It now supports the FreeD protocol and will be available in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
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About the product
HTC has launched its VIVE Mars CamTrack – a real-time virtual production solution that provides camera tracking for live video compositing with a minutes-long setup time. It is available for purchase in the US, Canada, and Europe, with availability in Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan to follow in the coming months.
The Mars team has also added support for the FreeD protocol "to better serve the virtual production community."
"FreeD is an industry-standard protocol for the camera’s positional data which is used by established AR and XR solution providers. FreeD support is a part of HTC's ongoing effort to make virtual production more accessible to studios everywhere, by giving users more options and flexibility for implementing their camera tracking data."
VIVE Mars CamTrack's highlights:
- Plug-and-play with FreeD and Unreal Engine’s LiveLink, with no additional installation required
- Highly compact, lightweight, and portable, supporting a wide range of shoot environments
- Includes a full suite of professional-grade features at an affordable price, lowering the barrier of entry for studios of all sizes to leverage virtual production
- Multi-cam tracking, with support for up to three cameras
- Easy-to-use calibration for nodal offset and lens distortion
- One-click origin reset
- Genlock and Timecode support, offering synchronized output between real and virtual actors
- Robust wiring to reduce latency
"By expanding the availability of Mars and adding FreeD support, we’re bringing the power of virtual production to tons of studios and individuals worldwide, in a small package and at a price point that won’t break the bank," said Raymond Pao, Senior Vice President at HTC VIVE. "Everyone who wants to bring their vision to life on the screen should have the opportunity to do so – that’s our goal behind VIVE Mars CamTrack."
The device allows moving between any number of virtual backdrops in real-time using SteamVR Tracking 2.0 technology and VIVE Trackers and offers genlock, timecode sync, and "robust connections" to reduce latency. It's available for $5,000.
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