ZEISS CinCraft Scenario Hands-On: Markerless Camera Tracking and Lens Core Nuke Plugin Teased

by Alexandra ThompsonApril 20^th, 2026

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At NAB 2026, we caught up with Nick Hayes, Director of Cine Sales at ZEISS, at the B&H booth for a hands-on demo of the CinCraft Scenario camera tracking system. Nick also teased a new Nuke plugin called Lens Core, which at the time of writing had not yet appeared on ZEISS’s public site, though based on his description, it looks like the commercial release of what ZEISS ran through closed beta as Virtual Lens Technology between December 2025 and February 2026.

CinCraft Scenario launched in late 2023 as ZEISS’s push into virtual production and real-time VFX, built on technology from Ncam Technologies Ltd., which ZEISS acquired earlier that year. We introduced the system on CineD in 2024 when the ecosystem took shape. The NAB 2026 conversation was less a launch and more a proper walkthrough of what has matured since, plus a glimpse of what is next in post.

How CinCraft Scenario actually works

The core pitch is that CinCraft Scenario does not require markers to track. At the B&H booth, Nick pointed at the ceiling to make the point: the system was tracking from contrast points on the set pieces themselves, with nothing stuck to the walls or ceiling to help it. ZEISS calls this ‘natural feature tracking’, and it is the clearest differentiator against systems that rely on markered environments or dense camera-bar arrays.

The hardware stack is three pieces. The CamBar mounts on the camera or matte box and does the optical heavy lifting through stereo cameras, an RGB sensor, an IR projector, and motion sensors that track how the camera moves through space. CinCraft Origin is the main processing unit that aggregates raw data and computes position and movement in real time, streaming to renderers like Unreal Engine or recording for post. CinCraft Link is a smaller, lighter relay that can be rigged on the camera in place of Origin when weight matters. The system also supports reflective markers when the environment calls for them, plus digital markers on LED walls that are invisible to the main camera, which keeps it flexible across LED volume, green-screen, and in-the-wild shooting.

Lens compatibility and template library

CinCraft Scenario reads lens data through the Cooke /i Technology protocol, and for modern ZEISS cinema glass, it adds the company’s own eXtended Data (XD) layer for per-frame distortion and shading. The template library currently covers over 200 pre-templated (pre-calibrated) third-party lenses, so most jobs can plug in and go without a calibration pass.

For lens control systems that do not transmit data via the lens itself, CinCraft Scenario works with whatever external focus/iris/zoom encoder you have on set. Nick named ARRI hi-5 and Teradek RT specifically; ZEISS has documented partnerships with Preston Cinema Systems and C-Motion as well. The same goes on the camera side, where the system remains brand-neutral and pulls from whatever feed is available.

What the booth demo actually showed

The live demo at the B&H booth had CinCraft Scenario mounted on an ARRI camera running a car process shot. It is a useful test case: studio LED volume, dynamic lighting, frequent lens swaps, and a rig that often has to move with or around the car. In the brief demo window, the system tracked cleanly as Nick moved the unit around the setup.

Because CinCraft Scenario does not depend on markers, it extends beyond virtual production into live events, live sports, and outdoor shoots where placing markers around the set is not an option.

Lens Core, ZEISS’s new Nuke plugin

The NAB 2026 tease was Lens Core, a new ZEISS plugin for Foundry Nuke that, per Nick, mimics the physical characteristics of a lens in post and lets compositing artists adjust them non-destructively. At the time of writing, the name had not appeared on ZEISS’s website, so we are going on Nick’s on-booth terminology. If the name sticks, it looks like the commercial release of what ZEISS ran through closed beta as CinCraft Virtual Lens Technology between December 2025 and February 2026.

The broader strategy here tracks with where the industry is going: optics companies are pushing further into software pipelines, specifically the handoff between on-set capture and VFX finishing. Camera tracking, lens metadata, and now virtual lens characteristics are the three puzzle pieces of a fully digital lens workflow. Nick was presenting on Lens Core in more detail later that same day at NAB; once ZEISS publishes official materials, we will follow up with specifics.

Price and availability

CinCraft Scenario is one part hardware, one part software, and ZEISS has priced the software flexibly for different tiers of production. Nick quoted the full hardware package at around $16,000. Software licensing runs on a subscription model, with daily, weekly, and monthly options ranging from roughly $300 to $1,000 depending on duration, making short-term projects and weekend shoots financially digestible.

A yearly hardware-plus-software plan lands at around $27,000, while a perpetual license buying both outright comes in around $40,000. A separate service and maintenance agreement that includes firmware access adds approximately $3,000 per year. Availability is handled through select dealers and the ZEISS CinCraft website.

Is CinCraft Scenario’s markerless approach compelling enough for your virtual production work, or is it the upcoming Lens Core plugin that has your attention? Let us know in the comments!