and stability. Once the beta period has concluded, Blend will become a standard feature. All current HoloSuite users will be able to participate in the beta.
In addition to the new beta tool, HoloSuite has also received a host of other improvements and upgrades. Unity users with the HoloSuite plugin will now find improved OMS playback, offering better viewing controls for volumetric video files within the game engine. Additional support for Unreal Engine 5 OMS playback is on the way as well.
Updates include:
- 4DViews Capture Import – New native file support will allow users to directly import files from 4Dviews;
- Generate “Smooth Normals” – HoloSuite users can generate “smooth normals” to create better surfaces for re-lighting, and allow for quick lighting changes on volumetric subjects in game engines;
- New Lighting Preferences – Environmental lighting can now be added directly within HoloEdit for more dynamic viewing.
For more information on Arcturus and its HoloSuite platform, which is available now, please visit the company’s website.
Image / video credit: Arcturus / YouTube
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About the author
Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.