Bifrost Beam VFX
Role
Use
Softwares
Solo Dev
Virtual Production
Unreal Engine 5, TouchDesigner
About the Project
This effect, created in Unreal Engine and inspired by the Thor movies, works in real time, perfect for live event production.
The beam effect is triggered from a custom TouchDesigner control pad which allows the director or vfx operator to also adjust the X and Y position of the effect on the stage, making it easy to track moving talent in real time.
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How Does it Work?
The illusion of the talent (actor) disappearing and reappearing is created through the use of three separate digital cameras in the Unreal scene. The first two cameras display on the screens of the stage in real life and virtually extend what lies outside of the stage, while the third (and arguably most impactful) camera creates what is known as a "Front-plate", which renders specific elements of the scene in front of the talent footage.
Trigger and positional data is converted to a string in TouchDesigner, then sent over OSC to the Unreal project. Unreal then parses this data and creates the effect accordingly. The main toggle of talent-visible and talent-hidden is created by changing what elements of the scene are seen by the Front-plate camera. When this camera renders the background environment, the actor disappears from view.
