Narrative Concept

Created for the Virtual Production course, Off Track Ronin is a mixed-reality short film that explores the psychological dissonance of modern corporate life. The narrative is built on a strict visual duality: the "Corporate World" is a desaturated, sterile office environment, while the "Samurai World" is an energetic, vibrant world that merges traditional Samurai aesthetics with Hip-hop and graffiti culture. To realize this vision, we engineered a decentralized Triple-Node Computing Architecture connected via a ZeroTier VPN network, allowing three separate workstations to collaborate on motion capture, LED wall rendering using nDisplay, and master control of Unreal Engine virtual environments in real-time.

The Hybrid Pipeline

For the "Corporate World", we utilized In-Camera Visual Effects with a floor-to-ceiling LED wall. By mounting an OptiTrack CinePuck to the physical camera, we achieved precise parallax synchronization between the live actor and the background Unreal Engine environment. To handle complex compositions where the LED wall was insufficient, we integrated a supplemental pipeline using Green Screen and Volumetric Capture. The latter allowed us to record the actor's performance as an Alembic geometry cache, transforming live action into a 3D mesh sequence in post-production.

Real-time Performance & Technical Engineering

The "Samurai" world transitioned to a full digital pipeline using OptiTrack motion capture and Live Link to drive MetaHuman characters in real-time. This real-time workflow enabled us to monitor the final render on-set and immediately resolve clipping or jitter issues. We overcame significant engineering hurdles by scripting a Parent Constraint logic within the Unreal Control Rig to lock weapon props to non-standard character skeletons, and utilized the Cloth Paint Tool to stabilize complex garments during high-intensity combat. Final assembly was completed in DaVinci Resolve, following our initial Storyboards to ensure a seamless transition between the physical and virtual worlds.