CAST BlackTrax 3D Reveals Spatial Audio

CAST, of Toronto, Canada, says that it has launched a true 3D spatial audio for the first time in the world for its BlackTrax technology.

BlackTrax 3D is a real-time tracking system. Using a new proprietary LED-IR Beacon, which is worn or otherwise attached to an object or person, BlackTrax 3D uses special static motion capture cameras to pinpoint and track the movements of the tagged object or person (or multiple objects or people) anywhere in the defined 3D space, and then instantly stream dynamic positional data at over 150 frames per second to external devices like lighting, audio, automation, and media servers. Each Beacon can be distinguished by its unique signature, yet it remains invisible to the human eye or broadcast camera. For enhanced tracking reliability, should the Beacon become blocked to the tracking cameras, the onboard accelerometer delivers redundant real-time tracking information so the object continues to be tracked. To date, the BlackTrax base system can accurately track up to 46 objects or performers; multiple systems -- up to 48 cameras -- can work together seamlessly, without degradation or latency, to deliver even more tracking in a greater space. The accuracy, the company says, is a 1/2" margin at 50'.

The idea of spatial audio is to take audience members and immerse them into honest, actual reality -- to remove them from their seats and put them directly in the action for an all-encompassing experience, the company says.

For example, the company suggests a scenario: You are filming a shot in a scene about financial calamity in the world -- the camera starts at the far end of the table away from a window, and slowly pushes down the table towards that window. As the frame pushes past each set of people left and right of the table, the sounds coming from those people-- coughs, angry dialect, conversations, whispers -- would fade in, intensify, diminish, and die away as the frame gets to the next more important expository bit. But people turn away to talk, and they put their hands in front of their faces to hide the emotion of their subject matter.

Simply recreating that kind of soundscape is a very expensive proposition for just a single actor on set, let alone an entire table full of people. CAST says that, with BlackBox, you can make what you intended to make for your audience, as it happens, and in 6D (X, Y, Z, roll, pitch, and yaw).

BlackTrax is something that your film can afford, your stage production can have in its reach because CAST has been able to simplify the tracking process.

CAST offers another example: The project is a live acoustic show with ten musicians, in high definition. With BlackTrax tracking, the company says, you can place Beacons on each performer, monitor and collect spatial information, and recall that information at any time in the post environment. As the guitar player moved over to talk to the drummer, the sound changed -- BlackTrax allows you to track that positional data and recreate the sound in the actual three dimensions in which it was captured.

CAST will demonstrate this new technology plus WYSIWYG R28 at LDI, October 28-30 at Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, in Booth #1135.