iPad Pro as external camera: Cannot find the "Take Recorder" in Live Capture

Cannot find the "Take Recorder" in Live Capture.
The IPad Pro is "on" and I can see the UI controls on the IPad Pro.
I'm following the instructions on page 11 of the PDF.
This is what I did:
Install apps on your iPad Pro.

• Install the Unity Virtual Camera app
• Install the Unity Face Capture app

On your Unity workstation:

1. Create a project from the High Definition RP template.
2. Install the Live Capture package.
   1. Live Capture is new, so it's not yet verified for some versions of Unity.
   2. To add it to Unity 2020.3, click the + button in the upper left of the Package Manager and select "Add package from git URL...".
   3. In the text field that appears, type
      com.unity.live-capture
3. Set up the connection between Unity and the apps as per the documentation instructions.
4. I am on page 11 of the PDF, shown on the screen grab.
5. How do I get the "Take Recorder?"

 

I right clicked in the hierarchy and created a TakeRecorder from there (but have not actually tried recording a take yet!).

 

O' geeze, I didn't even read the "Right Click" in the PDF.
Thank you, akent99.

 

I do not see the garden on my iPad Pro. All I see is a black room with a grid on my iPad Pro.
In the Unity editor I see the garden, I just don't see the garden on the iPad Pro.

I'll mention that I do not have the " Nvidia GTX 1060." I am using an "AMD Radeon RX 580." Could this be the issue?

 

All I see is the same black room with grid. I messed around with app for a bit, then saw a slightly different grey kinda blank screen (no idea what I did - maybe I was looking at help info). Later after turning phone back on I got the box room again. But I have never seen the location through the app. I was trying with my own location, so I assumed I set something up wrong. Clicking on "Virtual Camera Actor" in the hierarchy did show me what the camera was looking at (and it was zooming in/out, panning etc). So it is connected and controlling the camera, and recording to takes etc. But I cannot see the scene on the mobile device (iPhone X).

So if you work it out, please let me know! Lol!

 

Hmmm? I tried turning off the iPad and turning it back on. I even recreated the "New Virtual CameraDevice" and set the iPad Pro.

Thank you, akent99. I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing the black room on the camera device. I will do the pdf with a brand new project. Hopefully it will work.

Ill write back in the forum if I can get it to work or not.

 

Hi guys,
Same for me. Even if I can control the Unity camera with the iPad, I can't see the scene on the iPad, only the grid room.

I have this warning message in the console:
CustomPassManager component held by "Virtual Camera Custom Pass Manager" gameObject should be active and enabled for Live Capture rendering features to work properly.

But there's nowhere to activate it

 

Ok, I discovered how to solve the issue in my case. It could probably be the same for you:
Go to the "VirtualCameraDevice" in the "TakeRecorder" and click on "Open video settings"


then, select the correct encoder:


This is where this is strange, because the "Video Server" item of the preferences doesn't appears if you go directly to Edit->Project Settings

Now, play a bit with the resolution scale, frame rate and qualité to fit your needs.
Let me know if it works for you too

 

Awesome, it works!!!!!! I can see the scene on the iPad, walk around, look at the 3D scene on the iPad and turn the iPad to turn the camera.
Thank you, alexisdubois.

Cheers,

 

What if I mounted a virtual camera on a 3D car? Then, animated the car around an environment...could I sit in my office chair and operate the camera mounted to the car as the car is animating around the set?

 

I set up the car test like this:
1. Put a car in a Timeline animation track.
2. Animate the car driving around a track.
3. Parented the "Virtual Camera Actor" to the car. This way the camera will translate with the car, when the car animates.
4. With Play "off" I am able to use the iPad to control the Virtual Camera Actor. But, I need to press "Play" to see the car animate.
5. Problem: When I press "Play," I can see the car animating. But when "Play" is active, I cannot control the Virtual Camera Actor with the iPad, anymore.
6. When I turned "Play" off, I lost my connection to the iPad. The Virtual Camera Device client defaulted to "None."

I have questions:
1. Is there a way to use the iPad when "Play" is on?
2. When I turn "Play" off, is there a way to keep the iPad connected?
3. If I wanted to translate the camera around the car while the car is moving, would I need to attach the camera in a different way?

Wish list:
Can multiple iPads be connected so multiple people can Scout/Shoot around the 3D set at the same time?

 

I fiddled settings, nothing. I removed the cameras and added new ones, nothing. Kept fiddling buttons... got a single image that refused to move (camera stopped moving). Kept fiddling, deleting, adding new cameras... tried with iPad instead of iPhone... nothing.

Then suddenly it started working. No idea why or what I did (but was not fiddling with video settings at the time).

 

Cool, are you able to use the iPad when "Play" is active? When I turn on "Play" I cannot use the iPad, anymore.

Did you figure out, what went wrong with your earlier attempts?
If you want, I can send you my test project. It works for me.

 

You can use the iPad in both Editor or Play mode but each time you switch, you need to reconnect the iPad to your Unity machine.

 

When I press "Play" I loose my connection to the iPad. When "play" is on, my iPad viewer gets disconnected and I get the black room with a grid.
I can only use the iPad when "Play" is off.

alexisdubois, are you saying you can use the iPad when play is on?

 

Yes !
Be sure the option "Auto start on play" is activated in "Connections"


Then, hit play and connect the iPad back to your Unity machine using the upper right "antenna" icon.

 

I'm currently using this feature with a Rokoko motion capture suit and it requires to be in play mode.
Once the correct settings for the video server have been found, this virtual camera is awesome !
Next step: adding the VR headset

 

Nope, turning on "Auto Start on Play" in Editor and turning on the WIFI on the iPad does not work for me.
The iPad still disconnects when I press "Play." hmmmm? Let me go through the entire set up again and try.

 

AWESOME!!!!!!!! I can press "Play" see the car animate and use the iPad to control the camera.
Thank you, alexisdubois!!!!!!

 

Question: how do I get the iPad to connect as soon as the "Play" button is activated? The iPad still disconnects when I press "play." I have to press the blue connect button on the iPad again after I press play in the editor. These are the steps I am doing:

1. I press "start" on the Connection tab in editor.
2. Then activate the WIFI icon on the iPad and press the blue "Connect" button in the iPad. I can see the scene on the iPad...which is good.
3. I then press "Play" in the editor.
4. The animation starts to play in the editor and the iPad disconnects. This is bad, the animation is playing in editor and the iPad is disconnected.
5. Then on the iPad, I have to press the "connect" button again...wait a couple seconds.. and the iPad re-connects...I can use the iPad to do camera work. But, I was unable to capture the first 2 seconds of the animation while the iPad was disconnected. That is Bad.

I am using a PC and you seem to be using a MAC. Is this the same process you are using? Does your iPad disconnect after you press Play...then do you have to press the connect button again on the iPad to re-connect?

 

Yes, it has the same behavior on my side. The server is started in editor mode and restarted once you hit play, reason why the ipad is disconnected.

 

I see, that is probably what marc tanenbaum meant. Well, this is still a cool tool and a pretty good first pass. Can't wait to see the next iteration of the tool.

Wish list:
Can multiple iPads be connected so multiple people can Scout/Shoot around the 3D set at the same time?

 

I assume this is why they have multiple servers, multiple recorders, multiple everything. It makes it all more confusing to set up, but much more flexible and able to cope with multiple devices as a result.