The STAGE.KIT iOS app uses your device’s camera to create live animation from your facial expressions and voice. Once connected you’ll be able to see your performance transmitted to your active Unreal sessions!
STAGE.KIT works alone or in collaboration with other performers anywhere in the world.
For installation; you’ll need an iPhone or iPad with Face tracking capability running OS 17.
The app will also ask for permissions to use the camera and the microphone, needed for capturing performance and allow you to participate in recording sessions:
Once you download and launch the app, you’ll be presented with the option to take a tour. Take it, it’s fun.
Right from the start you’ll see a video feed of yourself, and a 3D avatar head tracking your facial expressions and head movement. Go ahead and smile, make a silly face, it’s supposed to be fun! The avatar may be a little off center, but that’s okay… move on to calibration!
In order to make sure you and your character are centered on the screen we’ll want to calibrate. If you move your device you should calibrate again to make sure things are centered up and capturing the best data possible.
If you’ve already calibrated the menu gives you the option to do a fresh calibration or clear the calibration to defaults.
To ensure you get an accurate calibration follow these steps:
Hold still with a neutral face pose looking straight forward
Do not blink
Hold the pose until the circle completes
The position of the device (iPad/iPhone) relative to the head is important to maintain. Ideally the device should not be moved after calibration. The use of a stand, gooseneck mount, or HMC is always a good idea.
Please note you can perform a new calibration at anytime you feel you need it (except during a recording). A fresh calibration is always a good idea.
You can also pick from other avatar options. Pressing the character menu button (bottom right), a series of characters will pop up. Select the one you’ll be performing with.
Custom characters coming soon!
Now you’re ready to participate in a live performance, but first you need to connect to the FUTURE.STAGE platform. Press the settings button (upper left corner) for all your connection needs.
Assuming you have a FUTURE.STAGE account, you can log in through this screen. Links are also available on the settings page if you forgot your password or need to sign up for an account.
Once you successfully login, you’ll be able to see a list of live shows your account has access to, and other performance properties. Please note that a show needs to be running in order for it to be available. If a show has just started, you might need to hit ‘Refresh’ to see it in the show list.
Each performer using STAGE.KIT should use a unique Subject Name, either the actor’s first name or character name are good choices (short names are easiest to manage and view). This Subject Name is used throughout FUTURE.STAGE to directly link a performer with their performance data.
The application can operate in one of three modes:
ACTOR - Face and audio data is captured and transmitted to FUTURE.STAGE. The actor will appear in the main window of all other STAGE.KIT instances that are running.
DIRECTOR - Face and audio data is not used, but all participants can hear the director unless they are muted. The director appears as a video during the performance but does not appear in the main window, only the actors appear there.
MONITOR - Face and audio data is not sent and the Monitor's audio is muted by default - they can push the microphone icon to talk. Monitors have no video or 3d representation.
Now you’re ready to join your show by toggling the connect button (bottom center).
Satisfying isn't it?
Once you connect to a show successfully, you will be taken to the group session view:
The slate icon (top right) is a quick way to see all the details necessary for the show you are connected to like your role, the session info, slate details, and take number.
Top center you can see the state of the session, similar to the STAGE.HUB website. PRE REC is the default initial state before recording starts. There’s also PRE CONNECT, RECORDING, PLAYBACK, and others. On the left side you’ll see different team members in the same session. Based on their role, you might see both 3d avatar and video (actor), just video (director), or just the name (monitor).
As more team members join the real fun begins. Tapping on your video icon (bottom left) will hide the video/character side panel for a more simplified view.
If you want to solo a character to concentrate on, either yourself or someone else, you can simply tap their avatar and all the other avatars will be hidden. To remove the solo effect tap again.
That’s it. Simple and fun!