DOCUMENTATION

In the Multiview area, in the windows at the top left of the screen, you can display image from cameras or every video signal source and other multimedia files . There are two preview windows on the right side of the production screen:
PREVIEW (caption on the green bar) and PROGRAM (caption on the red bar)

• PREVIEW – presentation of an item chosen to broadcast next
• PROGRAM – presentation of a currently broadcasting signal (system output)

Mulitiview view on the production screen for Reckeen 3D Studio.

Shadows – Selecting enabled allows you to turn ON shadows in the studio, both for objects and for talents. For more see chapter “Shadows” below.
The Show Ground Grid function – enabling this feature will result in displaying a grid on the studio floor, which will facilitate objects’ positioning. Grid squares have sides with a length of 100 units, that is 1 meter.
The Show World Axis function – switches on an additional 3D Gizmo for the studio. This 3D Gizmo shows directions in the studio all the while making the orientation easier.

The SkyBox function – it is an additional function for creating objects, a method that enables adding *.dds files to the studio project – that is, typical files simulating the space outside the studio depending on camera angles. This will be the most distant space, often completely outside the studio. You have several types of SkyBoxes at your disposal: ‘Cube’ (default) – *.dds files, ‘Cylinder’ – bitmap files (*.png., *.jpg, *.jpeg,*.bmp) , ‘Sphere’ – (*.png., *.jpg, *.jpeg,*.bmp) and ‘Sphere reflect’ – (*.png., *.jpg, *.jpeg,*.bmp). These files contain a flat image, which can be applied on the SkyBox of a given type, yielding e.g. a three-dimensional view of the sky.

After loading a Cube type Sky Box, you can set the following image parameters:

• Movement – this parameter simulates bringing a SkyMap closer to the studio and moving it away. You can observe how the SkyMap moveWhen you are creating a set design, you can use a measuring instrument that will show current overall performance of the Reckeen system. You can turn this function on with a button in the Studio Editor (see the image below).ing the slider on a range from None to Strong.
• Rotation – by default, values for this parameter are assumed in degrees from 180 degrees to (minus) -179.99 degrees. When the SkyMap file is loaded, this parameter is set to 0. Entering further Rotation values will make the SkyMap rotate on its axis to the right or to the left. If you type in ‘180’, then the SkyMap will turn around and an initial view will be placed exactly behind the camera directed straight ahead towards the studio.
• Sky box type: Cylinder – space around an observer is created by wrapping a flat image on a cylinder. After loading Cylinder type Sky Box, you can set the following image parameters:
  • Offset – controls the SkyMap’s cylinder shifting up / down in relation to your studio’s floor. Negative values shift it down, positive values up. Values are assumed by default in % and the maximum value is 100%. At 100% your cylinder is shifted up to the top and its bottom edge is at your studio’s floor level. At (minus) -100% the SkyMap’s cylinder is shifted totally downward and its top edge is at the floor level of your studio.
  • Scale – adjust the ‘wrapping’ of the loaded cylinder’s image. Values are assumed by default in %. At 100% the cylinder is wrapped without gaps in the image, the image is 100% filled up. Values above 100% will cause the image wrapped on the cylinder to overlay, while values below 100% will result in creating a gap in the image.

• Rotation – its default values are set in degrees from 180 degrees to (minus) -179.99 degrees. If the parameter is 0, the camera standing in the studio and pointing straight ahead ‘sees’ the center of the image. By entering the next Rotation value, you will rotate the image on its axis to the right or to the left.

Note: Sides if images to be displayed as panoramas on cylinders should have multiples of 1024 as their lengths in pixels: 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384
For example: files with resolutions: 8192×2048, 8192×4096, 16384×2048
Files with other resolutions may be displayed in inferior quality or may slow down the system.
In the case of a Cylinder type SkyMap, you have to be careful about reflections in the studio. It may happen that a glossy floor reflects the ‘top’ part of the cylinder, which is, in fact, an empty hole, resulting in the unnatural look of the studio’s floor. It is not a case with Cube, Sphere or Sphere reflect types of Sky Boxes that fill the whole sphere.
Sky box type: Sphere – this type of SkyMap requires .jpg files, but specially prepared. Some cameras can take this kind of panoramic pictures. After loading this file, a full sphere is created around the studio.
When you load a Sphere Sky Box, you can set the same image parameters as with the Cube.
Sky box type: Sphere reflect – just like with the Sphere files, this type of SkyMap requires .jpg files, but specially prepared. You can get such panorama files by using certain cameras or by preparing them by a graphic designer. After loading such file, a full sphere is created around the studio.
After loading the Sphere reflect type Sky Box, you can set the same image parameters as with the Cube.

Mode icons are placed in the upper right corner of the screen. Let’s start with a Move mode.
Each mode has its own 3D Gizmo type which appears when you select an object.
To make the user’s work easier, shortcuts ALT + Q, ALT + W, and ALT + E, allowing you to quickly switch between different 3D Gizmo modes, have been defined.

When you select the object, it highlights in red and the 3D Move Gizmo appears.

If you hook the mouse cursor on any of the arrows, you move the object in that direction. The currently used arrow highlights in yellow.
When you move the cursor into the 3D Move Gizmo, you will find a place where all 3 arrows light up. You can change all values at once with the mouse cursor there, that is move the object in all three directions. However, it is easier to set the object’s shifts in successive axes.
Setting the shifts in some axes may prove particularly difficult or even impossible with various objects due to the lack of appropriate view.

Imagine that you want your talent to move from the desk to the front. When the camera faces straight at the Talent, you will not see the Z axis at all.

However, you can change the camera view perspective with the drop-down menu at the top right side of the screen. Let’s choose View Left.

In this view, the Z axis is clearly visible, which allows for accurate positioning of a shift in this axis. Pulling the Talent forward from behind the desk, you can precisely set the position in the Z axis, and also the height in the Y axis.

In the Position section of the Settings, you can see the values showing the exact location of the object inside your studio. Figures are given in centimeters and refer to the zero point set by the studio’s designer.

Let’s enable the Rotate mode now.

In the Rotation section of the Settings, you can see numerical values showing the angles of the object’s rotation in the studio. The figures are given in degrees.
Now, let’s enable the SCALE mode.

Select the object, it will become highlighted in red and 3D Rotate Gizmo will show up on it.

f you hook the mouse cursor on any of the circles, you can rotate the object. The currently used circle highlights in yellow.
When you move the cursor into the 3D Rotate Gizmo, you will find a place where all 3 circles light up. You can change all the values at once with a mouse cursor there, that is rotate the object in all three directions. However, it is easier to rotate the object with movements on successive circles.
Just as before, you can take advantage of additional views from different camera angles, if setting any of rotations proves to be particularly difficult.

Select the object in the studio, it will become highlighted in red and 3D Scale Gizmo will show up.

If you hook the mouse cursor on any of the cubes, you can increase or decrease your object in this direction. The currently used axis with a cube highlights in yellow.
When you move the cursor into the 3D Scale Gizmo, you will find a place where all 3 axes with cubes light up. You can change all values at once with the mouse cursor there, that is change the object’s size in all three directions. However, it is easier to set the object’s size in successive axes. Flat objects, such as Talent, can be enlarged or reduced in size in X and Y axes, but there is no possibility of “stretching” it in the Z axis.
Also in this case, you can take advantage of changing the perspective to get the right view helping you to set the changes in the object correctly.

This function is very useful in the case of a Talent object.

When you enable this function, the Talent will always be positioned ‘facing’ the camera, regardless of the shot. The camera will always point at the Talent at a right angle, as the Talent will rotate around a vertical axis Y. This way, a situation where the camera ‘looks’ at the Talent from the side, seeing only a vertical line, will be avoided.
Below the BILLBOARD checkbox you can also find ENABLE HIDE option. It is used to completely turn off a source of A, B, C, D type from a studio without the need to remove the object itself. The studio’s author can provide in the project possibilities of placing, for example, a form of a talent in various places in the studio. Using them all at once in one frame is not possible, so such source can be switched off for a while.

You have to be careful in the case when the Talent figure stands close to some other object, like to a desk, not to move into it when turning around.

In such case, you should increase the distance between the Talent and the object, or even remove this object from the studio. Graphic designer can disable the Billboard function for the Talent in their project and in this situation you need to save the studio in a new file to change this.

In the Scene tab, below Clone, Remove and Save… icons there is a tree with all the objects in the studio. See the picture below.

If you have a problem with selecting an object on your screen, for example, because it is obscured by another object located closer to the camera, you can select this object from the list. The object is highlighted in red on the screen then, and its 3D Gizmo, with which the object can be edited, appears.
A list of all the objects in the studio can be displayed in two modes. You can see the objects tree in a Simple mode in the picture above, with a list of whole objects created by the studio designer. When you enable the Advanced mode for the selected object (e.g. desk_background), you will be able to see its components.

If you are working in the OBJECT mode, that is you have an object selected and highlighted in a studio, you will see additional icons above the tree: Replace , Clone, Remove and Save…

• Replace – allows you to swap objects. We can, for example, replace the desk object on the stage to another desk. The new object will be exactly in the place of the previous object.
• Clone – (enables cloning the highlighted object) – it adds a clone to the bottom of the list, and places a new object in the preview window in exactly the same location as the original. You have to move the cloned object in order to see that there are, in fact, two identical objects in the studio.
• Remove – allows you to delete the highlighted object.
• Save – allows you to save the selected object in a directory on your hard drive. If, for example, you like the studio ceiling or its another element, you can save it on your hard drive and use it in another studio project. In order to load the object, you have to go to CAMERA mode of the mouse. Then the Add – icon will appear on the screen in the place of icons: Clone, Remove and Save. The appearance of the Add icon can also be called by clicking [Scene] on the tree with a list of all objects at the very top of the list.

After pressing ADD button… a window with available objects in the Reckeen system database is displayed. It allows you to view an object when you select its thumbnail. On the right side, you will see full information about the object and its location. It is possible to search for an object by typing in first three characters or by using categories and sub-categories. If you want to add an object to the set design that is not in the database, just press “Load file” button and then select an appropriate file from the disk.

You can load objects from files: *.recNode (the Reckeen 3D Studio system’s own obcject files) , *.obj,
*.fbx, *.3mf (external programs’ files like Microsoft Paint 3D) and *.recSet (the Reckeen 3D Studio system’s own studio files).

If you select an object in the studio and it highlights in red, a Node section will appear in the Scene tab below the View Mode section, along with its subsections: Position, Rotation and Scale.

These subsections show accurate numerical values of the studio object’s settings in the subsequent modes that can be selected at the top left of the screen: Move, Rotate, Scale. Picture below.
Changes in the object can be also precisely set by clicking up or down white arrows on the right side of the displayed values. You can also enter your own numerical values of the object’s settings. To do this, select the numeric field with a cursor, so that the value highlights in blue, and enter the correct number on your keyboard.
If the object you have selected in the studio is a Talent or a Screen, then you will see an additional subsection Source in the Node section

These are the objects for which you can change the sources with the A, B, C ,D mixer on the 3D Production screen, when the Live option is selected, as shown in the picture above. See section: Selection of signal sources A, B, C, D.

If you select the Bitmap option, it means that you will not use the A, B, C, D mixer in the project of your studio, but rather place an image as a source instead. For example, if you have a couple of screens in the studio, you can put different images on some of these screens with the Bitmap option, and a movie or a camera feed on one or a few displays with Live option. If you cannot select a single display screen in the Simple mode, as all the screens were grouped together by a graphic designer, you should use the Advanced mode.

Clicking on the icon with three dots will allow you to upload an image file from your hard drive. The path to this file will be displayed in the window. As shown below.

Click on the bin icon to clear the window.

To set the Source index, click on the drop-down menu and select the index type: A, B, C or D. Then, what you have previously assigned to the sources A, B , C or D in the mixer, will be shown in the studio. See section: Selection of signal sources A, B, C , D.

To set the Source type, click on the drop-down menu and choose the type. See the picture below.

To set the Source type, click on the drop-down menu and choose the type. See the picture below.

• Talent Full – the Talent type – a view of the whole figure,
• Talent Middle – the Talent type – only the upper half of the figure is visible,
• Talent Desk – the Talent type – a figure sitting behind the desk,
• Screen – a screen view,
• Other – a view specified by the user,

You should take into account that if you have multiple Live sources of the same index (e.g. there are several A objects in the studio at a time), then changing the Source type of one of them (e.g. Talent to the desk) will automatically result in changing the type of all the instances of A.

The Source type function places an appropriate image on a studio miniature. You will be able to see it in the shot’s preview in the production module. For example, if the studio designer envisaged that a source of the Screen type will be placed in a given location, then you will see a green graphics on the studio miniature. You will also be able to see a Talent figure in a position behind the desk on this miniature, if the Talent has been placed so. This facilitates operating the A, B, C , D mixer.

There are the following tabs at the top right of the screen: Scene, Camera and Light.
Let’s choose a Camera tab. Picture below:

A list of default camera shots for the studio will be displayed. These shots (their number and type) have been defined by the designer of the studio.
If you choose Camera 1 shot, its view will be visible on the screen. You can change this shot by setting the camera differently with mouse buttons in the Camera mode. Remember that this way you will not be able to change in the editor the shots currently loaded to the production module.
These shots will be loaded into V/C groups only after reloading the studio project file to production. When you finish the editing, you can save such altered project as a new studio under a new name.

The studio file should be saved under a different name, because if you try to save it under the same name, the system will warn you with a message concerning an attempt to overwrite the file.

If you decide to overwrite the file and the given file is write protected, you’ll get a message, as shown below.

If you want also your new file protected against overwriting (changing), check the appropriate option during the process of creating this new file – saving it.

You can also change the number of the new studio’s default shots by: adding a new shot, cloning a chosen shot, deleting some of the shots or changing their name – with Add, Clone, Remove and Rename functions
The picture below – five new shots were added to the four shots created by a graphic designer.

You can define up to 15 new default camera shots. They will be immediately visible in the Camera setup in the V/C 1 to V/C 4 after loading a new studio to production – exactly the same for each virtual cameraman.
It is very useful and therefore, in addition to the Camera tab, you also have a possibility to switch between the default camera shots (Camera_1 to Camera_4) at the top of the screen, next to the View Perspective icon. See the picture below.

This allows you to switch between the shots while working in the Scene or the Light tab, and to monitor on a regular basis how the changes introduced in one camera view look like in another one . See the picture below
For the ease of use, there is also a possibility to work with objects in the Camera tab – you just have to switch to the OBJECT mode with your mouse. However, it’s a SCENE tab which was especially designed for this purpose and so it has more options for editing the objects.

There is an Edit option available at the top left side of the screen. You can trigger Undo and Redo functions from the drop-down menu or through the keyboard shortcuts. Undo: Ctrl+Z, Redo: Ctrl+Y

• Undo function – erases the last introduced change.
• Redo function – reverses the Undo command.

Note, however, that if you undo several operations and now you are performing a completely new operation, all undone operations will be deleted from the job queue (list of tasks). In case you perform a lot of operations, the system can limit the amount of memorized operations that can be used with Undo, Redo functions.

First, let’s discuss the different operating modes of a mouse on the 3D editor screen:

Clicking with a simultaneous movement.
Left mouse button: change the camera’s position/view in the studio in X, Y axes. Scroll – move the camera forwards and backwards in the Z axis.
Right mouse button: rotate the camera in a studio – to the left or to the right and up or down.
In this mode, the mouse can lock X, Y, Z axes in order to position a camera view accurately, just as in the Camera setup.
On the picture below – two axes (X and Y) are locked, so the movement is possible only in the Z axis.

If you only click the left mouse button, you will select the object located at the cursor’s position. The object will be highlighted in red and a 3D Gizmo, which is an indicator allowing you to edit the object, will be displayed for it. The type of the Gizmo indicator will depend on the selected object’s editing mode (move, rotate or resize). You can see a 3D Gizmo portrayed with arrows in the following picture, it allows you to move the object in all 3 axes.

With right-click on the 3D Gizmo you can carry out an orbit operation on the highlighted object. This operation is described later on in this manual.
When the object is selected with a cursor and highlighted, you are still able to move your camera. Just click the left mouse button and move it simultaneously, but this time – beyond the red outline of the object. This allows you to position the object better in your studio, being able to see it from every possible angle.
If you want to disable the object’s highlight – just click the left mouse button again on the object highlighted in red. The highlight will disappear, thereby signaling leaving the Object operating mode.

The goal of working with the editor is to prepare a studio before a live broadcast. You should keep in mind that, if one of the V/Cs is selected in the main PROGRAM mixer at the moment and you want to make some modifications in the editor – it can cause some unexpected changes seen directly by the viewers, e.g. a studio element disappears.
You can open the editor with Studio Editor button. As shown below.

After opening, you can see the editor screen. The Reckeen 3D Studio system operates on a single file virtual 3D studio project loaded, but it can be a very complex one. You can add another studio project to the already existing one and place it on the same set, e.g. by its side or at the top. The second studio is added with the Add… button in 3D Editor.
This way you will have in one file , two different studios with the possibility of two (e.g. V/C1 and V/C2) cameramen in one virtual studio and two (e.g. V/C3 and V/C 4) in the other studio.
After adding a new studio, it may not have lights. If your studio is dark you have to add light to it.
See the picture below.