Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545821
26 cgw a p r i l • m ay • j u n e 2 0 2 6 b AFTA-winning studio Union VFX has teamed up with Clear Angle Studios to develop a new crowd pipeline for an upcom- ing feature film that could dramatically change the way digital crowds and digi-doubles are created. The technology utilizes Gaussian splats, a hot topic that has recently been making waves mainly in the capture of environments. Gaussian splats recreate objects and people using millions of tiny volumetric points that blend together into incredibly photoreal assets instead of building traditional CG characters from scratch. For digital characters, splats preserve an exact performance, capturing amazing detail including the nuanced motion of hair and cloth. This reduces the need for manual cleanup, texturing, lighting, and animation. These ultra-realistic captures are ideal for use in VFX, especially for crowd simulations. Clear Angle's new volumetric capture rig (VCR) uses 40 cameras running at up to 60 frames per second, with controllable LED light- ing to capture performances within a 3 meter by 3 meter area. The scanned data then runs through a custom training pipeline developed jointly by the two studios before being brought into Union's VFX pipeline as fully usable USD (Universal Scene De- scription) CG assets. The resulting splats can be viewed from any camera angle, dropped into any environment, and rendered through standard CG renderers. True Relighting Until now, true relighting has been a major challenge when attempt- ing to use splats in this way: David Schneider, VFX & technical su- pervisor at Union, said: "There are experiments out there that 're- light' splats using relighting baked in at training time or render-time relighting, resulting in the introduction of artifacts." "Our solution allows the splats to be lit with the same lighting setups used in other CG workflows without specialized render support. They behave like traditional CG assets, but are far more realistic and come complete with animation, hair, and fabric move- ment. They can also be lit and rendered within CG environments and alongside traditional CG assets." "This results in incredibly realistic splat crowds that accurately match your choice of lighting environments while keeping every- thing looking natural and consistent. Splats hold up way closer to camera than traditional CG crowd, allowing productions to create more convincing crowds with fewer unique elements." Union leverages image segmentation technology, which allows artists to isolate and adjust costume colors and materials, creating much more visual variety in crowds. In practice, as the VCR can comfortably capture small groups of performers together, a small number of 20-second captures can now become a crowd of tens of thousands by applying time-offset animation, varied placement, and segmentation. Endless Possibilities This approach allows almost infinite possibilities: The capture area can accommodate devices that enable movement such as a treadmill, bike rollers, a gimbal or wires; action captured can then be placed into a CG environment creating believable movement; No camera move is impossible; It can always be the golden hour — lighting is fully controllable in post; As CG assets, the splats can be used in FX simulations and more. "It's really exciting technology," said Tim Caplan, CEO and found- er, Union VFX. "As far as we know, we're the only studio currently offering truly relightable Gaussian splats in production. Being able to relight splats opens up huge creative possibilities for digi-doubles with realistic hair and cloth simulation, giving far greater realism and utility than building them traditionally." "The costume variation tools, alongside the human imperfection of the captured material, make our digital crowds feel far more nat- ural and diverse than a traditional CG approach. The earlier produc- tions start thinking about how they can utilize this tech, the more time and money they can save across the production process." Dominic Ridley, CEO of Clear Angle Studios, adds: "Our entire ethos is about being faithful to reality. The VCR delivers a dataset that fully preserves the talent's original, nuanced performance in all its glory. By providing VFX teams with robust, accurate data as a foundation, we make life easier downstream and ensure the final result is completely grounded in truth.". SPOTLIGHT TRULY RELIGHTABLE GAUSSIAN SPLATS UNION VFX PUSHES CG CROWD WORK INTO NEW TERRITORY