The Project:
MoonShine's most recent project was driven by a spirit of experimentation and a commitment to equity. The concept was to install a bullet time rig with free view-point live production system in Taipei Music Center, Taiwan, which would empower viewers to produce their own viewing experience on their own consumer devices.
Highlight
Bullet Time Video Production
Free View-Point video recording System
16 NDI PTZ Camera Array Rig
NDI Video-over-IP Technology
Highly Flexible and Scalable IP-based Structure
MoonShine AI Complementary Frame Reconstruction
The Challenge:
Traditionally, a broadcast places all editorial decisions with the producer and director. The MoonShine team was inspired by the film The Matrix and its celebrated bullet time scenes to enable audiences to control and select their preferred viewing angles and dynamic camera moves in real-time.
In the 1999 movie, actor Keanu Reeves seems to slow time and acrobatically evade bullets as the camera moves dynamically and fluidly around the actor. This 'bullet time' effect is composed from a series of individual images composited into a video stream. MoonShine took the concept of the mobile camera and applied it to live production.
The Solution:
Rather than using still images which require lengthy post production, Moonshine employed 16 4K PTZ units with live video output. The system merges multiple IP streams into one free-viewpoint multi-angle live video, to create a true bullet-time live video. By using multiple NDI-output Lumens VC-A71PN cameras, the production crew was able to design a semi-circular rig that could simultaneously shoot 16 different angles.
With each NDI stream feeding into a multi-view system, each camera angle is streamed independently to viewers. The audience is then able to select any viewing angle and switch their preferred view with ease. This makes the experience immersive and engaging, and eliminates the risk of blind spots within the venue. MoonShine's engineering team employed an AI-based complementary frame insertion tool between each camera to make streaming smoother when switching from one camera position to another.
