Volumetric video refers to the process of recording moving photos of the real people, objects, and the world, which can be viewed at any time in the future from any angle. By 2023, the volumetric video market is predicted to value at $2.78 billion. The majority of the media attention on volumetric cameras has focused on their potential to make more compelling and immersive virtual reality content.
Volumetric video, when paired with positional tracking systems in a VR headset, lets viewers navigate new worlds. The viewer can become the director and choose each shot on their own. This will also provide traditional filmmakers with new capabilities, which were previously not available to them.
But volumetric video is more than the VR. It captures a scene from various viewpoints. Then, that information is utilized to form a depth map of space. Once the volumetric video is shot, it could possibly be used more than its original purpose to make additional assets for intended project as well as the virtual set for countless other projects.
Potential Of Volumetric Video
Full capture
Once the capture is formed and saved, you can re-use it and also re-purpose it for circumstances before initial envisioned scope. Forming a virtual set lets volumetric cinematographers and videographers plan for shots and create stories without requiring crew or even being present at physical set itself. A proper visualization could help a performer or actor block out an action or scene with comfort that their practice is not at the expense of rest of production.
Also, old sets can be recorded digitally before they are torn so that they remain eternally as a place to visit again and explore for inspiration and entertainment. One can also kit-bash multiple sets in a way to tighten iteration loops of sound design, set design, coloring, and other aspects of production.
True Immersion
With the advancement of volumetric video into global capture as well as display hardware to match, the world would enter into an age of true immersion where nuances of captured environment merged with the nuances of captured performances will transfer emotionality in an entirely new medium, blurring the lines between virtual and real worlds. This groundbreaking sensory world will revolutionize the way humans consume media, and while the technologies for other senses such as smell, proprioception, and scent are still in the development stage and research, one day in the near future, this technology will help us travel to new locales, both imagined and real.
Journalism and tourism industries will identify new life with the ability to transfer a visitor or viewer safely to a location. In civil engineering and architectural visualization industries, visitors would be able to explore entire cities and structures without the need for actual construction.
Traditional Skill Sets
An area of concern linked to growing scope of volumetric capture is shrinking demand for the traditional skill sets like animation, lighting, modeling, etc. However, in the future, the mass of volumetric capture technologies that are production-oriented will grow, and as a result, the demand for the traditional skill sets will also rise.
Volumetric captures excel at recording pre-rendered animated footage or static data. However, it cannot make an imaginary environment or allow for any interactivity levels. This is where developers and artists who are skilled will be in huge demand, making seamless interactive events as well as assets to complement the current geometry data. The responsibility will be on artisan to make sure they keep up with workflows and tools that suit their skill sets the best. However, the prudent will discover that the future’s production pipeline will include many occasions to streamline the formation of labor-intensive as well as allowing for investment in larger creative challenges.
Additionally, skills that are currently considered semi-obsolete due to advancements in computer graphics will once again become relevant as fidelity of things like hand-built, real sets, and handmade quality costumes will always be more immersive than everything that is computer-generated.
The Bottom Line
By combining volumetric captures of additional computer-generated elements with real-life set captures, we would be able to blend our imagination and real-like in a completely unique and immersive way. This would revolutionize the way we see videos and experience a variety of things like reading, traveling, etc.
Photo by Minh Pham on Unsplash