🚀Get Started

Installation

If you haven't installed both the Mobile Application (iOS or Android) and the Unreal Engine Plugin please follow our instructions here:

Overview

You can watch this video with our detailed steps or check out the written version of our guide to learn how to:

1. Configure your API Key

2. Setup your Level

   1. Open one of our Example Levels

   2. Setup your own Level

3. Configure the Mobile Camera App

4. Connect with LiveLink

5. Setup your Stage

6. Start Streaming

7. Record

8. Preview in Sequencer

Step 1 : Configure your API Key

To configure your API key you should follow the instructions below:

1. Sign in to the CameraTwin dashboard

2. Go to the API Key Section

3. Acquire the API Key

   1. Generate new API key from the button at the top and copy it or

   2. Copy your existing API Key from more options button at the right of the API Key entry

4. Open the Unreal Engine Project and go to the Project Settings-> CameraTwin

   1. Find the API key property and paste your API key in the field.

Step 2 : Setup your Level

For this step you can either open one of our Example Levels (highly suggested) or setup your own Level.

Make sure that Unreal Engine is set to show the plugin's Contents. If you don't know how to do it, please follow the steps here.

Step 2a: Open one of our Example Levels

You can select any of the following Example Levels according to your needs. You will find these in your Content Browser, navigate to All -> Plugins -> CameraTwin Content -> Examples.

1. [ Recommended ] ArSimpleCompositionExample: Suitable for beginners that want to familiarize with the composition concept similar to Augmented Reality (AR), meaning the virtual elements are augmented to the real world view. i.e. A virtual robot character standing in your actual living room.

2. ArAdvancedCompositionExample: Suitable for intermediate users that want to familiarize with a more complex setup of a composition similar to AR, but with added lighting and shadow details.

3. ArSceneImagePlateExample: Suitable for beginners that want to easily preview the AR view of their concept without fiddling with the UE's composure composition intricacies. Note: for smooth preview in the viewport pilot your Virtual Camera.

4. CameraParametersExample: This example is combined with the CameraParametersLevelSequence and will show you how you can script your camera parameters changes inside a LevelSequence to achieve a repeatable capture pattern.

5. SimpleCompositionExample: Suitable for beginners that want to familiarize with the basic composition setup of a green-screen (blue-screen). Note: this example setup won't have great results with Lumen, ray-tracing and advanced lighting setups.

6. AdvancedCompositionExample: Suitable for intermediate users that want to achieve best results of the green-screen setup combined with advanced lighting setups including Lumen and ray-tracing.

7. StaticMeshExample: In this example the camera stream is projected in a static mesh inside the scene, suitable for fast debugging and simple static shots.

Step 2b: Setup your own Level

To setup your own Level you will need to add the appropriate Virtual Camera Actor and setup the appropriate composition layers if needed. You will find these in your Content Browser, navigate to All -> Plugins -> CameraTwin Content -> Blueprints.

You can select between three ready-to-use Virtual Camera Actors.

1. BP_CT_CameraActor A custom Cinecamera Actor with the appropriate LiveLink controllers and components to enable CameraTwin functionality. This Actor is suitable for all general purposes and Virtual Production setups.

2. BP_CT_Capture_CameraActor A specialized Camera Actor with a Scene Capture Component suitable for capturing accurate color and ray traced light effects. This Actor is suitable for use with Composure Composition layers For more details about scene capture components check this out

3. BP_CT_Plate_CameraActor A specialized Camera Actor with a Image Plate ready to project the Camera Stream inside the scene at a given distance. This Actor is suitable for AR compositions and easy in Scene preview of the video stream.

If you select a Virtual Camera Actor other than the BP_CT_Plate_CameraActor you will most probably need to setup the right composition Layers. Open the Composure Compositing Window and right click to create a new Comp then add the following Layers by opening the context menu of the newly created Composition and selecting the Add Layer Element option. In the pop up window expand the ALL CLASSES section and add the following layers one at a time.

1. BP_CT_InputStreamElement: This Layer Element will receive the camera stream and will be used to key the texture of your green-screen setup.

2. BP_CT_CG_Element (Not needed in case of BP_CT_Capture_CameraActor): This Layer Element will capture the Virtual Scene from the perspective of your Virtual Camera Actor and will be used to composite your virtual objects and characters inside the composition.

Finally, select your Composition Actor in the Outliner Window and setup the input and transform passes according to your desired composition needs. You can always reference one of our Example Levels to replicate the composition setup (Compositions are not transferable between scenes) or check our detailed guide about Composition Setups.

Step 3: Configure the CameraTwin Mobile App

Open the CameraTwin mobile app and select the name of your device, it will be included to your Source name as well. You can leave it to default which is your smartphone's model.

Step 4: Connect CameraTwin LiveLink Source

After the mobile application is started you can connect to its stream by using the Live Link window.

Steps:

1. Open the LiveLink window, by searching for it under the Window menu of the Unreal Engine’s top bar (video)

2. Inside the Live Link window (video)

   1. Click the button

   2. Hover over the CameraTwin option

   3. Select your desired CameraTwin Source as CameraTwin source

3. Setup your LiveLink Controllers to listen to the newly created LiveLink subjects of your CameraTwin Source (Step 3 of CameraTwin LiveLink Setup)

Here you can find detailed steps regarding CameraTwin LiveLink Source Setup:

Step 5 (Optional): Setup your Stage

If you want, you can set up your stage by tapping on specific points to create the outline of your stage area. The outline will be presented in your Unreal Engine Level in order to make it easier for you to select your shooting location inside the Virtual setting.

Steps:

1. Enter stage setup mode from the main screen by pressing the button in the main drawer.

2. [Optional] Move the device around until surfaces are recognized and displayed.

3. Point the target marker at the center of the screen over the location of the first point to be placed.

4. Tap anywhere on the screen to place the point.

5. Repeat steps 3-4 until at least 3 points have been added.

6. Press the button to accept the current stage.

At any point, the button can be used to remove the last placed point. Additionally, the button can be pressed to cancel the input and return to the previously set stage (if any). Finally, pressing the button with fewer than 3 points placed will clear the stage entirely.

Stage Options in Unreal Engine

After the stage setup in the mobile application, the parameters of the stage are transmitted to Unreal Engine and the BP_CT_CameraActor renders the stage outline in a bright green color.

In the CameraTwinStage component there are the following parameters:

• Snap Parent to Ground

• Ground Level

Here you can find details steps regarding Stage Setup:

Step 6: Start Streaming

If you haven't already started streaming from the phone, you can do it now. To start streaming you can press the streaming button to toggle it to streaming state . Make sure the LIveLink subjects turn from yellow to green (all but the stage Subject), that means that the phone successfully streams video, pose and camera parameters information to the Unreal Engine.

Step 7: Record

Tap the record button on the Phone and film your shot. According to the Recording Settings and the enabled Recording Events of your project the record button will trigger whichever event is enabled.

You can adjust most of those settings in the Control Panel.

Step 8: Preview in Sequencer

After you finish the Recording:

1. Find your Recording Asset in your defined folder in the Content Browser (Default: CameraTwin/Recordings/)

2. Open the Context Menu and click the Create New Sequence Action

3. Make sure the desired Camera Actor Blueprint is Selected and Click Apply

A new Sequence is created with all tracks required to preview your shot.

To preview your shot with Composure Layers:

1. Go to the Input Layer Element and in the details Panel under Composure->Input->Inputs

2. Add another input of the type "Texture Input"\

   
3. Apply the texture that is used by default in the sequence media track, in the properties tab \

   

All set for your first Shot

Now that you have a better understanding of CameraTwin's capabilities, you can keep on using the example level and try different shots or you can load the rest of the examples and follow our Tutorials.