Presentation: ICVFX for Indie Filmmakers in Unreal Engine

Unreal and ICVFX (In-Camera VFX) with Scott Kirvan : Getting into Virtual Production without an LED Volume in UE5

Presented by VFX/VP Supervisor, Scott Kirvan, May 16, 2023, at the Seattle Unreal Engine Meetup.

00:00 Intro to virtual production
02:24 ICVFX ideas for independent filmmakers
05:25 Required equipment review
06:50 The "real world" scale and position discussion
08:50 Measuring the "real world"
12:50 Getting into Unreal. (UE_QuickLaunch) - https://github.com/ScottKirvan/UE_Qui...
14:20 (ScooterUtils Edit plugin) - https://github.com/ScottKirvan/Scoote...
15:00 Create and save a default level
16:10 Build the screen from a basic plane inside Unreal
17:28 Create UV material
25:15 Cinecam & LiveLink
27:00 Unreal Remote 2 on iPhone/Tracker
29:40 nDisplay Config
30:40 Add Cluster Node
31:25 Add Static Mesh to nDisplay
32:51 Add ICFVX (inner frustum) Camera to nDisplay
33:46 LiveLink Preset
34:40 Switchboard
38:12 Launching nDisplay
40:30 Camera overheats + general tech fail! haha :-)
42:55 Tech Test sample: Magic Box
43:30 Tech Test sample: Meerkat, nDisplay, multiple monitors

Further details on the project: https://www.scottkirvan.com/ICVFX/
Unreal Seattle's Discord:   / discord  
Seattle's Unreal Engine Community page: https://communities.unrealengine.com/...
Filmed on-location by Natt Thangvijit. Edited by Natt & Scott.
Equipment/software used: Asus Nitro 5 laptop w/ NVIDIA 3080, Sigma fp camera, Unreal 5.2.

Required Unreal Project Plugins:
- Static Mesh Editor Modeling Mode (enabled by default in UE5+)
- nDisplay (enabling nDisplay automatically enables the LiveLink plugin too)
- Switchboard

Add'l plugins/tools referenced:
- Scooter Utils - Unreal plugin used to change editor font-size for readability and for quick restarts of the editor. https://github.com/ScottKirvan/Scoote...
- UE QuickLaunch - right-click context menu for launching unreal without the Epic Games Launcher. https://github.com/ScottKirvan/UE_Qui...

Process Outline:
1. Collect IRL (In Real Life) Data.
2. Reconstruct our IRL display screen in Unreal.
3. Add CineCamera Actor and set it up to match your IRL camera.
4. Set up Livelink & connect the iPhone using Unreal Remote 2, and save the LiveLink Preset.
5. Configure nDisplay - add VP (Viewport) node, add static mesh screen, and add camera.
6. Launch listener.
7. Launch, Configure, and Connect Switchboard.
8. From Switchboard, run your Unreal project in nDisplay mode.
9. Make your movie and get famous.

Copyright (c) 2023 Natt Thangvijit & Scott Kirvan