Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521715
30 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Summer 2024 ARwall Webster University virtual production stage budget. We're always attacking every problem from two or three angles. The result of that was that in 2020, we were able to boil down the solution to the prosumer kit that we released for $11,000, which there was a large demand for during the pandemic. They were mostly being purchased by small commercial companies or educational institutions or even small creators working at home. These were for productions with small LED video walls or projectors or even 4K TV's. We learned the pain points clients are dealing with and steer product development toward addressing those problems. So, once we get them set up, they're good to go. We've gotten people set up in under an hour and then we never hear from them again. Is there any difference in the workflow if you're using an LED wall or projector or a TV? No. Not really, it's all basically the same. The code in our system has specific perspective points, like the lens of the camera, and that point might shift around based on what you're displaying an image on, but the code for the display is the same. Fundamentally, we're pushing pixels through a cable. That's all. How do you see virtual production continuing to evolve in the next 5-10 years? We're seeing major tech companies sniffing around and going, "This is an interesting sector." We're going to see AI productions try to eat up low-end content. There's very little that will make these guys go away. One thing we can do is attempt to compete on the technical side as well. We can hire technical engineers to create a bulwark against the tech companies so that we can protect virtual production as one of the last bastions of physical production with sets and actors. In the next five to ten years, I think you'll see it become more accessible. With maybe four people on set, we'll be able to do virtual production work in almost any location, which can include any element like explosions or big effects. And as this technology becomes more accessible and simpler to use, that will foster more focus on performance and creativity for getting the shot. In fact, I think a lot of sound stages may start to get very geared toward that purpose. What sort of opportunities do you see virtual production creating for video engineers and workers in the coming years? It's important to understand that there are some professional broadcast practices like genlock and color calibration that will continue to be foundational. That's going to maintain. What's sending and receiving that signal may shift, but the foundations of a GPU sending a signal to a pixel array will be the same. So, people need to understand that part of the workflow. What is going to change is the content playback flexibility. It will become simpler, more accessible. You may not get to the point where it's as simple Soapbox screen