ZEISS has just unveiled a new real-time camera tracking system for virtual production, live compositing and VFX post-production applications. Called ZEISS CinCraft Scenario, it consists of 3 hardware and 4 software components that can be configured to meet the user’s needs.
   

Just a couple of weeks ago, German manufacturer ZEISS announced the acquisition of Ncam Technologies Ltd., a leading developer of real-time visual effects solutions. Apparently, the result of the two companies’ joint effort is almost ready to see the light with the introduction of the new ZEISS CinCraft Scenario camera tracking system. Let’s take a closer look!

ZEISS CinCraft Scenario – small and lightweight camera tracking system

The ZEISS CinCraft Scenario is a camera tracking system that can provide real-time information on the camera’s position and movement. This data is collected in real-time for pre-visualization, live compositing and virtual production work on setand can also be recorded to facilitate VFX artists in their post-production work.

The system consists of 3 physical devices – the CinCraft CamBar, CinCraft Origin and CinCraft Link. It all starts with the CamBar, a camera-mounted device that collects position and movement data from the environment.

This information is then processed by the Origin computational unit, which runs the main software. Lastly, the CinCraft Link connects CamBar and Origin over a wired network and allows access to the user interface using mobile devices.

According to ZEISS, the system is designed to work in pretty much every shooting scenario, whether it be indoor, outdoor, with green or blue screens as well as in LED volumes. For example, the CamBar unit is equipped with an infrared emitter to detect tracking markers in dimly-lit environments, while its synchronization features make it compatible with digital markers on LED walls.

These 3 devices are complemented by 4 pieces of software:

• CinCraft Scenario:it calculates position and movement data in real-time;
• CinCraft Wrangler: it records real-time tracking data and lens metadata on the Origin’s internal drive and creates a proprietary herd file;
• CinCraft Export: it extracts data from the proprietary herd file to make it available for industry-standard softwares such as Nuke, Maya and Unreal Engine. It’s free of charge
• CinCraft UE Connect: it provides a direct interface to Unreal Engine.

Last but not least, the system seamlessly integrates with ZEISS and ARRI/ZEISS glass. This means that there’s no need to go through tedious lens mapping and calibration steps when shooting with these premium lenses.

The ZEISS CinCraft camera tracking system will be available starting late fall 2023. Users will have the ability to configure the system to meet their specific needs or choose between 4 pre-bundled options.