Professionals in film and media production are no strangers to sudden challenges and schedule shifts, but what do you do when a planned four-day marathon scan at a historic seaport turns into a single day sprint during a hurricane?
For laser scanning service provider Global Objects, you sail straight into the headwinds.
For Rob Lowe’s docu-drama, “Liberty or Death: Boston Tea Party”, at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, the Global Objects team drove across the country from Los Angeles, scanned the entire seaport with two Leica RTC360 laser scanners, and then processed all data and created deliverables – virtual sets known as “SCAPES” – while driving “The Scan Van” over three thousand miles back to Los Angeles.
As digital enhancements flood the world of media and entertainment, innovative solutions like virtual production are rapidly redefining industry standards. Global Objects is a leader in this arena, leveraging state-of-the-art laser scanning technology to capture and create immersive, high-resolution digital recreations of physical environments.
In addition to a “storm chaser” level of drama (Twister, anyone?), the project presented a striking example of the magic Global Objects can create with their advanced tech prowess in virtual production.
This project’s primary challenge was to create a detailed and realistic virtual set, displayed on LED screens in a Hollywood soundstage, which facilitates remote filming and removes the need for the docu-drama’s narrator, Rob Lowe, to be on location. The seamless unity of precision laser scanning, like that offered by the RTC360, with a robust software workflow enabled this virtual production feat. While Global Objects’ creation of a virtual production set streamlined and sped up the production process dramatically, it also saved time, cut costs of more than seven figures, and enabled the shoot to wrap early.
On-Site Reality Capture: Introducing Leica RTC360
The first step in the virtual production process is the acquisition of accurate and detailed 3D laser scans of the location, Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut. This is where Leica’s RTC360 scanner came into play with its high-speed, high-density data capabilities. It can capture up to two million points per second and complete a full scan in under two minutes, creating a vivid and detailed 3D model of the environment at survey-grade accuracy.
Relying on the hardiness of RTC360 to tackle varying weather conditions and the spatial complexity of a historic site like Mystic Seaport, the Global Objects team successfully captured the seaport. And when they had scheduled four days for scanning, an oncoming hurricane limited them to one. Thanks to the RTC360, they captured everything they needed in one site visit in one day during a break in the bad weather.
Two RTC360 scanners were concurrently operated across almost 80 diverse setups, managed by a team of five people. The collected data included detailed scans of features from the site, ranging from ships and docks to minute architectural details on historic buildings. Even moving features, like a whaling ship’s masts – designed to shift with the winds – were accounted for while scanning, enriching the dataset with dynamic elements.
A Software Symphony: From Raw Scans to Virtual Sets
Not only did Global Objects do the job in one day instead of four, but they captured the entire seaport with full precision. After acquiring copious volumes of scan data on-site, the next step was to convert this raw data into a usable format for virtual production.
The Global Objects team first processed the RTC360 data through Leica Cyclone REGISTER 360 PLUS. This software provides a powerful tool for point cloud processing—enabling rapid and accurate alignment and registration of nearly 80 individual scans.
The fun part is that Global Objects had to process all their data and create their “SCAPES” while driving a Mercedes Sprinter, known to them as “The Scan Van,” all the way back to Los Angeles from Connecticut. Not only did this project involve a detailed scanning adventure during a hurricane, but it included a long cross-country drive – and the work never stopped. The Scan Van has an onboard computer built specifically for processing vast amounts of 3D LiDAR data, and during the drive, they created those 3D SCAPES of Mystic Seaport.
With the help of Cyclone REGISTER 360 PLUS, they successfully registered more than 8 billion points captured from the site. Once aligned, the data was exported in both .E57 and .LGSx formats, ready for further refinement and integration.
Next, the data was imported into leading photogrammetry software. The photogrammetry process aligns spatial data, meshes them, and creates an accurate, high-resolution 3D model.
The model is then detailed with texturing and decimation using 3D tools such as Maya, ZBrush, and MARI. These tools implement the necessary topology optimization and refinement, producing a real-time asset ready to be published and used in Unreal Engine.
Unreal Engine serves as the real visual force of this workflow—breathing life into the collected data from the RTC360. It takes the refined 3D assets and weaves them into captivating virtual scenery.
“What's great about laser scanning with LiDAR data is that it lets us virtually scout any scanned area and determine exactly where to shoot,” said Erick Geisler at Global Objects. “Before building our SCAPES in Unreal Engine, we can view the point cloud and previsualize the shot. Then, our finished digital scene of the environment lets directors and cinematographers previsualize shots and scout angles in a hyper-realistic space."
![Scan van ]](https://entertainment.leica-geosystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/scan-van.png)
Benefits of a Virtual Production Set
This virtual production setup, enabled by the synergy of the RTC360’s hardware capabilities and Global Objects’ versatile software workflow, gave the production unprecedented flexibility. It allowed Rob Lowe to film the docu-drama from a virtual set based in Los Angeles instead of traveling to the actual location – thus cutting significant travel costs for crew and talent and saving a lot of time.
Even better, though, is how much visual detail the virtual production set can contain when created using RTC360 data in Global Objects’ workflow.
“When we capture all of this data in high detail, even small little architectural details, we can use any part of the scene that we create, the digital environment, as a virtual production set,” Erick said. “If we want to get close up and detailed on a specific area, we have all of the data to do that and make it look real. And we can export at different resolutions for varying levels of detail where needed."
The wealth of detailed data offers immense flexibility in shooting while allowing for alterations in post-production. This method of virtual production creates an ever-ready dynamic set where directors can zoom into any segment to deliver varying levels of detail – providing a level of control and convenience that a physical set doesn’t. While filming, the virtual set could shift from individual locations within Mystic Seaport in an instant, enabling rapid transitions from scene to scene, all displayed on LED screens that, when an actor stands among them, look so real that they are indistinguishable from the actual location when viewed on screen in final form.
The Future of Virtual Sets and Global Objects
The ability to create incredibly realistic virtual sets opens a world of possibilities for the entertainment industry. With Global Objects’ breakthrough use of cutting-edge hardware and sophisticated software pipelines, such as those demonstrated in their work at Mystic Seaport, they push the boundaries of what’s possible in capturing and portraying environments as virtual sets.
This project with Rob Lowe is proof of Global Objects’ mission of innovation, accuracy, and creativity all at once, provided through a laser scanning and software workflow that creates a method of production for film and TV that was unheard of even in recent years. Uncompromising in detail and immersive in experience, virtual production pushes real-world storytelling into hyper-realistic digital realms, changing how we conceive of scenography and production in the entertainment industry.
Equipment:
RTC360
Register 360
Credits:
Scanning team: Global Objects
Virtual Production Stage: XR Studios
Studio: Fox
