Helios 3D-360 Video

Again,

I think this is all possible with Helios and I can incorporate all of those features into it...the question is: does anyone have the processing power required to actually use it in a meaningful way.

My goal has been to make this technology approachable to everyone, so other than the theoretical, I would need to hear some feedback from the community at large before I made a change like this to Helios.

 

For me, adding anything higher would be overkill. It already takes me forever to render the videos on my machines at 1080. I can't imagine me needing any more than that. But I'm only using for simple marketing videos for assets.

 

Fair points. I don't know at what point the average Unity dev's/artist's rig is going to fall over handling these big resolutions. In reality, the 2D planar handling is fine, and in fact as the vast majority of middle range projects output to 1080p, rendering at max quality in Unity with UHD (4K), then downsampling that to 1080p, gives a great result. In all practical terms, we could argue that is enough. A modest production rig should be able to handle that.

8K, well that's more a respectable 360 VR format. I guess realistically, on the 2D planar side, Helios is already there for all practical purposes. For 360 VR, 8K is probably needed in the coming year or two, but 16K is more debateable. I'm told 16K VR is quite something - it couldn't not be, but that's a big deal to produce.

The matter of quality does come into play here. Again, 2D planar video is where folk are generally viewing the whole frame. But VR, as you say, is only a portion, and that in turn demands a much higher edge quality, something that automatically happens as the frame increases; it's also why 4K is seen as an absolute minimum for final.

For myself, I still need to use Helios much more, but when I have, that will bring some objectivity to these statements. After all, there is only so much res the human eye and brain can perceive and resolve anyway; going beyond that is a waste of time.

 

Outputting to the Helios 4K format renders OK for me - not timed it but I reckon around a frame every second or two - highly acceptable. I have an Intel 4930K i7, 64Gb RAM, and a Titan Black (just the one), but no SSD yet. This much rig is because I mostly do vfx work, so I'm pumping through dense comps with many, many layers and nodes of 1080p elements. Even so, this rig is coming up to 3 years old and is hardly bleeding edge; it's a toy next to some of the rigs guys are using on the other tech forums I'm on for 3D and comp. Which comes round to me not knowing what a good Unity dev rig consists of.

It's likely that, with the exception of the debate over 8K for VR, Helios is already offering the core resolutions needed for most work.

 

Massively OT, but I just went to look at your products and was impressed with the 539 reviews for the Gaia stamps ... then realised the vast majority are spam. That really irritates me. I now return us to regular programming

 

Thanks for heads up. Looks like my anti-spam stuff quit working. Cleaning up now.. *mumbles something under his breath about spammers*

 

Just a heads up for those interested.
Version 1.0.6 is in beta testing right now.
It contains:
-8K Rendering
-Stereoscopic 360 video
-Sample Frame preview system

 

Hi, I just purchased this and it is exactly what I was looking for but having a few issues:

• I put Pegasus into my scene and then followed your directions exactly but the sound didn't record.Did I not put something in the scene that needs to be there? How would I use this when I already have a scene made?
• My scene flipped upside down and backwards. Does the flip button fix that? I can fix it in Premiere Pro if I need to but if I don't have to, it's one more step I can skip.
• Are there more tutorials except for the one on the website and the helpful tips that I'm missing?

Thanks for such a great plug in.

 

Hi there MkBarr.
First off, thank you so much for your purchase!

I'm not sure what Pegasus would have to do with the sound, but there is a section in the documentation on my website (http://www.helios3dvideo.com) which talks about how to record sound. It's a 2 step process in which you record the sounds in the pre-render phase.

It's flipping both upside down and backwards?
Which version of Helios did you install, it should tell you at the top of the Helios inspector

I am actually planning on making a new tutorial this week that goes much further in depth for using Helios in all of it's use cases.

In the mean time, if you would like to chat realtime, I have a skype group setup with a lot of other Helios users. You can join us there and I can take a look at your scene via screen share.
The group is located at: https://join.skype.com/Cb69olXJbDTo

Talk Soon!

john

 

Hey John.

I just purchased and downloaded the latest version of Helios (1.0.6). I imported, opened the 2d demo scene, and tried to run the scene.

I get this:
NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
UtopiaWorx.Helios.Helios2D.Start () (at Assets/UtopiaWorx/Helios/Shaders/Helios/Helios2D.cs:284)

This is the line that fails:

FrontCam.targetTexture.antiAliasing = Alias;

Looks like 'targetTexture' is coming up 'null'

-Jeff

 

Hi Jeff,

Thank you so much for your purchase.
I'm so sorry to hear that you are getting this error.
So, this error is a bit of a false positive, in that the code is trying to access a Render Texture on the camera in the start of the script, which has not been assigned, however it gets set a few milliseconds later in the update function.

Luckily I have a patch for this already and will be submitting the fix soon.

In the mean time, if you send me (PM) a message with your google email address I can give you access to the latest beta builds of Helios which resolve the issue.

Again, so sorry for the inconvenience it may have caused.

Also, please consider joining our Skype chat group at:
https://join.skype.com/Cb69olXJbDTo

I offer real time support as well as other members can share their experiences.

Thanks,
John

 

Thanks for the quick response, John.

One other thing I noticed but did not have a lot of time to dig into: When I checked the box to delete the images after the vid eo is created, the video itself was deleted along with the images... The save location was empty.

I saw this with the 2D Demo scene. Just something to look at. I'll test it further once I get your update.

PM is on the way...

 

Yikes!
I will look into that right now, thanks for pointing that out!

 

Yup, you are correct, what a complete failure on my part
I will get that patched too...thanks man

 

Only a failure if you didn't fix it. Look forward to the fix.

 

Hey John,

So I got your latest build. Your Helios 2D demo scene works as it should now.

Now I'm trying to get Helios working in my own existing project. I just want to record 2D video.

I can't seem to find any instructions on how to add Helios to an existing project. Your video tutorial just looks at the already existing demos but doesn't show how you built them.

How should I add Helios2D to my game? Add components to my existing camera? Use the Helios2D prefab? (If I use the prefab, it's main camera seems to intefere with my game's camera) Other?

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

Note: I edited this post after the fact because I figured some things out (user error). Still curious on the recommended method for setting up Helios in an existing project.

 

I tried adding the Helios2D camera component to my existing Camera game object and I got this:

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
UtopiaWorx.Shaders.PostProcessing.Helios2DEditor.OnInspectorGUI () (at Assets/UtopiaWorx/Helios/Shaders/Helios/editor/helios2DEditor.cs:64)
UnityEditor.InspectorWindow.DrawEditor (UnityEditor.Editor editor, Int32 editorIndex, Boolean rebuildOptimizedGUIBlock, System.Boolean& showImportedObjectBarNext, UnityEngine.Rect& importedObjectBarRect) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/Inspector/InspectorWindow.cs:1235)
UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()

 

I have experienced it too. You need to add helios sesion recorder.

As far I remember it may be enough to add this by John, than Unity add those required components automatically:
[RequireComponent(typeof(Helios.HeliosSessionRecorder))]

 

Heya Jeff,

Sorry about that man.
I really need to update that Tutorial to discuss other uses of Helios than the demo scene.
So, in a nutshell:

Yes you can easily add Helios to an existing camera Rig, however there are some other scripts that it's looking for to be there as well, mainly the Helios Session Recorder, Helios Controller, and Helios Look

However, you will also need to add a child Camera to that main camera which does the actual recording. And that camera will need to be named "Front".

The setup requirements for making a Helios based camera can be complex, which is why I shipped it with those prefab cameras as well.

If you want to just use one of the prefab Cameras, just drag it onto your scene and then apply any special post processing effects to the child "Front" camera I mentioned before. (or take your existing camera and make it a child of the Helios camera and name it "Front"...just be sure to center is position and rotations all to 0,0,0)

While you do not HAVE to disable your other cameras in the scene, I recommend that you do, as it will cause your better performance while recording to have them off.

I know I have mentioned it before, but I really encourage you to join our Skype discussion group.
We have almost 30 people on the channel and you can direct message with me almost anytime of day. I also do screes share sessions, where I can look at your setup and advise you directly. If you want to join that group, here is the link:
https://join.skype.com/Cb69olXJbDTo

Finally,
There is a new version up on the shared folder this morning called 1.0.7.C which has the latest breaking changes.

All the best,
John

 

Helios actually used to have those directives setup, however I had a handful of users request that it didnt' so me being me...removed it

 

Ok, John. I'll try to work it out.

I did try to use the Helios2D prefab, but it seems to be setup with a 3D environment in mind.

My game is 2D (but uses a perspective camera). When I ran things with the Helios2D prefab, the Helios camera just fell down....

I assume I just need to customize things to my unique 2D-ish setup... remove RigidBody, etc....

Here is a screenshot of my game for context.



I know I'm not your typical use-case for Helios, but I really need the ability to record high quality vids and Gifs and Helios seems to do that very well.... once it's setup.

Regarding Skype, I don't normally run Skype at home but I'll consider running it and joining.

-Jeff

 

An additional thought.

I think you should consider creating a separate, more streamlined, single purpose asset designed simply for recording traditional 2D, HighDef, vids. URecord is the only other asset that I could find that allowed the creation of very high quality videos and they seem to have dropped support. Nobody is responding to issues and no updates...

If I could just drop a component on my existing camera, set some settings, and record what my camera sees, that would be ideal!

Seems like an opportunity to me.

-Jeff

 

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for posting that picture, that helps a LOT!
What you want to do is use the "Pegasus" prefabs instead.
Those are non ridigbody / physics driven camera rigs. You attach them to another control mechanism, perhaps just your character.

That all being said, I think I will make a Sidescroll style prefab setup as well. There are bound to be tons of people looking for this kind of functionality. I will have a beta for that out very soon, and will update the group here once I do.

About Skype, no pressure man. If fine to use the forums, just sometimes its nice to chat realtime

 

Jeff, 1.0.7.D is now up on the shared folder, it has 2D Sidescroll demo scene in it

 

Wow, that was fast! Thanks.

I'll check it out this weekend.

-Jeff

 

Good Deal!

 

Hey John,

Just a heads up. I got your latest, 1.0.7.D, loaded the new side scroll scene, and got this:

DirectoryNotFoundException: Directory '/HeliosTemp' not found.
System.IO.Directory.GetFileSystemEntries (System.String path, System.String searchPattern, FileAttributes mask, FileAttributes attrs) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.IO/Directory.cs:514)
System.IO.Directory.GetFiles (System.String path, System.String searchPattern) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.IO/Directory.cs:308)
UtopiaWorx.Helios.Helios2D.Update () (at Assets/UtopiaWorx/Helios/Shaders/Helios/Helios2D.cs:131)

and this

MissingReferenceException: The variable RTForward of Helios2D doesn't exist anymore.
You probably need to reassign the RTForward variable of the 'Helios2D' script in the inspector.
UnityEngine.RenderTexture.get_width () (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/artifacts/generated/common/runtime/TextureBindings.gen.cs:863)
UtopiaWorx.Helios.Helios2D.OnRenderImage (UnityEngine.RenderTexture source, UnityEngine.RenderTexture destination) (at Assets/UtopiaWorx/Helios/Shaders/Helios/Helios2D.cs:432)


I'll still try to use your sample to add Helios to my game scene.

 

Nevermind. I just had to change the save location for the vids to something valid on my machine. Seems be working.. now to get it working with my scene.

 

Oh good...

 

Another possible bug. In your latest version, when I select GIF as the output format, it still creates an .mp4.

 

Hey Jeff,
Yeah, thats actually by design.
Creating GIF files is a 3 step process:
First create an mpeg version
Next, use the mpeg version to extract the color pallet information from the video
Finally, create the gif with the created color pallet we just made.

So, its doing what it needs to do in this case, but I can probably make it deleted the mpg and temp color pallet once its finished.

 

Well, my problem is it doesn't create the GIF at all. JUST the .mp4

 

Ok. Nevermind. Tried again and it worked... not sure if it was user error the 1st time I tried. Will let you know if I see it happen again.

 

OK Man,
I just dont get why you are having so manny issues.
I mean some of this stuff is in the beta of 1.0.7, but like some core ideas dont seem to be working on your end.

What version of Unity & OS?

Thanks John

 

5.4 Win 10

 

So, I currently have things working to the point I can record videos. The output is amazing!

In the interest of giving you feedback, though, I have to say things aren't exactly ideal yet for my situation.

The only way I've gotten it to work is adding the Helios2D_Sidescroll prefab as a child to my camera system.



I think you mentioned this could impact performance. It works though.

I tried adding the exact components you had on Helios2D_SideScroll to my "Main Camera" and added the "Front" camera as a child to my MainCamera, but the Helios2D inspector UI with all its properties doesn't show up.



See how the Helios 2D component is expanded, but none of the UI is showing for it.

It also gives me this error which is probably the thing keeping the UI from showing up:

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
UtopiaWorx.Shaders.PostProcessing.Helios2DEditor.OnInspectorGUI () (at Assets/UtopiaWorx/Helios/Shaders/Helios/editor/helios2DEditor.cs:64)
UnityEditor.InspectorWindow.DrawEditor (UnityEditor.Editor editor, Int32 editorIndex, Boolean rebuildOptimizedGUIBlock, System.Boolean& showImportedObjectBarNext, UnityEngine.Rect& importedObjectBarRect) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/Inspector/InspectorWindow.cs:1235)
UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()

Please don't take any of this feedback in a bad way. I really do think this is a great asset that creates very smooth high quality vids. I think my use-case is just be a bit outside what you originally intended.

As I said before, ideally, I would like to just add a single component to my camera, set some properties, and get a nice video.

Keep up the good work,

-Jeff

 

Hi Jeff,

I appreciate the feedback, and don't take it as a bad thing at all.
If anything I'm adamant to support, and will make it work.

Looking forward to chatting on Skype.

Thanks,
John

 

I can attest to this. John provides super awesome support on all of his assets. If you have issues and it is possible for you to get Skype up and running, I highly recommend it. Real time support with John can usually get you going very quickly, unless there is in fact an issue. But even with code fixes, I have had times where John has sent me the lines of code on Skype and tell me where to paste it in a matter of minutes after discovering problems.

Keep up the awesome work, John!!!

 

I sent you a message from your website support page, just in case you don't check it that often. Heading out but I wanted to give you a heads up. I upgraded Unity and your plug-in... having problems.

 

Heya,

What issues are you having?

 

Hey John

Bought your asset today and works well except for two issues.

I render out 4k 360 video, create and mp4 and inject it. Upload it to youtube, but it seems to only upload it at 1080, and there are no settings to choose from while uploading in YT, making the quality far less than the rendered video.

I then tried to hack this issue by rendering 8k to get "4k" in youtube, but 8k just crashes my video card. Running a nvidia 660gtx

Thanks

 

Heya,

Thank You so much for the purchase!
So I have some good news and some bad news.

The Good news is that you are experiencing a completely normal issue with YouTube. It can take them hours to fully process higher resolution 360 content. It all depends on the work load of their encoding servers. If you are already seeing the 1080 version, check back on it in a couple of hours and it will likely complete then.

The bad news is that your video card just does not have the Video Memory to handle 8K capture. NVidia cards base on the 960 and up can do it, but the 600 class just doesn't have the horsepower. In the next release of Helios I will see if Unity can tell me the class of the video card and I can give users a warning.

Also, please join us on Skype, we have an online community of Helios users at: https://join.skype.com/Cb69olXJbDTo

Thanks again for the purchase and I'm sorry your video card cant do the 8K renders.

All The Best!

John

 

Thanks for the quick reply. Yeah thought the video card was the issue, so no biggie it is getting old now. I just wanted to render 8k so that i could get 4k on youtube. Videos have been up for about 8 hours and still in 1080. Ive tried cinema and native 4k in case. But will give it a day and see. Thanks

 

Hi, I'm thinking about getting your pluging. You've some kind of multicamera feature?. I mean, can I record a video changing camera at runtime or at least the API will let me do it easily?.

Thank you!

 

Any luck on YouTube publishing yet?

 

Well thats a bit of a loaded question
Helios camera rigs do use multiple cameras, but probably not like you are thinking.
Each flavor of the Helios camera rig (2D, 360, 360 Stereo, and SideScroll) all have a top level camera that is used in the game view at runtime to preview what you will record, and underneath those it has the actual camera(s) used to record, which also include post processing effects.

The only camera rig with multiple cameras is the 360 stereo rig though.

If you would like to discuss your particular use case, please join me on Skype and chat realtime at: https://join.skype.com/Cb69olXJbDTo

Thanks,
John

 

Yes! the 4k cinema version got its 4k stamp of approval the native version hasn't yet, but i uploaded that after so probably still processing. thanks man! Gave you 5 starts

 

Aww!
Thanks for that
If you like, you can share your results with us

 

Also, if you happen to be in the market for a cool 3rd person camera follow system: I just launched Deja-View:
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/68020

 

Nice have added to wish list! One last question, can I record normal non-360 3d video? I want to just record the 3rd person controller walking round the scene.

Thanks