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The VENTUZ Story
While working on CeBIT, one of our first large projects for Microsoft, we faced a challenge that could not be solved using conventional techniques. Microsoft was presenting their products on two different stages simultaneously. That resulted in unpredictable timings.
On each stage were four tracks in a repeating cycle. Between tracks, Q&A shows where held. Microsoft experts answered customer’s questions, which were collected during the presentation.
These shows could vary in length depending on the complexity and number of questions. On the outside of the stages, we had plasma screens that periodically showed an agenda. The times shown on this agenda had to be updated online, while the presentation was running.
To keep the look of the presentation consistent in 3D and with the same elements, we had to use something similar to what we were using for the stages. In addition, the screens were installed rotated clockwise by 90°. This prohibited the use of conventional video broadcast technology. We needed a solution allowing content to be displayed in real-time, exchanged without having to stop the presentation and be independent of render resolutions.
At this point, we decided to code the agenda completely in DirectX. We set up a connection to the presentation on stage, allowing us to trigger the agenda at the correct times.
The results were perfect and after the project, we talked a lot about using this technique more often in the future. However, a couple of other problems still had to be solved. Only programmers were able to put the actual presentation together. Texturing and animating objects required a long time until we got the look and feel we were aiming for.
Nevertheless, the new possibilities this technique offered were gigantic. Our chief developer came up with the idea to build an interface, so that designers would be able to use DirectX as well. Even though it did not have its name then, the idea of Ventuz was born. From that point on, we started focusing on making DirectX more and more comfortable for us to use.
When got news that we were going to create the presentation at the Games Convention we set ourselves the goal to completely produce it in Ventuz. It was a hard piece of work, but a very exciting project. The software back then was not what it is today. It consisted of a bunch of workarounds and tricks that you would have to know. Nevertheless, it made producing a lot more flexible and creative. We constantly kept improving the interface and integrating new features. When we arrived at the Games Convention, we had the first version of Ventuz.
When we first saw our 3D scenes on that 12 by 4 meter LED screen, everybody was very excited. We instantly connected the webcams and the Xboxes and tested the camera animations. Many people were surprised, because they had not seen anything like it before. They were even more surprised, when we showed them that the item that was doing all this was a standard PC.
Ventuz ran continuously until the end of the Games Convention and the feedback was amazing. The software was at a point where we could really use it for production. We made the decision to do all our next projects with Ventuz. We started to look for projects that would challenge the limits of the software. When we needed new features, we added them to the software. The software became better and more reliable.
More and more people became interested in the software and what it could do. Therefore, we started to share it with people that had already worked with other real-time software. The feedback was enormous. Some of them asked if they might use it for their own projects. We thought it would be a great idea, because no one had ever worked with it except for us.
We wanted to see how others would be able to learn the software and use it. Every project implemented with Ventuz was special and required many different features. Over the past years, we have changed from a design company to a software development company.
The market interest in the software kept increasing, and the decision was made to do a public beta program. Since we are coming from the same business as most of our potential customers, we clearly understand the importance of compatibility and usability.
Before we were able to introduce Ventuz to a larger user group, we had to go over the whole architecture and clean the core. Some of the features that were implemented in order to make a specific project work had to be productized.
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