Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1451742
VIRTUAL PRODUCTION www.postmagazine.com 22 POST JAN/FEB 2022 times it's a gigantic part of it, as it might be for one of our Star Wars shows. Other times, it's to solve a specific p oblem that they have. Our integration needs to be as light as possible, and as unobtrusive as possible, because [it's] their camera operators, their DPs and everything. They have a whole lens kit… and they don't want to change it just for our system. So we have a very light touch when it comes to that integration. "Actually, all we really work with on the camera side is a small, little optical attachment. It's a little crown that is mounted on the camera. We can mount it a bunch of different places to be able to use our mocap system to track where the camera is looking. Then we do some very complicated wizardry behind the scenes to make the volume complement the camera, not the other way around. We do a lot of color processing, a lot of perspective work, a lot of things to make our technology complement what they bring, without having to make them change anything." When talking about volumes and screen sizes, what kind of resolutions are you working with? "There's two separate ideas there: there is the hardware capability, which is enormous, but it's depending on the volume. Because we build the volumes differently, the answer might be different. In terms of what we could natively display on there? 24K, something like that. We never really do, because there's not much point in that. So the main deal is we want the wall resolution to exceed the camera resolution. And we dynamically change that all the time. What we do is, we fill the ontent…with all the stuff th t's designed to provide lighting and reflections. And then, whe e the camera looks, we do an incredibly high quality sort of magic window. And we could do multiples of those. So we typically run those 8K. We change it as needed for what the camera window is." What are the advantages of using this type of set up versus a typical greenscreen shoot and traditional post workflow? "I would say there's two sides to this. I think everybody can imagine the optical benefits of ontributing realistic light and a background at the same time, and having all that right there in the moment, as opposed to something later, or adding it later via greenscreen composite. I think everybody can imagine that pretty easily. But we found that maybe even more impactful from having it there (is) the way that it creates collaboration. The problem with a greenscreen type of workfl w is, the DP can't see anything. It's a big green sheet back there. So they light it however they're going to light it. They're going to do their best, but they're going to light what's in front of them. The director knows that we're going to add stuff back the e. We have cool paintings and artwork of what it's going to be, but they might not see it for weeks later. And it may or may not be exactly what they were thinking of. "The actors are looking at a tennis ball. They don't know what's necessarily going on. That night, in editorial, when they're (putting) together the dailies, does the scene work? I think so, but it's kind of hard to tell. "StageCraft is a big step forward in all of those problems. The lighting is real- ly there. The director can frame up and know what's really going on. The actors can see the entire environment around them. (For) editorial, who may have never even been on-set themselves, or is looking at the footage, it's all really there already. So (it's) the way that helps people work together, as opposed to a more serial process, where the DP then goes on to another movie, and you guys finish it…And then the VFX person, who asn't there on the day, wishes they shot it a different way. This really helps people collaborate at every step of the process and even make some of the steps co-mingle a lot more in a way that leads to a really high-quality result." For shows like The Mandalorian or The Book of Boba Fett, I've been told that virtual production represents as much as 60 percent of the process? You're still using composting techniques when necessary? "Yes, we continue to believe (in doing) what is best for the result. This is not a silver bullet. I wouldn't advocate doing an entire production this way nec- essarily. There are aspects where, if it's easier to just go outside, and you get cool results that way, just go outside. Do it that way. I would say it's averaged out, over a couple of seasons of Mandalorian that, half to two thirds, let's call it 60 percent of the show, is shot this way. But, if you just have a quick scene in a small, intimate set that you can build out of wood and paint and everything, just do that, or go outside, just do that. That's fin . So we use the best solution for each thing." Is there a scale where a project is too small to justify building a stage or volume? "As a small, technical note, the idea of virtual LEDs and virtual production are not synonymous. They overlap a lot. We do a lot of stuff, either with simulcam or previs, where we are tracking cameras and shooting virtually. Virtual pro- duction just means incorporating things that aren't there in your production. Sometimes that can be very light, and doesn't necessarily need to be a whole LED solution, all the way up to something as ambitious as Mandalorian. "I would say, in general, for something like Mandalorian, where we built this giant volume, if you've just got an intimate space, there's no need to have this giant deployment for that. So something that's physically smaller, we'll do it that way…What's cool about a permanent volume is that it exists already. So if a production only has one aspect of it that might really benefit f om this, or they just need it for a day or two, where a pop up wouldn't make economic sense for them…they can just roll up for a day." Knowing the technology that's available now, how do you see it getting better in the year or years ahead? Where can the improvements be made? "Well, I would say, of course, optically, it's only going to get better looking. I think the biggest deal would be: it's going to get cheaper, which is great. More people can use it. Right now, the content — the 'world' — is very bespoke. I think that's going to get more developable, where there's going to be more of a digital backlot, and where all the things that we are displaying on the screens are going to get better. And the tools are going to get more democratized, more easy to use and more elegant. We're still at the stage where this is a real- ly difficult magic trick, and our tting average is pretty great, but it [has] been hard earned. And there's been a lot of experience to it. "The tools, of course, are going to get a lot better. But I think what you're really going to see is the experience of people. People are going to get so many more at bats. Right now, [there are] very few people with the technical experience and the sort of pedigree and batting average to really pull this off. You're going see that grow over time. Just as much as the technology advanc- es, you're also going see the people advance." ILM's StageCraft volume played a large part in the production of The Mandalorian.