VYV Lab’s ground-breaking Multi-view Calibration Workflow
is now a standard feature in PHOTON V9. Your approach to projector and camera calibration will never be the same. Under development for years, this innovative feature uses new algorithms that greatly accelerate the calibration process for large quantities of projectors, while using significantly less external hardware, such as cameras and optical markers.
With this new workflow, users can also output precise, dense 3D point-clouds representing physical projection surfaces and their surroundings. They can be exported in standard 3D formats for external processing, modeling and re-meshing.
We’ve also made a lot of progress automating tedious tasks. With the click of a button, you can now calibrate hundreds of projectors with only a few cameras and optical markers in large, non-controlled environments, like stadiums.
Projector and camera calibration
is an essential part of every show that relies on PHOTON. When you want those projectors lined up quickly and precisely, we’ve got your back.
• Multi-view Calibration Workflow. This new workflow allows you to calibrate projectors and cameras on unknown surfaces without active markers. You can now reconstruct and mesh surfaces and create a UV map within Photon for an initial result. Meshes and UV maps can be refined by exporting them to a 3D modeler software.
• GFS SLAC. “Go Faster Stripes” Structured Light Auto Calibration. Calibrate projectors in seconds. Precise alignment is up to 10 times faster than with our previous SLAC.
• Calibration Priors. Let you specify known parameters, such as focal length, to facilitate and accelerate the calibration process.
• Calibration Reports. Can’t get good projector alignment? Maybe the cameras are out of focus or incorrectly positioned. Find out quickly and intuitively which cameras require adjustments with the new calibration report window.
• Calibration Presets. Save and toggle between presets to compare different calibration results quickly.
• Twister improvements. Sometimes you need to manually tweak the projectors’ calibration. Our Twister tool got some love to better help you out.
ALBION interactive light control system
lets you leverage VYV’s state-of-the-art motion tracking to simulate and control lighting fixtures for your show.
• Moving light calibration. We’ve developed the software and workflow to let you calibrate your fixtures from the MA console using the ALBION tracking system.
• Two-way control of lighting fixtures. No show is the same: sometimes you need to take control away from the console and back to the tracking system.
• Moving Light rendering simulation. Simulate lighting, program smooth transitions from light to projection.
• Easy integration. Load MA projects directly into Photon. Import layers and fixtures and start working in minutes.
• Albion now features external control. Use your lighting console to control Albion.
Virtual Studio tools
expand PHOTON’s ability in the realm of augmented reality and live studio effects.
• Unreal Engine integration. Use the industry’s leading game engine to build interactive effects that can be integrated seamlessly in PHOTON’s workflow.
• 3D tracking. Take full advantage of ALBION’s tracking capacities to control the game engine’s parameters and virtual components.
• Camera real-time alignment. Match the orientation and position of virtual cameras with their
real life counterparts.
HDR Support
is now part of PHOTON’s toolkit and allow the output of high dynamic range content.
• Full 64-bit processing. Each channel now has a 16-bit memory allocation to allow the expression of deep and rich colors.
• HDR10+ output. Use HDMI 2.0b ports to output 10-bit 4:2:2 or 12-bit 4:2:0 content.
• 3D LUTs. Use the .CUBE file format to apply color transformations on any layer or media.
Building interactive effects is now quicker than ever
with Photon’s powerful FX Graph. Our ultra-flexible FX Graph module lets you build jaw-dropping interactive environments—but we know things get cluttered sometimes. To help you navigate more easily and better organize your work, we’ve added a ton of workflow enhancements.
• Work with a virtually limitless canvas. You’ve got infinite space for your nodes.
• Better canvas navigation. Frame and zoom in on sections of your graph intuitively using your mouse.
• Dynamic Minimap. Here to help you see the big picture.
• Build FX Graphs directly from the Timeline. Convert your Timeline FX into an FX Graph with just the click of a button…
• Notch Blocks integration. PHOTON now allows users to import Notch Blocks and run them natively through its interface.
• More nodes. We’ve added over a dozen new FX Graph nodes. Here are some highlights:
– OSC client and server nodes
– Python expressions
– Audio analysis
• And so much more. We’ve added lots of tweaks to simplify authoring and revising your FX Graph.
– Searchable node list
– Hotkeys to speed up node linking
– Better management of FX Graphs in your Timeline
Importing media
is not the coolest thing to do, but good tools help ease the pain.
• Extended format support. Import and natively convert Cineform and ProRes media.
• Faster GPU conversion. The GPU is used to convert source footage to VYV’s VCI file format whenever possible.
• Import whole folders and sub-folders. Features recursive media imports.
It’s the little things
that count. We all know that and here’s a sampler.
• Better alpha content previsualization. Checkerboard view in all Preview windows lets you know right away if there is transparent media content on a layer.
• Transform manipulation mode. Tweak visual effects directly from the Preview window.
• UV preview. Now you can visualize your UV maps from any Preview window.
• Advanced search. Use our new model count system to search easily through tons of objects in the 3D Scene.
• Bug fixes galore! VYV’s development team has been listening to your feedback. We’ve fixed dozens of bugs to keep Photon rock solid, so you can deliver reliable show performance night after night in the most demanding conditions.