VIRTUAL PRODUCTION 2.0
PRODUCTION/POST
Unreal Engine 5 is a significant game changer for virtual production
Mark Pilborough-Skinner GARDEN STUDIOS
diffuser in front of it or have it naked. You can rig it as a wall, you can rig it as a ceiling, you can make soft boxes out of it, you can float it around, but it all integrates into that whole [VP] environment.” ETC’s family of fos4 fixtures
offer an 8-colour chip LED array, including a ‘deep red’, which Barry Grubb of the manufacturer’s rep 3LR says allows better in- camera representation of colour, textures in clothing, and flesh tones. “It speeds up workflow with regards to post-production colour grading but also on LED volumes – when they’re doing pre-visualisation shots, they get an accurate colour representation. So, whether you’re using an Unreal scene or a real scene we can add colour perfectly.”
UNRE AL TIME Garden Studios in North West
London has recently enhanced its virtual production offering, opening the new 7815 sq ft Lily 3 stage dedicated to VP in partnership with Anna Valley. Garden’s Head of Virtual Production, Mark Pilborough- Skinner, has noted a definite
maturation of the industry. “One exciting direction is the seamless integration of VP in hybrid productions that combine both on-location and soundstage filming,” he says. “VP technology can be used to pre-visualise the scenes, plan shots, and even rehearse on the virtual set before the actual on-location shooting takes place. Back on the soundstage, VP allows the recreation of the exact on-location environment in a controlled setting. This can significantly reduce the need for costly location shoots. “Unreal Engine 5 is a
significant game-changer for VP,” he continues. “Its Nanite technology allows for a much higher level of detail, and Lumen provides dynamic global illumination, enhancing the realism of the lighting. Unreal Engine 5.2’s new PCG tools have substantially enhanced the capabilities of rapid scene design and editing. The PCG tools use algorithms to generate content automatically, dramatically reducing the manual labour involved in creating complex environments.”
Garden Studios is also
making use of Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF), and AI-generated backgrounds from tools like Cuebric and Midjourney. “Using NeRF in a virtual
production environment offers the ability to create photorealistic 3D scenes from a relatively small set of 2D images, using deep learning. This not only reduces the need for expensive and time-consuming 3D modelling but also allows for recreating real-world locations faster and with smaller scanning crews,” explains Pilborough-Skinner. “AI-generated backgrounds allow for rapid prototyping of both concept art and backplate imagery; on-set generation of new plates is now possible.”
CAMERA MOVES AND MOCAP As well as launching Virtual
Production Accelerator training programmes, disguise has recently deployed new developments for VP in its software. “These include a shot recorder enhancement that enables users to synchronise data involving camera tracking data and metadata recording from shoot to hand-off for VFX,”
says Addy Ghani, VP of Virtual Production. “There’s a new virtual focus feature which enables a physical to virtual focus continuity for focus pulling consistently, as well as rapid lens calibration tool which allows users to bring anamorphic lenses into disguise for the most cinematic ICVFX shots without the added time.” In collaboration with Move.
ai, the company has developed AI-driven marker-less motion capture technology, the Invisible Solution. Meptik, an immersive entertainment studio acquired by disguise, has been exploring it for real-time mocap. “It solves several challenges in the industry, such as enabling broadcasters to cast accurate shadows on talent during virtual productions and driving gesture-triggered graphs and scene changes,” observes Meptik’s Creative Director & Co-Founder Sarah Linebaugh. “The technology also allows for seamless interaction between 3D characters and real actors [and streamlines] long calibration setups. The possibilities with virtual production are vast and largely untapped, and we’re excited to see further developments in this space.”
Summer 2023
televisual.com 71
Garden Studios (c) Michael Burns
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