Video mapping: every video in its place

You can use a projector in two ways, even both at once:

as usual: the whole picture of the virtual stage, for a screen or a backdrop;
with zones: on the projector's picture you draw the spots where the objects on stage land (a cube, a column, a door, a wall) and send each video to its spot. That is video mapping.

A zone is a piece of the projector's picture, with 4 corners you place over the object. Each video picks its zone under Where it appears. The same projector can show one video on the cube, then another on the door, then another on the column, or two or three videos at the same moment, each in its own zone.

A projector's zones

In the Video workspace pick the projector on the left. At the top you see its Zones:

Whole picture is the usual projector: it shows the virtual stage, that is every element set to Whole stage.
Every new zone has its own colour and shows only the videos sent to it. The number next to the name tells you how many elements go there.
+ Zone adds one in the middle of the picture.

In the middle you see the projector's picture with all its zones: click a zone to pick it. Its settings are on the right.

Drawing a zone over an object

In Corners mode:

drag the 4 dots onto the object's edges, watching the projection;
drag inside the zone to move all of it;
click a dot and use the arrow keys to move it one pixel (ten with Shift).

The Test grid projects a grid on the stage and inside every zone: you see at once whether the zone covers the object well. Remember to turn it off before the house opens.

Each zone also has the warp Grid (for curved objects), Masks (to cover a handle, a frame, an actor standing still), Opacity, Soft edges and Colour matching, as explained in Video, projectors and mapping. Fill stretches it over the whole picture, Rotate and Mirror turn the video inside the zone.

A zone is as big as you draw it: with Fit › Fill the video covers the whole zone and trims what sticks out; with Fit you see all of it.

Sending a video to a zone

Select the video on the timeline. In its properties, the Where it appears section has:

Whole stage: the video goes to every projector, as usual;
a button for each projector: the video appears only on that projector;
the projector's map with its zones: click to pick a zone. You can drag the chosen zone's dots from here too;
the zone buttons and New zone, which makes a zone just for this video, with its name;
Draw the zone full size, which takes you to the Video workspace with the zone already picked.

It works for videos, images, text, generators, cameras and screens. On the timeline the video shows its zone's colour and name: you see at a glance what goes where.

Each video has its own setup

Several videos can share a zone: move the zone and they all move. That helps when different videos land on the same object at different moments: in a new venue you remap the object once.

If a video needs a shape of its own, press Make a zone just for this element under Where it appears: Regia copies the zone, and from then on you move it without touching the others.

Several videos at once

Put two or three videos in the same cue and send each to its zone: they start together with the same GO, each in its place, from the same projector. Outside the zones the projector stays black.

Two videos in the same zone overlap as on stage: the one on the higher track sits on top. Opacity, blending and transitions work as usual.

Several projectors

Each projector has its own zones. You can have three videos on the first projector's zones and two on the second's, all at the same moment or at different ones. Elements on Whole stage still go through every projector that shows the stage: a backdrop joined from two projectors (see the Assistant in Video, projectors and mapping) lives alongside the videos on the objects.

The audio of a video sent to a zone comes out of the window of that zone's projector.

What a zone shows

In the zone's settings, What it shows:

Only its videos: video mapping zones. They show only the elements sent to them.
Stage and its videos: like Whole picture, it shows its part of the virtual stage and, on top, the elements sent to it. With this choice the Stage part mode appears too, to decide which part of the virtual stage goes into the zone.

The In this zone list shows the elements that go there: click one to find it on the timeline.

Remapping in another venue

Objects move, venues change. Zones take a few minutes to fix:

open the projector's window and turn on the Test grid;
for each zone, move the corners until the grid lands on the object;
turn the grid off.

The videos stay as they are: they follow their zones. You can move the corners from your phone too, in the remote's Map tab, standing next to the object (see Your phone as a remote).

Rehearsing on the simulated stage

The simulated stage has Set pieces: cubes, columns and panels that catch the projectors' picture and cast shadows, like real ones. Add them from the stage panel, move them with Move fixtures and objects, and change their size and rotation.

In the Video workspace the objects show up as dashed outlines, as the projector sees them: you know where to draw the zone.
Make a zone on this object, in the object's panel, makes a zone already in place, with its name.
Place it over, in a zone's settings, moves it over the chosen object or the screen.
The projector sees the objects only if its picture covers them. If an object stays outside, Widen the picture to reach the objects keeps the projector where it is and widens its picture: outside the zones it stays black.

In the interactive tutorial, Video mapping path, the A video on every object section walks you through all of this on a cube and a column.