Introduction
This document discusses the basic steps of setting up the Digital Extension.
NOTE: To learn more about what Digital Extension is and why it is useful, please refer to the following document:
Introduction to LED Wall Production
IMPORTANT: For the proper use of Digital Extension, all LED Walls used must be configured and set up/fitted.
Prerequisites
To have a usable Digital Extension, you need the following:
- Absolutely precise camera tracking
- Precise lens distortion,
- Vignette Correction (discussed later),
- LUT (discussed later)
Basics of the Digital Extension
Aximmetry is capable of extending the virtual graphics beyond the boundaries of the physical LED walls. The system generates a mask based on the camera position and the location and size information of the LED walls. Within the masked area, the real camera image is seen (with the LED Wall in the background) while outside of it the extended virtual space is.
NOTE: This method is only usable if the actors are always seen in front of the LED walls. If they are allowed to leave outside, then you need a green screen behind the LED walls.
Turning on the Digital Extension
To turn ON the Digital Extension, navigate to the LEDWALLS control board, then click on the power button of the DIGITAL EXT control panel:
Basic Adjustments
Once you select the DIGITAL EXT control panel, head over to the Pin Values panel (by default, it's on the upper right side of the user interface).
There you should see the following pins:
Edge Softness
By adjusting the Edge Softness property, you can get a harder or softer transition between the real and the extended image.
Aux Mask Softness
Adjusts the transition between the Ext Aux Mask and the extended image.
Blur
It blurs the image of the Digital Extension. It is useful when the studio camera is not set to focus on the LED Wall (and therefore the LED Wall appears blurred in the video input), as the default image of the Digital Extension is always in focus/sharp.
Setting the LED Walls' Visibility
You can adjust which LED Wall remains visible in the camera's image, and which becomes hidden by the Digital Extension.
For this, select the LED Wall X control panel, and on the Pin Values panel look for the Digital Ext Thru (short for Digital Extension Through) pin:
When Digital Ext Thru is ON and the studio camera is pointing towards the selected LED Wall, then in the final composite image, the studio camera's input is visible (including the selected LED Wall, and anything present between the LED Wall and the studio camera (e.g., talent)).
When Digital Ext Thru is OFF and the studio camera is pointing towards the selected LED Wall, then in the final composite image, the Digital Extension is visible (not the studio camera's image).
It is recommended to set Digital Ext Thru ON for the main LED Wall(s) (where talents are standing in front of the LED Wall).
It is recommended to set Digital Ext Thru OFF for every LED Wall used only for ambient lighting and reflection (side and ceiling panels).
