Research
As part of the SCENE project research regarding the whole movie production pipeline was conducted. Here two parts of this research are presented, the Scene Representation Architecture (SRA) and the Scene Renderer.

The Scene Representation Architecture

The Scene Representation Architecture (SRA) developed in SCENE is intended to go beyond the ability of either sample based (video) or model-based (CGI) methods to deliver richer media experiences. The new SRA is a layer based architecture, consisting of a Base Layer, a Scene Layer and a Directors Layer. This layer based architecture is movie production oriented with the intention to merge real and generated content on the lowest possible level for facilitated post processing and an enhanced consumer experience.
The Base Layer represents the lowest level of the SRA. This layer stores the information as provided by different sources, which might be any kind of data acquisition equipment or computer generated content. We introduce a new format to store this Base Layer information which we call acel (Atomic sCene ELements). Those acels represent the physical content of a scene. Each acel itself is consistent in all its dimensions, but independent from other acels. Coherency information regarding only the data of a single acel is already part of this acel. An acels size can range from a single data value to a full multidimensional object.
The Scene Layer uses the Base Layer information to generate a whole scene. The independent acels stored in the Base Layer are positioned in a scene, and further information is added. Among this is lighting information and coherency information. The coherency information creates a structure between different acels exceeding their positioning in the defined dimensions. Those coherencies provide important information for physical plausibility during post processing and user interaction.
The Directors Layer is the interface between the consumer and the SRA. On the one hand camera information is provided in this layer, through which a user experiences the scene. Related to the camera are all kinds of information which make a movie production a piece of art, like different sorts of filters, blur or other effects. Finally, the Directors Layer can allow user interaction with a scene. By defining interaction rules the directors layer may provide specific options how a scene or the experience of this scene can be modified by the consumer.

The Scene Renderer

In the SCENE project novel scene representations with additional data and new data structures are made available in the Scene Representation. The Scene renderer is one fundamental tool to visualize this data. The renderer prototype which is described in this document presents the first layout of the Scene renderer and basic functionality. Acel data can be rendered with simple effects and shown as a video stream.
The renderer is designed in a way to allow easy integration of future rendering modules which employ developments in computational videography to provide realistic rendering of the scene content.