As part of its latest update to Unreal Engine, Epic Games has announced further advances to the virtual production toolset—as well as refinements to the broader feature sets— as it prepares for the next generation of ICVFX stages.
Unreal Engine 5.3 includes experimental support to nDisplay for SMPTE ST 2110, which the company says lays the groundwork for future changes to LED stage configurations. Initial support is for NVIDIA hardware and its Rivermax SDK.
For virtual production, Unreal Engine’s support for the standard offers stage owners, Virtual Art Departments (VADs), and VFX studios flexibility in deciding how video feeds are routed on an LED stage, including the ability to share the frustum between render nodes, leading to the potential for higher-resolution displays and more efficient use of hardware resources, said the company.
For multi-camera shoots, the addition of 2110 support offers the prospect of using a dedicated machine for each camera frustum, said Epic Games, maximising the potential rendering resolution, increasing frame rate, and allowing for more complex scene geometry and lighting than previously possible; it also addresses the challenge of the extra resolution required by wider-angle lens.
Another benefit is lower latency, due to a simplified signal chain that removes the need for DisplayPort to HDMI convertors, added the company.
Other enhancements included in the release include an update to the VCam system that enables users to review takes directly on an iPad for faster iteration; simultaneously stream different VCam output for different team members (such as with camera controls for the camera operator, and without for the director), and record at a slower frame rate and play back at normal speed for easier capture of fast-moving action.
Full details of all of the updates to Unreal Engine are available here.
