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November/December 2022

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www.postmagazine.com 25 POST NOV/DEC 2022 VIRTUAL PRODUCTION OUTLOOK O VIRTUAL PRODUCTION BY ULAŞ KAÇMAZ VP OF SALES AND MARKETING ZERO DENSITY WWW.ZERODENSITY.TV ED virtual production was first introduced to the general public through big-budget projects like The Lion King and The Mandalorian. That meant that like many other emerging technologies, it seemed inaccessible to anyone outside a Hollywood studio. Today, that's all changed. LEDs are becoming less expensive and more widespread, enabling numerous benefits in terms of production. Traveling long dis- tances is no longer needed, and directors can always shoot at the right time of day, whether it is a golden hour or nighttime with a full moon. And of course, LEDs also mean no more spending months working in post. As a result of these benefits, virtual production is increasingly being described as more cost-effective — and sustainable — than traditional workflows. Virtual production also regu- larly allows for more creative freedom — letting all cast and crew go back in time, or even be filmed on the surface of Mars, if that's what the script calls for. As we prepare for 2023, you might ask yourself whether all these advantages of using LEDs mean green screens are now a thing of the past? After decades of experience helping clients like Dock10 and Riot Games deliver photoreal virtual graphics for their studios, I personally think the answer is 'no.' There's a lot of pressure for creatives to think of LEDs as a replace- ment for green screens, but I simply see them as two tools you can have in your toolbox — like different paintbrushes that help to create a work of art. With LEDs you can avoid green spill, have instant lighting and help talent to visualize the setting. But you can also run into problems achieving close-up shots without seeing any artifacts or hiding the seams between the screens. Before beginning your project, take some time to decide what works best for you and remember, you can always take advantage of the benefits of both green screen and LED solutions. In fact, at Zero Density, we help customers with both LED and green-screen setups every day. I can safely say, the best final results are consistently delivered by those who are open to a hybrid workflow. Whatever you decide, the choice is yours! Zero Density helps deliver realtime VFX by combining Unreal Engine with an advanced realtime broadcast composit- ing system and its proprietary keying technology, Reality Keyer. LEDS OR GREEN SCREENS? THE ANSWER IS HYBRID ollowing the unprecedented growth of LED augmented en- vironments and ICVFX in the film and TV industry, 2023 promises to herald the arrival of a new generation of tools. Equipment manufacturers are expect- ed to deliver new offerings that reflect industry feedback and engineer solutions with virtual production in mind as a pri- mary use case. In the early days of virtual production, filmmakers were constrained by avail- able LED panels, which weren't origi- nally designed to deliver photorealism on-camera, so there have been common pain points in terms of quality of color, shadows and lighting when filming on LED walls. Filmmakers have done their best with available technology, which is quite good, but there's significant room for further improvements. LED panel manufacturers have been working hard to address industry feed- back, and in the new year, we will start to see new solutions and exciting develop- ments in panel architecture. LED panels are integrating more processing power directly inside the panels, packing more diodes into each pixel to improve the color spectrum, building at higher resolu- tions and enabling higher refresh rates. On the software side, new tools will be created to empower filmmakers take full advantage of these next-generation LED panels. At Brompton, we recently introduced new features in our Tessera Software V.3.4, including extended bit depth, which delivers a substantial increase in dynamic range performance. Extended bit depth offers two to three stops of additional shadow information on camera with existing panels after this free software update. The benefits of are most obvious at low and ultra-low brightness levels with HDR pipelines, where it brings out additional detail and nuances in dark areas of the image while also reducing visual artifacts. This allows a cinematographer to more creatively utilize the full brightness range of the LEDs for more dynamic and lifelike light- ing reflections. We also introduced PureTone per- batch linearity correction, a precise color measurement feature that ensures neu- tral grey scales, black level and univer- sally accurate color reproduction across all brightness levels. Ultimately, these improvements work with the panels to ensure that the image on the LED wall is captured in the most accurate way. In the new year, we're also looking forward to introducing new processing solutions that will further support the next-generation LED panels coming to market. Based in West London, Brompton Technology is a company dedicated to the design and manufacturing of LED video processing products for use in live events, film and broadcast applica- tions. NEXT-GEN HARDWARE IS ALMOST HERE BY DANIEL WARNER TECHNICAL PROJECT SPECIALIST BROMPTON TECHNOLOGY WWW.BROMPTONTECH.COM L F

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