ZEISS has opened registration for the closed BETA phase of CinCraft Virtual Lens Technology, a new plugin that brings real-world lens characteristics into digital compositing. The software is designed for Nuke and targets VFX professionals who want to achieve authentic optical effects without relying on filmed reference plates.

Part of the expanding CinCraft ecosystem, the Virtual Lens simulates how physical lenses behave — from cat-eye bokeh and focus fall-off to chromatic aberration and distortion. The technology uses raytracing principles and GPU acceleration to reproduce these artefacts in real time, making it possible to apply consistent, lens-true effects across shots directly within a 2D workspace.

Artists can select from a digital library of lenses in the same way they would rent optics from a camera house, allowing postproduction teams to match footage from various sources or stylise shots without compromising realism. ZEISS positions the tool as a bridge between production and post, closing the gap between on-set optics and digital finishing.

The closed BETA runs from December 2025 through February 2026, and participants will receive access to the Nuke plugin along with direct feedback channels to the ZEISS development team (Tell them “Hi!” From the Digital Production Team when you do ;) ). Applications are open now via zeiss.com/vlt-closed-beta.

The move expands ZEISS’ footprint in virtual production and post workflows. With products like CinCraft Scenario and CinCraft Mapper, the company has already established a digital backbone for lens data and camera tracking. The new Virtual Lens Technology extends that legacy into compositing — where glass meets pixels, and optical physics go fully virtual.

Official BETA Registration: zeiss.com/vlt-closed-beta

Virtual Glass: ZEISS Enters the Simulated Optics Game

The post ZEISS CinCraft Virtual Lens Enters BETA: Real Glass, Virtual Magic first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

CinCraft Scenario is based on Ncam’s unique tracking technology and Zeiss’ expertise in lens data – Zeiss presents a new and flexible camera tracking system as part of its CinCraft ecosystem.

Zeiss CinCraft Scenario provides camera tracking data for use in real-time rendering engines for virtual production or live compositing. Users can also record the tracking data for post-production: “It is well known that camera tracking is extremely useful for pre-visualisation and virtual production. CinCraft Scenario is particularly useful for VFXs as the system records the tracking data on set for use in post-production.

The camera tracking system can be used in almost all conditions and setups – indoors and outdoors, on film sets, with bluescreens or greenscreens and in LED volumes. This is made possible by the hybrid tracking technology, which can detect not only industry-standard reflective markers, but also environmental features such as object edges. CinCraft Scenario also works with digital markers on LED walls that are invisible to the main camera.

CinCraft lens data

As part of the CinCraft ecosystem, Scenario accesses the Zeiss lens database – initially with Zeis and Arri/ZEiss cine lenses, other standards and systems may soon follow. Their integration makes the system “plug-and-play” capable and avoids the tedious process of lens mapping and calibration.

Modular components

CinCraft Scenario works with commercially available equipment and is compatible with the most important camera and lens encoder systems to provide all the data required for correct tracking. The system consists of various hardware and software components that can be customised to meet the individual requirements of each user:

– CinCraft CamBar records raw data from the environment and forwards it.
– CinCraft Origin, which runs the main software, aggregates the data to calculate position and movement
– CinCraft Link connects CamBar and Origin and enables access to the user interface via mobile devices.

The modular software components make it possible to calculate position and movement, record data, export the recorded data to industry-standard file formats and integrate it into the Unreal Engine in real time.

Availability

Users can configure the CinCraft Scenario Camera Tracking System according to their requirements or select one of four pre-configured bundles. The system will be available at selected retailers and via the Zeiss CinCraft website in early Q4 2023.

For more information, visit zeiss.ly/cincraft-scenario.

The post Cincraft Scenario is coming! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Lens manufacturer Zeiss has acquired Ncam – the British specialist for virtual production / camera tracking is set to bring expertise for VFX workflows in-house. Incidentally, Ncam was honoured with the “Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Development” for its technology in 2016 – and Ncam’s hybrid camera tracking technology makes it possible to spatially locate the camera on set – both indoors and outdoors. This data is essential for compositing (live and offline) and, of course, for virtual production. If you want to know more – we’ve featured Ncam several times in this magazine. Here are two of the articles for free download:

DP2105_Ncam

Ncam in use at “Face the Darknes”

Zeiss, who some time ago were looking in the direction of VFX/compositing with the CineCraft system(here is the article from DP 22:05), are thus expanding their expertise – and perhaps everything from the lens to the projector will soon come from a single source? We’ll keep you up to date!

The post Zeiss takes over NCam first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.