Preparing for a Depthkit shoot

Time-of-Flight depth sensors like the Azure Kinect use the infrared spectrum to map depth. You'll need to factor in certain considerations when you plan your production.

Lighting constraints

The technology that makes the Kinect work relies on the near-infrared spectrum for illumination. If you use lights containing a lot of infrared content it can disrupt the Kinect, degrading your depth capture.

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Recommended Light Types

• Fluorescent (e.g. Kino Flo)
• LED

Please note: this is not an exhaustive list.

• Arri Skypanels
• Digital Sputnik Apollo
• Kino Flo Celeb & Kino Flo Freestyle
• Litepanels Astra 6X Bi-Color LED Panel
• Astera Titan Tube Lights
• Quasar Science Q-LED Linear Lamps
• Litegear Litemat

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Unsuitable Light Types

• Tungsten
• Halogen
• Sunlight

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How to choose your lights

A rule of thumb is that any lights that are hot to the touch (including our sun) generally introduce some near-infrared pollution, making them not ideal for scanning. When in doubt, we always recommend that you test your lights before shooting!

When considering how to light your scene for Depthkit we recommend taking into account the of the experience you are shooting for. Similar to an 'in-camera' look designing your lighting for that context. For example, if you intend to place your subject in VR so that their left side is illuminated by window, then it's best to match that virtual light source with a practical light source, like a large softbox, to the left of the subject to mimic that light.

Material/garment reflectivity

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Avoid the use of transparent or reflective materials

This means glasses, mirrors, windows, shiny leather, waxed jeans, etc. These materials will degrade your depth data.

Most depth sensors rely on a small infrared emitter to visually detect depth of surfaces. This technology can fail if the material properties don't reflect the light back into the camera's lens. For example, it will not be able to detect transparent surfaces like glasses, windows or water. It will also represent reflective surfaces in strange ways – for example if I film something in a mirror, the object will appear to be inside or behind the mirror.

The depth sensor will also occasionally struggle with certain fabrics or materials. Black leather and some kinds of waxed or otherwise treated jeans will just not appear in the data stream. On critical shoots, always test your materials in front of the sensor before shooting.

When choosing patterns or colors in clothing, adhere to all the same constraints that govern a typical film shoot – small repeating patterns can cause moire effects, and if garments are too bright or too dark they will indeed appear bright or dark respectively when filmed with Depthkit.

Audio

See our audio workflow documentation