LightAct allows you to use 2 approaches to projection mapping. They are usually referred to as 2D projection mapping and 3D projection mapping.
3D projection mapping
3D projection mapping relies on accurate 3D models of all projection objects and using projectors as cameras into the virtual space. The setup process is as follows:
- import UV-mapped 3D models of all your projection objects.
- Apply textures to your 3D models.
- Create projectors and select the projection objects as the sources of your projectors.
- Calibrate your projectors using either 3DCal manual method or automatic camera-based method called CamCal.
- Calculate blending masks using AutoBlend.
You can then apply additional manual warping, blending or color corrections in projector’s layout.
If you want to project real-time Unreal Engine content, you’ve got 2 options. You can either stream Unreal content back to LightAct or you can use UnrealLink tool. It creates Unreal Engine’s nDisplay configuration files which accurately represent your projection mapping setup. This would allow you to output perfectly mapped content straight from Unreal Engine without having to stream it back to LightAct.
2D projection mapping
2D projection mapping can be used when the content is rendered from one point of view. Typical applications of this approach are various flat, curved, dome or CAVE-like setups.
So, instead of rendering the content from several points of view and importing an exact 3D models of projection objects, you can apply manual warping & blending of the content of each projector.