Clear Angle Studios is leading a quiet revolution in the art of 4D scanning. CEO, Dominic Ridley, tells TVBEurope about the tech behind their remarkable progress
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: February 18, 2025 Updated: February 19, 2025
Clear Angle Studios is leading a quiet revolution in the art of 4D scanning. CEO, Dominic Ridley, tells TVBEurope about the tech behind their remarkable progress
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
Last August, Clear Angle Studios announced it had achieved a breakthrough in 4D performance capture. Working in collaboration with performance-driven facial animators DI4D and texture enhancement specialists, TexturingXYZ, the company showcased a video featuring a photo-realistic digital representation of an actor's performance that was virtually indistinguishable from actual footage of the human, marking a technological innovation that has far-reaching implications for the media and entertainment (M&E) industry.
Discussing both the technology behind the development and its significance to the M&E industry, Dominic Ridley, co-founder and CEO of Clear Angle Studios, begins with a brief background. The company is a global operation. Headquartered in London, Clear Angle Studios has offices in Atlanta and Vancouver, along with Budapest and other locations worldwide. This autumn, a full service studio was opened in Culver City, Los Angeles, offering a permanent scanning facility to meet burgeoning demand. We cover the film industry in terms of scanning, says Ridley. We'll scan props, vehicles, sets, environments and characters. We'll get in a helicopter and capture entire mountain ranges, but at the same time, we'll scan this pen for you, he explains, holding up the item in question.
Then, alluding to the growing convergence that has been noted in the industry, in which shifting audience trends and technological innovation has seen media companies widening their IPs, Ridley says, We're in the scanning and digitising business, traditionally we cover film production more than anything else, but we're looking to get more into gaming, as the divide narrows between photo realism in games and film.
Turning to the subject of 4D scanning, he clarifies a common misconception. It's often called 4D mocap but it isn't motion capture. It's scanning, he says, gently correcting the misnomer. Clear Angle Studios, first and foremost, is in the business of data capture. Explaining further, he adds, 4D scanning is essentially motion scanning. When you take a video and turn it into per-frame 3D scans, so you're getting animation at the same time from all angles, that's essentially what 4D scanning is: taking a static scan and making it an animated scan.
In simple terms, the fourth D might refer to the movement aspect of the data, the animation itself.
It's the movement, yeah, but as soon as you get into movement you end up with 24 times or 30 times, or 48 times as much data as you would from a 3D scan, says Ridley, identifying what has until now been a significant barrier to the process the immense requirement for computing power. Traditionally, 4D scans were relatively low res, to try and make up for the fact that there was so much more data. It's very processor heavy, because you've got to process 24 3D frames per second over a period of however many seconds or minutes that you've got. Usually, you'd have gone lower res. Instead of doing one high res scan, you'd do lots of smaller low res scans and that would drive your animation. Essentially, you'd drive the high res texture from the neutral pose across all the other poses.
Referring to the August presentation, Ridley continues, [The video that] we presented in collaboration with DI4D and TexturingXYZ does contain a certain portion of it. It's how we enable the high res to happen for every single frame. That's how it's unique, quite different. It was a lot of work a lot but it gave us a stepping stone into the next possible, the next high res way of capturing and displaying data.
Division of labour Work on the project was divided between the three specialists, with each company providing its own expertise. Firstly, the subject, Clear Angle Studios' finance director, Michael Pedersen, was scanned into the system. We recorded him performing FACS shapes with our synchronised video camera system so that we could capture all the facial expression transitions from neutral to each of the FACS shapes at 24 frames per second, says Ridley. We processed that data to produce a per-frame sequence of OBJ files, which we delivered to DI4D. At this stage the OBJ data has a different random mesh topology per frame. DI4D wrapped the mesh topology from the base mesh accurately onto one frame of the OBJ sequence data. They then used their state-of-the-art mesh tracking solution to track this mesh topology accurately onto every other frame in the sequence. The result is a 4D sequence comprising a highly consistent mesh topology, which deforms as the face transitions from neutral to each of the FACS shapes. The reason that's key is because at the end of the process, every frame of data has an identical UV layout.
The data was then returned to Clear Angle Studios, where it was textured and sent on to TexturingXYZ, the third project partner. This final stage entailed analysis of the texture, normal maps and displacement maps, using TexturingXYZ's bespoke solutions, Hyperskin 2.0 and HyperlookX, which enabled the data to be enhanced. They have a really cool platform, says Ridley. It's incredible tech and gives the data that little bit of extra cherry on top.
Capturing the data requires the use of Dorothy, Clear Angle Studios' proprietary system, which has developed through seve
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...
01/07/2026
Chyron Launches the All-New Chyron Academy: A Reimagined, Hands-On Learning Expe...
01/07/2026
Amplium Captures Kawasaki Brave Thunders Game with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersiv...
01/07/2026
Boris FX Optics Expands Plugin Support to Apple Photos, Capture One, and Affinit...
01/07/2026
UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July.
Matt will take on this senio...
01/07/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026
Fussy asks Bri...
01/07/2026
Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...
01/07/2026
Wuppertal July 1, 2026
Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...
01/07/2026
Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...
Clear Angle Studios is leading a quiet revolution in the art of 4D scanning. CEO, Dominic Ridley, tells TVBEurope about the tech behind their remarkable progress
