Fuzzy Door Tech, a division of Seth MacFarlane’s (Family Guy, The Orville, Ted) production company Fuzzy Door, today launched the ViewScreen family of products which includes ViewScreen Studio and ViewScreen Scout. ViewScreen is a suite of production visualization tools that simultaneously integrates visual effects and the real world to accelerate television and film production.
ViewScreen Studio is built for full-scale productions to let filmmakers visualize and animate an entire scene, including digital assets, in real time, across multiple cameras. And ViewScreen Scout is a real-time scouting app for the iPhone that lets people record how digital assets will look on location or on a soundstage — before filming begins.
Historically, working with digital assets required a lot of imagination and guesswork to visualize what should be in the empty space while filming a scene. ViewScreen is transforming storytelling by making the invisible visible. The products use augmented reality to display VFX components in a live scene so the director, director of photography, camera operators and extended crew can see the entire scene and react instantly to what’s happening on set. ViewScreen runs on off-the-shelf iOS/macOS and Windows consumer hardware that’s cost-effective and easy to use no matter where you’re filming.
“ViewScreen takes the guesswork out of the directing process. Now, you can see VFX elements, in real time, as you’re shooting. It’s a true advantage for every facet of filmmaking because it accelerates everything we do,” said MacFarlane. “It allows for faster decision-making, quicker visualizations, and provides a clear framework for post-production to ensure the director’s vision is accurately achieved.”
The ViewScreen products have already made their mark in entertainment, transforming MacFarlane’s production process. ViewScreen Scout was critical for planning and blocking shuttle landings as part of Hulu’s The Orville: New Horizons. ViewScreen Studio allowed MacFarlane to direct and animate Ted’s face and body movements during the filming of the Ted TV series (airing on Peacock January 11, 2024) and gave the extended team visibility to evaluate shots in real time.
“The ViewScreen suite of tools is focused on production visualization, or ProVis for short. ProVis is the ability to visualize digital assets in a live scene in real time — any time during production,” said Faith Sedlin, President of Fuzzy Door Tech. “Ultimately, with ViewScreen, you can evaluate, animate, and fine-tune every aspect of your production to capture the perfect shots in fewer takes.”
Viewscreen Studio can be used anytime during filming to visualize props, characters, and environments, on set or on location in real time. Now camera operators know where to position shots because they can see an entire scene, including digital assets, in their viewfinder while filming — synchronized by timecode across multiple cameras. Actors can animate digital characters using just an iPhone — no cumbersome gear is needed. By removing the guesswork, ViewScreen Studio improves the creative process and lets everyone feel confident that the right shots are being captured during production.
ViewScreen Scout lets you pre-visualize scenes, virtually walk through sets, block movement, visualize lighting and more before filming begins. With ViewScreen Scout, the crew can collaborate through shared rooms. For example, while an assistant director is on location scouting, a lighting designer can join a shared room remotely and adjust the lighting. The ability to visualize and animate digital assets and VFX in situ and react directly to what you see on your iPhone means getting the right shot in fewer takes.
ViewScreen Studio is compatible with the latest macOS (Sonoma) and Windows 11. It can be used with any cinema camera. ViewScreen Scout runs on iOS devices including any iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max and higher or any iPad Pro M1 and higher.
The ViewScreen suite of tools, ViewScreen Studio and ViewScreen Scout, are available today for use on film and TV productions in North America (US and Canada). ViewScreen Scout is included with ViewScreen Studio and can also be purchased separately. Pricing for ViewScreen varies based on the requirements and complexity of the production.
