The Chaos Group is developing real-time software programs, such as the ray tracing renderer Vantage and Arena, which does ray tracing for in-camera effects. “For us, Arena is an extension of the camera that the DP already has, and as long as the DP can talk to the people who are running the stage, like to a grip or camera operator, then we’re in good shape,” remarks Christopher Nichols, Director of Chaos Labs at the Chaos Group. “We looked at what they needed to do to get the correct video on the LED walls. Essentially, we needed a system that synchronizes renders across multiple nodes and can track a camera so you can get the correct parallax. That’s the fundamental thing we added to Vantage, enabling it to become an in-camera effect solution. By introducing full ray tracing to the process that removes the need for rasterized rendering, you can make a better duplicate of the camera and don’t need to optimize your data or geometry in the same way that you need for video games. Almost everything that is done in post-production uses full ray tracing, either V-Ray or Arnold. That massively cuts down on how much time and energy is used to put the CG elements behind people because it’s the same asset for everything. The virtual art department can focus on compositing the shot correctly or creating the right environment and not on, ‘How do I remake this to work for a game engine?’”
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