Abstract
We have developed several kinds of virtual studio systems that combine a number of different images including CG pictures synchronized with camera work to create visual effects which make it look as if someone in a CG image is actually being filmed. In a conventional virtual studio, however, virtual shooting is limited by the physical studio space when filming an actor in front of a chroma-key blue screen. We have designed and developed a new system capable of operating a camera over a very wide range physically impossible by any conventional means. This has been made possible by combining a real-time CG image with an image created by geometrical transformation of the foreground picture shot by a motion control camera. The system shoots the object by moving the real camera within a range where the motion control camera can physically move ; outside this range, it controls the image processor based on the principle of vitural shooting. In this way, the system achieves real-time camera work over an extremely wide range in a physically limited studio space. In the paper, we present the visual shooting method and study its limitations when it is used to replace real shooting. Then, we describe the system based on the results of the study, and introduce some examples applied to TV programs.
