Designed for full-scale productions, the new ProVis tools let filmmakers visualize and animate entire scenes, including digital assets, in real-time, across multiple cameras.
Seth MacFarlane’s production company Fuzzy Door has announced the launch of ViewScreen, a suite of production visualization (ProVis) tools, including ViewScreen Studio and ViewScreen Scout, that integrate visual effects and the real world to accelerate television and film production.
Built for full-scale productions, ViewScreen Studio enables filmmakers to visualize and animate entire scenes, including digital assets, in real-time, across multiple cameras. ViewScreen Scout is a real-time scouting app for the iPhone that enables the recording of digital assets to see how they look on location or on a soundstage before filming begins.
ViewScreen runs on off-the-shelf iOS/macOS and Windows consumer hardware using augmented reality (AR) to display VFX components in a live scene so the director, director of photography, camera operators, and extended crew can see the entire scene in real-time.
"ViewScreen takes the guesswork out of the directing process,” explained MacFarlane. “Now, you can see VFX elements, in real-time, as you’re shooting. It's a true advantage for every facet of filmmaking because it accelerates everything we do. It allows for faster decision-making, quicker visualizations, and provides a clear framework for post-production to ensure the director's vision is accurately achieved.”
ViewScreen products have been used by MacFarlane for planning and blocking shuttle landings in Hulu's The Orville: New Horizons. In addition, ViewScreen Studio allowed MacFarlane to direct and animate Ted’s face and body movements during the filming of the Ted TV series (airing on Peacock January 11, 2024), allowing the team to evaluate shots in real-time.
“The ViewScreen suite of tools is focused on production visualization, or ProVis for short,” added Fuzzy Door Tech president Faith Sedlin. “ProVis is the ability to visualize digital assets in a live scene in real time – any time during production. Ultimately, with ViewScreen, you can evaluate, animate, and fine-tune every aspect of your production to capture the perfect shots in fewer takes.”
Viewscreen Studio is used during filming to visualize props, characters, and environments on set or on location in real-time. Camera operators can position shots because they can see an entire scene, including digital assets, in their viewfinder while filming – synchronized by timecode across multiple cameras. Actors can animate digital characters using just an iPhone.
ViewScreen Scout allows filmmakers to previs scenes, virtually walk through sets, block movement, and visualize lighting before filming starts. The crew can collaborate in shared rooms. For example, when an assistant director is on location scouting, a lighting designer can join a shared room remotely and adjust the lighting. The ability to visualize and animate digital assets and VFX in situ makes getting the right shot in fewer takes.
ViewScreen Studio is compatible with the latest macOS (Sonoma) and Windows 11 for use with any cinema camera. ViewScreen Scout runs on iOS devices, including iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max and higher or iPad Pro M1 and higher.
Additional information is available here.
Source: Fuzzy Door
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
