Template - Quickstart

Create or import models

In essence the Blender template is an empty project with a Leia camera rig, scene structure and compositor setup to enable 4 view rendering.

NOTE: The project file and final render in this guide can be found here.

After opening the project template, select the main scene then simply import or create models as you would with any Blender project, making sure to place the objects in the Layout Collection. This collection has been pre-linked to other scenes for convenience.

TIP: Hide the Leia Camera Collection in viewport to reduce wireframe clutter while you build and edit your models.

NOTE: There are many resources (such as the Blender foundation pages and youtube channel) online which cover content creation within Blender.

Alternatively objects may be manually linked across scenes.

• In the modelling view, set the interaction mode to Object Mode.

• Select all objects in the scene. Hit CRTL + L, this will bring up the Make Links menu.

• Under Objects to scene dropdown, go through and link the objects to each camera scene (a to d) from the list.

NOTE: Once this step is complete, any changes done to an object in one scene will conveniently propagate across all scenes.

To delete a linked object (removing it from all scenes / views) press SHIFT + X.

Staging your scene

To pose and adjust the Leia camera rig, select the top most parent armature within the Leia Camera collection. While in Object Mode, you can adjust the position of the rig similarly to any standard camera or object. The rig will automatically point towards a focus, indicated by the target gizmo. This can also be positioned in the standard way.

TIP: The Leia camera rig can be positioned using the View Lock Mode and mouse controls. Hit Numpad 0, and check the Lock Camera to View checkbox under the View menu. Center mouse button to orbit the camera, Left mouse button to select and move the Focus point.

Adjustment of Focal Length and Baseline Scaling (Disparity) is possible while in Pose Mode. A set of slider gizmos are located at the base of the rig. Simply select the drag any of the slider knobs vertically to adjust a parameter.

The wire frame of the camera frustums indicate the volume of the Leia camera views. A frame which represents the zero disparity plane is shown within the rig. This is where the camera views converge, any points intersecting this area are rendered without depth distortion.

NOTE: The position of this plane is adjusted by moving the focus point gizmo (center of plane) as mentioned above.

Leia slider properties and generic camera movements (via the armature) can be key framed in the usual fashion when producing animations.

Render, World and Camera settings

Some settings are scene specific. Due to the way the project has been setup, we must take note of these differences in order to produce consistent 4 view renders.

• Output properties are adjusted in the Main Scene as this is where the 4 view render is generated.

• All standard objects (particles, curves, drivers etc.), once linked across scenes should have their settings automatically propagate.

• Render Properties are adjusted per camera scene. NOTE: To save render time, it is wise to keep render samples low. Lower sampling has less bearing on final output quality, as each view image is eventually compressed.

• World Property changes will have to be set in every scene. As these properties are scene dependent, if there is any discrepancy in the settings, views will have inconsistent outcomes.

• Camera settings (such as DoF) should be changed on their respective cameras. It is recommended to keep settings the same across all views.

Post processing

Post processing effects can be added to the compositor node tree. Any nodes such as Color Correction or Levels etc. can be inserted after the Compositor node.

Nodes can also be inserted (per view) before the Compositor node to achieve more advanced effects.

Render 4 view output

Adjust your render output settings within the Main Scene, choosing an appropriate file name (4 view files require the postamble “_2x2”), location and format. The Leia Viewer application accepts most image types (such as png) and prefers H.264 encoding in MPEG-4 containers for videos.

TIP: When exporting a sequence of images, you can use the special character group '####' to denote where to place the filename increment values: eg.“RenderName_####_2x2”.

Then either select render ( F12 ) or render animation ( CRTL + F12 ) from the top panel menu under the Render tab. You should see a sequence of views render, from camera a to d, which will then be composited into a 4 view image and saved to your desired folder.

The Render window unfortunately has no indication of the estimated total render time. A rough estimate can be calculated by:

Estimated Total Render Time = Single View Render Time x 4 x Frame Count