Challenge 3: Social media filters

Challenge 3: Social media filters

The end-of-season message that we developed for PSV was only accessible for season ticket holders. To thank all other fans as well we got the plan to create a social media filter with a short sequence of Donyell Malen.

Spark AR
Our first idea was to create a filter for Instagram with Spark AR. since the file size of volumetric video is quite heavy, we first made the sequence static in order to make it work. It was a fluke when we managed to add multiple frames and so a bit of movement to the filter.

When we finalized the filter and submitted it to be published the misfortune began. We quickly got a rejection because “The effect contains a photograph or photorealistic image of a person”. Of course we read the Spark AR policy before submitting the filter and that states that “Effects must not contain photographs of people, whether real or fictional.” We thought this wouldn’t apply for our filter because volumetric video isn’t a photograph but a 3D asset and we cannot manipulate the video in a way that we can make someone do something they would not want to do. Unfortunately this was the decision we had to deal with so SparkAR wasn’t an option for now.

Snapchat Lens Studio
New games, new chances. After the rejection with the SparkcAR filter we focused on Snapchat’s Lens Studio. The file size was again quite a challenge as you can't exceed a file size bigger than 4MB. But also in Lens Studio we managed to add a bit of movement to the filter.

There isn't any documentation for volumetric video yet. However if you follow the clear guidelines on how to export and import 3d models into Lens Studio it goes without saying. The scripting functions are limited, but with some creativity and trail-and-error you get a lot done. The lenses you build can be easily tested in the editor, but building straight to your device with Wi-Fi makes it a piece of cake.

When the filter was submitted it was accepted and live in very quickly. This was our first time working with Snatchat’s Lens Studio and it went really smooth. So on to the next!

Final conclusion
Using volumetric video for social media filters is still in its early days. The social media platforms aren’t fully prepared for this yet. Due to its policy it is not possible to use volumetric video for filters with Spark AR. So that means that for the coming period you won’t see any filters with volumetric video on Instagram or Facebook.
Snapchat on the other hand makes it possible to create a volumetric video filter by importing single 3D frames. The biggest limitation right now is the file size. Because of this we can only add one or two seconds of volumetric video to a filter. But we are optimistic that this will be improved in the future.