Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1451742
www.postmagazine.com 18 POST JAN/FEB 2022 Virtual Production Pros discuss their work with these new techniques, and what they see in the not-so-distant future of filmmaking BY MARC LOFTUS The term 'virtual production' means different things to different people. In fact, the Visual Effects Society (VES) and the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) recently partnered to create a new resource that's designed to help establish a common vo- cabulary for professionals working in the virtual production space. VPGlossary.com defines virtual p oduction as using "technology to join the digital world with the physical world in realtime. It en- ables filmma ers to interact with the digital process in the same ways they interact with live-action production." Nic Hatch, the CEO of Ncam (www.ncam-tech.com), and a former CG artist for MPC and Mill Film, says, without question, that 2022 will be the year of virtual production. The company's Ncam Reality, which is designed specifically or realtime camera tracking, complements studios' existing motion capture setups, making it well suited for in-camera VFX (ICVFX), where shots are finished in ealtime. He details the pros and cons of ICVFX in an article on postmagazine.com. Sony (pro.sony) has also been working on virtual production solutions and is pairing its Venice and Venice 2 cameras with the company's Crystal LED wall technology to create cinematic images while reducing the need for additional post production. Head of new media sales and business development Kevin O'Connor shares his thoughts on the Post website, including insight into tests Sony conducted with Epic Games to fine tun its ICVFX toolsets. Here, Post talks with Steve Jelley of Dimension in the UK about their move into the virtual production business, and with Carlos Fueyo, who recently joined Eyeline Studio as their virtual art department's art director/virtual production supervisor, following his own success creating the animated sci-fi shor Replica, which received an Epic MegaGrant. Later in this feature, Ian Milham, who serves as virtual production supervisor at ILM, talks about his role at the studio and how their StageCraft virtual production stages are enabling a new way of creating high-end content, including The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. ILM's StageCraft volume was used in the production of The Mandalorian. Replica was created by Carlos Fueyo using game-engine technology. Dimension is using virtual production to cut down on location shoots.