XTREME Data Capturing Event: Limerick artists meet XTREME team in Nottingham 🎶🎥

Last week, part of the XTREME team attended an exciting data capturing event at the Virtual & Immersive Production Studio, University of Nottingham. This milestone was focused on sound and video capture of 2 musical and dance performances from our Irish partners, utilizing state-of-the-art spatial and visual recording techniques.

🌟 A Week in Review:

Days 1 & 2:
The first two days were dedicated to the Irish Chamber Orchestra Quartet, with instrument setup and the recording of their performance. The quartet brought incredible artistry to the session, helping us refine our techniques for directing and capturing musical experiences tailored for immersive environments.

Days 3 & 4:
The latter half of the week shifted focus to performances by Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Dónal O’Connor, and Sarah Fennell for the IWAMD production. Their exceptional performances, blending Irish music and dance, pushed the boundaries of spatial sound and visual storytelling.

💡 Advanced Sound and Video Capturing Techniques:
To fully capture the potential of these performances, we employed a variety of visual capture techniques like:

  • Volumetric Capture: Using DepthKit with 8 RGBD sensors to create 3D representations.
  • Spatial Video Recording: Capturing wide-field visual perspectives for immersive environments.
  • Body Motion Capture: Tracking intricate movements to animate performers with precision.
  • Facial Performance Capture: Recording subtle facial expressions for added realism.
  • Gaussian Capture: Leveraging advanced spatial rendering for enhanced visuals.

🎧 Innovative Sound Recordings:
We captured the performances using traditional close-microphone techniques alongside advanced spatial recording methods:

  • Microphones around the musicians: 4 cardioid microphones, 8 omnidirectional microphones, 2 ambisonics microphones, and a dummy head for binaural recording.
  • These recording techniques, combined with additional room acoustic measurements, will later enable ambience sound capture, room acoustic estimation, sound visualization, and sound localization—all to be reproduced within the 4DSOUND system for immersive experiences.

🎵 A Heartfelt Thank You:
We extend our gratitude to the University of Nottingham team for their hospitality and exceptional organisation throughout the week. A special thanks to our technical partners who expertly managed the logistics and setup, as well as to all the performers for their incredible contributions.

This week marked a significant step in shaping the future of XTREME mixed reality productions. Stay tuned for updates as we continue to develop these creative explorations! 🚀🎶

See more pictures on our LinkedIn page.