Interviews

By Jeff Mottle

Interview with Paul Carter of Captivaction

Interview with Paul Carter of Captivaction
Paul Carter started his career in various areas including music, sound and video, but the advent of the Internet and Quicktime VR set him on a path that eventually led to the creation of Captivaction, a one of a kind company offering very unique home-grown VR services. His services are of particular interest to visualization companies looking for something new to incorporate into their client presentations.


Mariner's Mark - Click to view the Quicktime VR

CGA: Tell us about your background in the industry and how you started
Captivaction.


PC: I spent my younger working years in a range of areas including music, sound, video and - strangely enough - writing comedy. Much of this time I was working for a small audiovisual company, which often meant I was operating at the back of conferences behind a sound desk. One fateful day in 1995 I was working at a conference in Sydney when a guy got up on stage and showed us this new thing called the "World Wide Web". He was connected with a 14.4k modem and was running Netscape 1.0. I recall him showing us how you could buy full size plastic skeletons you see in high school science labs from somewhere in Switzerland.

About a year later I was fully convinced that this was going to take off. So I decided to start a business making websites, and did a one day course in html before learning the rest myself. This was all done under an arrangement with my boss who registered the name and shared any profits. This worked for me as it meant little risk in starting up, allowed me to work on it part time, and then if it all failed I still had a job. Very little risk.

Jump to 1998 and again I saw something for the first time that really got my attention - QuickTimeVR. It was actually a virtual tour of the film sets during the production of 'Titanic'. It's still there amazingly - http://www.titanicmovie.com/menu.html (although if you put the domain name only it won't give you access).

The following year I secured a large building company as a client for a website. As part of the pitching process I showed them the Titanic tour, explaining that I could do the same thing for their display homes. I didn't actually know how to at the time mind you. Fortunately I did work it all out - using a digital video camera instead of a still camera. The site and its tours were an instant success. This allowed me to then use virtual tours as a trump card when pitching for suitable websites.

So from the late nineties round the turn of the century we were building plenty of websites and making plenty of tours: sometimes together, sometimes independently. Some were for our own websites while others were done as part of someone else's website. Everything was by referral. Bit by bit I was building up a team around me. And in 2003 I reached an agreement with the audiovisual company to resign and take the business out on its own. Couldn't have timed it better.

As far as Flythrough Interactive Tours go, I just had a thought one day about what it'd be like not only to have multiple panoramas in a tour, but also flythrough videos which could link them together so that the spaces between each panorama could be seen. In particular I thought it'd be great to show the movement from downstairs to upstairs and back again.


Parc at eight Bellevue - Virtual Tour
(Click to navigate to website/Requires QuickTime)

So we did a whole lot of experimenting while shooting different display homes around the country, and worked out the basics of how it could be done. This involved getting the visual aspects right as well as the technical aspects - such as how to avoid having to download the entire tour first. With lots of excitement we then showed a 'beta' version to some clients who'd expressed some interest. Sadly none of them went for it, mainly because of the higher production costs compared to a 'standard' photographic virtual tour.

The first Flythrough Interactive Tour we ever made commercially was actually in 3D. It just so happened that the client who we'd done our very first virtual tour had a new design that wasn't going to have a display home built for 12 months. But they wanted to market it straight away. I suggested we try going 3D then, and enlisted a local 3D studio to model the home for us, and output the files we needed to make the collection of panoramas. As part of that process it dawned on me that that Flythrough Interactive Tour solution (sitting dormant) could work wonderfully for 3D tours - especially given there was so much more control over the cameras position and movements. It worked.

Once the 3D Flythrough Interactive Tour was published, the same client then came back to me and said "so can you do this type of tour with a real home as well?"

Since then we've continually honed and refined the solution - both in the 'photographic' and 3D environment. Probably the biggest step since those early days was the introduction of fullscreen 'high definition' type tours, which are shot in HD on location.


Setting up for a Photographic FI Tour (Paul Carter on the left)

CGA: Many people have created CG panoramas themselves, but I don't think I've seen a service or software that creates the Flythrough Interactive Tours that Captivaction produces. Did you develop proprietary tools to make this type of tour possible?

PC: The process of making an FI Tour involves quite a long step by step process, using up to 6 different applications. Some are off the shelf QuickTime based apps, some are apps that are used for completely different purposes they were originally made for, and some are tools we developed ourselves to overcome various hurdles we were faced with. It took me quite a long time to remember how to conduct the whole process without having notes beside me!
 


Filming the FI Tour using an experienced Steadicam operator



CGA: What are the requirements for images and animations submitted to
Captivaction to create the final FI Tour?


PC: We're not a 3D company at all. We don't even have any 3D software.
Essentially the process of making an FI Tour involves a collaborative process in which the uncompressed renders are supplied to us - namely 'flat' panorama masters for making 360° QuickTimeVRs and uncompressed animation frames or movies. Prior to this however is the requirement to have the QuickTimeVRs positioned correctly to maximize their effectiveness, and then the subsequent flythrough start/end positions which need to align perfectly, in addition to where the animations travel. This 'pre-production' process involves making test renders and setting up calibrations.

There are lots of way to package up rendered files for supply. Given animations can be quite big, we're able to work out with each 3D company what compatible file formats and codecs to use, which provide the best file size efficiency whilst sustaining their visual integrity before post production by us.

CGA: What has been the most interesting Fi Tour you have worked on?

PC: Probably the very first photographic one we shot with a Steadicam, as the idea had finally become a reality.

CGA: What has been the most high profile project you have worked on?

PC: Probably "The Boathouse Terraces" for large development corporation Australand - a photographic Fi Tour. http://www.australand.com.au/boathouseterraces
 


Checking the shots on site



CGA: Captivaction also creates photographic interactive tours. One of the things that struck me the most was how smooth the filmed flythroughs were. Can you tell us a bit about how you do this and what is involved?

PC: Photographic Flythrough Interactive Tours resemble a small film shoot when on location. Panoramas are shot as per normal and flythroughs are shot with an HDV camcorder mounted on a specially modified Steadicam rig. The whole Steadicam system is operated by an experienced professional who provides the accuracy needed not only for the smooth movement, but the accuracy of starting and stopping in the right place at the right angle.

There are a whole range of issues to contend with on location, especially light. To make sure the light doesn't alter much between panorama and flythrough we shoot in a staggered order - i.e. some panoramas, then some flythroughs, then some more panoramas - making note of what scenes are most likely to be affected by the sun's movement, and try to get the panos and flys shot in that area as soon after each other as possible. Other issues such as matching color balance and exposures between cameras, as well as overcoming the challenges brought about by traveling through different rooms which have varying light and color temperatures, is critical. In the end it's all about trying to keep people's attention focused on what's being explored, rather than distract them with visual and technical shortfalls. No tour is ever perfect, but we come away from every shoot with something new learned.
 


Steadicam shooting with additional lighting

 

CGA: Have you created any hybrid virtual tours that use both CG stills or animation along with photographic flythroughs?

PC: The furthest we've gone with compositing real and CG, is a CG building embedded in a photographic QuickTimeVR. (See QTVR at the top of this page) But should the opportunity to go further with this we'd relish the challenge.

CGA: How long did it take Captivaction to develop this technology?

PC: We spent about 18 months going from the initial idea to a tour that we were happy to present to potential clients.

CGA: For someone wanting to employ your services what is the process and what is the typical timeline?

PC: We provide a set of PDFs to 3D companies wanting to utilize our service which explains the process and what they need to prepare/supply, and the specifications they need to adhere to. Normally the whole process can be completed in a week, subject to the render times of the 3D company who's done the modeling.

For a limited time we're also offering to make each new client's first FI Tour for free. This allows them to understand the process, see what it's like to work with us and also use the finished tour as a marketing tool.
 


Lighting the Steadicam path



CGA: What are your thoughts on the future of this technology and how it will evolve?

Quality is something that we continually strive for. Going fullscreen/HD has been a big step forward in getting more 'wow' factor, and I believe we timed that right as the world continues to embrace broadband. We're always however having to balance all the issues which make our tours work and make them easy to use. In that sense we can't always be at the absolute cutting edge otherwise we may alienate the very people these tours are meant for. That doesn't mean however that we aren't already experimenting further with new ways to do things - to improve the experience - and then introduce them when the time is right.
 


Playback



CGA: What is in the future for Captivaction?

PC: I'd like to think that people won't ever be able to 'pigeon hole' Captivaction because we're always doing something different and in most cases are creating a new market rather than tapping into one.

Flythrough Interactive Tours are a classic example of that. If you visit our website you'll see we also offer solutions such as our hybrid zoomable HarrierMap™ system (which can be likened to Google Maps but in a much more localized and integrated way) and our live interactive webcam solution CaptivEYE™.

What we think of next is of course unknown, and that's all part of life's challenge. What we try to make sure of however is being prepared in all the right areas, so that when a new idea or opportunity does arise we've already got the know-how and the infrastructure to put wheels in motion. Flythrough Interactive Tours are a combination of knowing and having skills in photography, video, lighting, directing, editing, programming, QuickTime, the web and all it embraces, and more. Had I not had that background knowledge at the time, the idea of an Fi Tour may never have entered my mind, let alone the challenge of how to make one.

In most cases what we create comes out of a projected need, which in turn creates a real need when it materializes, and is then hopefully acknowledged to create a new type of value. That involves taking risks at times - there are plenty of ideas I could tell you about which didn't quite work out.

Ultimately, everything we do we do with a passion and a dedication to be the best - even if that means taking longer for people to want it. Nobody 'needed' an iPod once upon a time. That's the sort of risk I'm willing to make.




For more information about Captivaction and the services they provide you can visit: http://www.captivaction.com


 

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About this article

Paul Carter started his career in various areas including music, sound and video, but the advent of the Internet and Quicktime VR set him on a path that eventually led to the creation of Captivaction, a one of a kind company offering very unique home-grown VR services.

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Jeff Mottle

Founder at CGarchitect

placeCalgary, CA