Green Screens vs LEDs
LED-based virtual production has become a bit of a buzzword in recent months, so it may be tempting to avoid green screens altogether – but in most cases, that’s a mistake.
Virtual Production Essentials
There are a host of considerations when shooting in VR production for the first time. While VR production offers lots of flexibilities and options, it’s best to consider these factors in advance of the day of the shoot. We will discuss such topics as the timeline, the green screen space plus many other considerations. Traditional hard sets typically have a beginning and end because they are a series of hard flats connected together. VR sets don’t need to be built out in the same way as traditional sets. They can be built out as complete environments with 4 or more walls, ceiling floor, separate rooms, outside spaces etc. For these reasons our clients have tremendous creative opportunities. Instead of moving cameras around for shots we move the set around the talent for those angles, backgrounds that make the most sense. These flexibilities now become considerations while preparing for the shoot.
Is Virtual Reality Worth the Investment?
Virtual Reality for production first came to life about 25 years ago. There were many challenges in those days because of slower computers, graphic cards and various other challenges that designers had to work with in order to make realistic looking virtual sets. Often this was because of the technical restrictions and head room of the render engines and typical graphic cards of the time. Two and a half decades later it’s a very different playing field. Gaming engines have taken a major role in making virtual reality production worth while. These render engines can render photo realistic sets through the use of volumetric and dynamic lighting, 4k textures, high tech shading algorithms. Graphic cards from companies such as Nvidia now offer incredibly fast cards that allow 4k real time compositing plus the additional shading, lighting techniques for incredible realism. For those producers and companies thinking about virtual production for the first time one should consider this as a perfect time to begin working with virtual reality. Some companies and production houses such as Jett Sets have entered their 10th year in VR production and have entered new high tech territory. This includes 4k, multi-camera VR production and live streaming for their clients. Dynamic and photo realistic sets allow a producer to create a scene that would otherwise blow a budget if it required a traditional hard set or an enormous studio to build it out. There are also time constraints attached to building out large sets. Virtual sets also allow complete environments with individual rooms, ceiling, outdoor spaces etc. The green screens don’t have to be huge for these large virtual environments and the unimaginable is now possible through VR production. These virtual sets don’t need maintenance, can be changed with ease, need no storage, build or breakdown. There can also be built at a fraction of the cost of a hard, traditional set. This also allows the user to integrate with real foreground or BG practical set pieces. Jett Sets has been designing, building and operating in the virtual production space for over 10 years now. As a result of the success with VR production, many clients who have been working with VR are making this a standard practice for their ongoing productions.