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VIRTUAL PRODUCTION BEST PRACTICE
Saul Gittens Director of Photography and Head of Training and Development at Procam Take 2 “Just like any well-conceived shoot, previs and planning are critical to the success of any virtual production. You can’t just rock up and wing it as you will lose half the day with talent and crew kicking their heels as you work through your backgrounds, foregrounds and lighting set-up. You still need to treat your LED volumes and foreground stage like you would a physical set. Prelight and previs is essential to get the biggest bang for your buck. “You want to see both physical foreground props and work with the
virtual production supervisor and technician to build the digital ones within your virtual world. Yes, making changes to background ‘props’ can be faster as you can source them within the Unreal Market Place and you can change the colour and scale very quickly, although you are limited by what is available. For example, you can place an off-the-shelf Unreal lamp in the background and immediately augment your environment with the lamp casting an authentic warmth to the physical set. “There’s a huge catalogue of real and abstract scenes within the Unreal
Market Place but you can also bring your own video plates and matte paintings on separate planes if you want to use more traditional methods of content creation.”
CAMERA SET-UP “The biggest camera department change is the addition of Mo-Sys StarTracker. StarTracker reports the position and orientation of the studio camera in real time to the rendering engine allowing for the reactive movement of the virtual set in relation to the camera’s own position. The other essential addition is Genlock to synchronise the two sets of video signals. You need to make sure that the physical and virtual camera both have the same settings, sensor size and lens calibration so that the focal lengths marry. “A lens control system is a must for 99% of virtual production shoots.
Always bring a hazer so you can create some light diffusion and likewise a fan as a studio can form a sterile environment and simple additions can add an organic believability to a scene. I strongly advise experimenting with filtration to find your own looks and sweet spots. “At Procam Take 2 we’re working with all of our large format digital cinema
cameras and that choice can be as much a workflow decision as a creative decision.I recommend working with vintage glass where they are sympathetic to the look and feel of the piece. From a personal perspective I think that some glass can accentuate the game engines sharp look. The Vega lenses we have at Procam Take 2 can go some way to achieve that when married with the other elements that go to make up your package including glass filtration working in tandem with props and the art department’s input.”
ON SET “Once in the studio you can shoot two-camera, so long as their tight to each other, within a flat and limited frustum (zone or field of vision). However, the production value comes with movement and a reactive LED volume. I find that dolly and jib work best, and smaller jibs for more incremental movement. I also like the organic nature of handheld. Steadicam can also work but your lenses and rig need to be perfectly calibrated and balanced, as any small wobble translates into larger frustum instability. “Virtual production is like an Esher world that fools the viewer’s
perspective and perception. If the floor isn’t dressed properly the join with the virtual world panels can jar. The art department has never been as important. It’s critical the actors hit their mark and the choreography is spot on. “My strongest advice is to always reference the monitor and not the
scene. As a DoP you’re now working with a virtual production supervisor and technical artists as well as the Art Director and Director. Virtual production is a three-way marriage between the LED wall and ceiling, the physical props and set and the camera and lenses all coming together.”
@procamtake2 |
procamtake2.com
All images courtesy of Claire Maxwell
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