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Expert 3D Scanning
& Modeling Services
Photo-Realistic Digital Doubles
Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans
Vancouver BC, Toronto ON, Montreal QU
Volume 6 Issue 10
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| FRIGHTFULLY PHOTOREALISTIC 3D SCANS |
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Digital Assets from Raw to Ready-to-Rig for the Entertainment Industry
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International Connections
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TNG Visual Effects Canada combine to make a
3D scanning services available to the North American entertainment industry. We specialize in the creation of photo-realistic digital assets. Many characters, vehicles, cars, sets, props, animals, sculptures, and other items have been added to our scope of work since our inception in 2010.
Our teams know how to work with producers, directors, coordinators, A-list talent, and other agencies. We are seasoned, fast and efficient, and our work is always guaranteed.
Our strength is our ability to travel at a moment's notice for a project to many North American locations - call us for your next 3D scanning project, we are here to make you look good!
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TNG Visual Effects: Established
2010
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October, last quarter of the year begins for many of us. Halloween is coming for all of us. Leaves changing colors and the stores are starting to push their Christmas merchandise. Seems like I have been here before, but still looking forward to it, after all Santa is coming as well. Good luck in this quarter and be sure to give those little goblins a nice treat.
At TNG, we are developing more techniques in relation to
3D scanning
to give you better models. We are getting deeper into developing cars and products to expand our markets with our high-tech scanners, skilled modelers, and our mobility.
We are always researching new technology and software to keep the quality of our service at the highest level, and to accelerate our pipeline. We do our best to provide a great product to our customers. |
3D SCANNING GALLERY
Structured Light Scans
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At TNG Visual Effects we use Artec
hand-held scanners for
3D scans
of heads, bodies and
props
To do Structured Light Scanning
 
Click
here
to see a video of Bryan the Viking's 3D scanning session.
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LiDar
is used for 3D scanning environments and large objects.
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American - Japanese Museum
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Vehicles are scanned using LiDAR
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Point cloud of merry-go-round
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LiDAR scan of a live elephant
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Photogrammetry can be used for environments and subjects of all sizes.
Plus for head, expressions and full body scans as seen in the article.
Photogrammetry can be used on large and small subjects, and was used to build this model of a shoe.
3D model built with Photogrammetry.
Original photograph.
Point Fermin Lighthouse
Photogrammetry model of a sculpture
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Photogrammetry vs. Structured Light
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A 3D Dilemma
A dilemma that you may encounter during a project is weather or not to use structured light or photogrammetry to create your 3D models .
Head scan captured with photogrammetry
Photogrammetry is gaining more wide spread popularity because of its speed. For example, if you are on-set and have to scan ten actors you can quickly move the actors through the photogrammetry set up. One note of advice: in a situation like this take care to order the talent from tallest to shortest (or vice versa). This will reduce the number of times that the cameras will have to be adjusted for height and the process can work more smoothly.
A full body 3D scanned with photogrammetry
The challeng
e with photogrammetry is the set-up / tear-down time required to get the cameras (which may be up to 100) mounted and rigged. For a large rig the set up / tear down can take up to a full day. The option is to go to a photogrammetry studio to do the work if you can move your talent to them.
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A 3D model scanned with structured light
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By contrast the
structured light system gives you mobility and flexibility when a smaller number of people are being scanned especially at the last minute. Location is also more flexible, for example it is completely doable to meet talent at the airport, find a
small space and complete a head-scan on the spot.
3D model scanned with structured light
Structured light scanning is perfect for super portable mobile or last minute scanning projects. The small hand held scanners travel well all over North America to do 3D scanning of people and props.
TNG Scan Tech Ken James in action
Both of these systems have their place. As more visual effects are used and technology advances, you need to know the strengths and drawback
s of each choice to keep your projects running smoothly.
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LiDAR 3D Scanning for Trains, Planes and Automobiles (and Buildings)
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Light Radar (LiDAR) Scanning
3D scanning has its challenges, some techniques more than others. LiDAR (light radar) is a way to 3D scan those larger items like planes, trains, automobiles and buildings (inside and out). LiDAR is the method used to 3d scan natural areas like parks, woods or a gravel pit. With LiDAR we are able to capture an incredible amount of data quickly and accura
tely.
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Lidar scan of a Las Vegas stage
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There are some challenges we face when using LiDAR for enter
tainmen
t projects. For example, cars are a popular item to scan using LiDAR. Since the s
urface is shiny we have to dull it down to avoid getting big areas of reflect scans showing no data. Chrome will also have this affect. Transparent surfaces like windows do not reflect back at all and require treatment with paint or applying a covering of paper or wax (or some other material
) to show where the window is and the curvature.
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Lidar scan of a Dodge Challenger
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Another challenge with LiDAR is objects that move. Say that you would like to have a boat in the water LiDAR scanned. The up and down or side to side movement would make that difficult. To remedy the problem of movement we would get the boat out of the water and onto land or a barge in order to scan it. Another solution is to tie it down tight betwee
n docks,
in calm water.
LiDAR scanning buildings and environments where people live and work also pos
es a challenge since it's best to block off the street if possible, although it can be done without being blocked off. Windows and shiny surfaces need to be accounted for again, in addition to staying safe in a live area with moving cars, trucks and buses.
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3D Lidar scanned model based off a Full Scale Train
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These are all
challenges that should considered when planning shots. If you see the need to call in an expert scanning team to help with technical issues call us.
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| Reality Re-invented: AR & VR in 2016 |
As we enter the last quarter of 2016, we see Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality as part of our culture. On July 6th, 2016, Pokemon Go, an Augmented Reality game where you can capture monsters, and use them to duel. The monsters have stats much like an RPG game's loot system, and so one Pokemon can have a thousand variations, so there is an instilled gambling-like mechanic to force players to catch them all. It became the most downloaded app in its first week. As of September 8th, 2016 it was downloaded over 500 million times worldwide. In its first month it was the top game of 70 different countries. This is like a science fiction novel coming to life, and that is how fast technology can be developed and deployed, and consumed.
irtual Reality has been very hot this year with the launch of The Occulus Rift, The HTC Vive, and the PSVR. The Occulus Rift came out in April, and the PSVR is coming out this month -- October 2016. YouTube already offers a plethor of Virtual Reality content and 360 Degree Video. Sports events are offering 360 degree video. Google Cardboard originally introduced many people to the concept of Virtual Reality back in June 2014. It is a advice that allows you to place your smart phone within a cardboard box that is fixed with 45mmlenses. The Google Cardboard app splits the
display image into two (one for each eye), while also undistorting the image from the lenses. The result is a 3D image with a wide field of view.
a
Google Cardboard
With the PSVR, the lenses are hight resolution, and don't require as much distortion to the image. The PSVR is powered by the PS4 video game console, which is stronger technology than any of the modern day smart phones. The step up between the Cardboard VR and the other headsets is also a frame rate increase, which makes the experience feel more fluid. The Occulus Rift and HTC Vive are built to work with computers, and are priced at $600 (Occulus Rift) and $800 (HTC Vive), whereas Cardboard VR is $20, and PSVR is $400-$500, and PSVR will not require a computer. So whereas the Vive and Rift have smaller playerbases -- the PSVR is expected, and will have the largest playerbase of a VR headset thus far.
In comparing Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) in our current times, it would appear that AR
is a cheaper option, however an AR option not yet mentioned is the Microsoft Hololens, which is $3,000, and creates hologram-like displays in the real world when you have its headset on. You do see reality as well, so it's an AR experience, whereas VR experiences have total immersion. Both technologies seem to be blending into each other though, and there could come a time when games are expected to offer both VR and AR. The hardware to power VR is quite recent, so for the time being we will see low resolution experiences at first, but as the second and third generations come around, we'll see higher polygon counts and higher texture resolutions. 3D scan data is already being utilized for VR experiences, and as the hardware develops, we plan to see more 3D scan data utilization to bring the real world to whatever mixed reality we find ourselves in.
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"...the projects were delivered with such precision of timing and quality that there is no doubt in my mind that experience and attention to detail are key assets for
Nick Tesi and his group.
You guys rock!"
Andre Montambeault, Head of Advertising
Rodeo Visual Effects Company,
Montreal, Canada.
"Nick is dependable and will go the extra mile to make sure that we get what we need. I would recommend him and his company to any project needing 3D scanning."
Al Lopez, President
Stargate Studios
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ASK ABOUT OUR DISCOUNTS ON MULTIPLE CHARACTERS
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| Turntable of 3D scanned character. |
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Thank you for subscribing to The TNG Newsletter. We are experts in the field of 3D scanning and love what we do. At TNG we are proud to guarantee our work for all of our customers; feel free to contact us with any questions about 3D scanning or your upcoming project.
Nick Tesi, 3D Scanning & Visual Effects Technology Expert
President, Founder and Friend of the Industry
877-879-2040
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SEEKING SCAN TECHS IN 7 CITIES
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We are always accepting applications. If you are an experienced 3D scanning technician with your own equipment in one of our seven cities, please send resume and links to [email protected]
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