How OnStage! Works
OnStage! was designed for production professionals with no computer, 3D, or drawing experience required.
A fairly realistic set is easily created out of 3D photo-textured "panels." Upright panels form the walls of the set, while horizontal ones define the floor and ceilings. A camera can be moved throughout this set, simulating a real camera’s point of view.
The scene from "viewfinder" is shown on the screen. Within this virtual set, individual elements representing actors and props can be moved around at will, representing the blocking of the particular scene.
These "actors" are made by scanning in photos of people against blue backgrounds. These images are textured mapped onto panels that are easily sized, rotated and moved within the scene. The actors are moved around the stage, by simply dragging them relative to the camera, and setting key positions. There are excellent collections of pre-cutout actors available from Hemera for under $20.
Their positions saved at various points in time, represented as key frames (the little squares) on a timeline. Each actor is represented by its own bar.
The resulting show can be played as if it were a movie, using a player control bar. All the elements are "live," meaning they can instantly changed and replayed, with no time consuming rendering process.
QuickTime and AVI movies can be created if desired. OnStage! will create VRML files, making it easy to share the show with others over the web. Color storyboards can also be printed.
OnStage! contains a full audio editor with an unlimited number of virtual tracks to make it easy to lay up dialogue, music, narration and effects. In addition, a text editor containing the script text can be synchronized with show, closing the loop.
OnStage! uses a standard Windows 95/98NT computer or laptop with no additional hardware required. It uses the OpenGL standard for the 3D rendering, making a plethora of 3D accelerator cards available for improved performance.
