HD For Indies

That seemed to be the big 'thing' at NAB this year. So much virtual set stuff I could hardly keep track of it all.

What does, "Each camera is outfitted with a nodal camera head that enables pan or tilt with no perceptual shift. In other words, a tilt from the top to bottom of the Eiffel Tower or a full 360-degree pan from the top of the London Tower fills out this virtual universe." mean ?
 

In other words, they are using a 3 axis gearhead. That extra axis, call it z, is for tracking the nodal point of the lense. Moving the camera around that, instead of on the head where the camera is mounted. As they mentioned, it provides no perceptual shift.

Using that footage from a fixed nodal point, completely different shots on that same z axis can be stitched together to create vast matte sets, of which the green screen components are then integrated. Finally, virtual camera moments are made through the stitched shot with the green screen parts and voila...finished shot. Hope I explained this right...someone please correct if I'm wrong.