Press release

ZEISS CinCraft Scenario now compatible with most popular lens brands

Update introduces pre-calibrated lens templates increasing flexibility, compatibility, and saving time.
22 May 2024

Oberkochen, Germany | 22 May 2024 | ZEISS Consumer Products

ZEISS announces a major advancement of the ZEISS CinCraft Scenario camera tracking system. With software release 2.0, the powerful and flexible solution can now also be used for tracking with selected lenses from most popular cinema and broadcast lens brands. 

Up to this point, CinCraft Scenario had only been usable by productions working with ZEISS and ARRI/ZEISS lenses. With this release, we make our camera tracking system available to many more users including broadcasters.

Christophe Casenave Head of Business Unit Cinematography at ZEISS

Users can now utilize templates for over 90 lenses from more than 10 lens series that allow for skipping the recording of lens distortion by offering pre-calibrated lens characteristics. With the new Lens Template Finetuner, users only need to match generic lens templates to specific real characteristics of the lenses used in the respective project. The user-friendly software wizard guides users through the finetuning process step-by-step. This eliminates the complexity often associated with lens calibration and cuts lens preparation time in half. Finetuned templates can then be saved. In addition, CinCraft Scenario 2.0 allows users to load and finetune lens calibrations previously created with Ncam Reality, further enhancing their production flexibility.

Press photos

  • Lens template overview chart from ZEISS CinCraft Scenario showing Cinema Primes, Cinema Zooms, and Broadcast Zooms categorized by brand including ARRI, Angenieux, Cooke, Fujinon, Canon, and Leitz.

    Overview of the lens templates available in ZEISS CinCraft Scenario 2.0 (as of May 2024)

    Download image (954 KB)
  • Screenshot of a ZEISS software interface displaying a project overview with file lists, status details, and export options in a dark-themed layout.

    ZEISS CinCraft Export 1.0 makes it easy for a user to re-apply their live tracking data for post-production application such as post-vis.

    Download image (501 KB)
  • A dropdown menu shows a list of sample IDs including "Zeiss" within a central pop-up window labeled "Add Lens" on a ZEISS software interface.

    ZEISS CinCraft Scenario 2.0 offers a variety of pre-calibrated lens templates for most popular cinema and broadcast lens brandts.

    Download image (292 KB)

ZEISS also releases CinCraft Export 1.0, a standalone software for Windows PCs, that enables users to export the recorded tracking data to industry standard file format FBX, as well as OpenEXR lens distortion STMaps. This makes it easy for a user to re-apply their live tracking data for post-production applications such as post-vis.

“We’re happy to make CinCraft Scenario available to more projects – not only through extending support to more lens brands – but also by providing the recorded tracking data for post-production. We will expand the number of supported lenses gradually over the months to come and look forward to offering full manual lens calibration later this year, making CinCraft Scenario usable with every cine and broadcast lens available,” Casenave concludes. 

Availability

The ZEISS CinCraft Scenario release 2.0 with templates for select cinema lenses from ARRI, Cooke, Angenieux, Leitz and Fujinon, and broadcast lenses from Canon and Fujinon, plus the Lens Template Finetuner, is now available as an update directly in CinCraft Scenario. All available lens templates are selectable in the software at no charge, with more added gradually over the next months. 

The full release notes for CinCraft Scenario 2.0 can be found here: https://docs-cincraft.zeiss.com/scenario/205

Overview of supported lenses in ZEISS CinCraft Scenario 2.0: zeiss.ly/scenario-lenses

About ZEISS

ZEISS is an internationally leading technology company in the optics and optoelectronics industry. The ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling around 11 billion euros in its four segments Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology, Consumer Markets and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (updated: 30 September 2024).

For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces, and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for life sciences and materials research, as well as medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world's leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.

With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Industry 4.0 as well as a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping technological progress and, through its solutions, is extending the horizon of the world of optics and associated areas. ZEISS' significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS' technology and market leadership. ZEISS invests 14% of its revenue in research and development work – ZEISS has a long tradition of high expenditure in these areas. This also represents the company's investment in the future.

With more than 46,555 employees, ZEISS operates in around 50 countries with more than 60 sales and service sites, 40 research and development sites and 35 production sites worldwide (as of 31 March 2025). The headquarters of the company, which was founded in Jena in 1846, is located in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of Germany’s largest foundations committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG.

About Photonics & Optics

ZEISS, a leading provider of optical and optoelectronic technologies, brings together business units outside of its segments in the strategic business urea of Photonics & Optics, based in Oberkochen and Jena. This area offers customers worldwide a wide range of optical and photonic technologies in highly specialized markets: Mobile Imaging, Hunting & Nature, Cinematography, Microoptics, Spectroscopy, Planetarium, and Simulation Projection Solutions. By bringing these various business areas together under one roof, ZEISS creates a home for these highly specialized businesses, allowing them to focus entirely on their technology and market development and the success of their customers.