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laudio Fäh's latest cinematic ven- ture, No Way Up, tells the story of a stricken airliner that crashes into the Pacific Ocean, teetering dangerously on a deep ravine. The independent movie is set predominantly in and around a submerged plane, so creating visually stunning underwater scenes for the survival thriller was a challenging endeavor. Dneg Virtual Production — a partnership between Dimension and Dneg — provided visualization and virtual production services to create Fäh's gripping end sequence — a continuous underwater shot of a sinking plane and a survi- vor swimming to the surface — on a limited budget. Filming underwater comes with many logistical, safety and budgetary chal- lenges — from funding qualified scuba-diving camera operators to sourcing equipment resilient enough for the Pacific Ocean. "Dry-for-wet" shooting on an LED volume emerged as the optimal approach, providing a controlled environ- ment that could simulate the dark depths of the Pacific Ocean without straying far from London. This dry-for-wet technique allowed the team to craft lighting, VFX and atmospheric elements to create the illusion of an underwater world. In the development of No Way Up, the planning and previs stages were pivotal to the success of the LED shoot. Dimension's team used Unreal Engine to build the end sequence's deep-sea trench and submerging airplane. Unreal Engine enabled the creative team to simulate and fine-tune the physical dynamics of an underwater plane crash. Every detail, from the flow of water around the submerged aircraft to the ambient light filtering through the depths of the sea, was captured with precision and under Fäh's direction. After the previs stage, the Dneg Virtual Production team transferred the Unreal Engine environments into a large LED volume, providing a dynamic back- drop for the performer and on-set team. Additionally, the wall offered realtime visual effects and interactive lighting. The wall's ability to mimic the natural movement of light through water proved invaluable and added a layer of au- thenticity and natural depth. The realtime visual feedback allowed the director and cinematographer to make immediate adjustments and experiment with different lighting effects and angles, ensuring that each frame captured the intended mood. Fäh's vision was one continuous shot for the film's final escape scene, which simply couldn't be done in a tank. The resulting end sequence truly showcases the power of LED volumes. To achieve the desired result, a combination of wire rigs, tracking markers and acting maximized the potential of the LED wall and seamlessly blended the real with the virtual. A true-to-size visualized plane, positioned in the fore- ground of the large LED volume, interacted with the actress on a harness to simulate weightlessness and movement through water. A Vicon motion-track- ing system recorded every movement of the camera and actress, ensuring the digital environment reacted dynamically to the live-action performance. In the case of No Way Up, the LED wall was mostly used in-camera. This meant the integration of visual effects with the footage from the wall was a critical step in taking the film's underwater realism to the next level. This process involved layering sophisticated VFX over the raw footage to infuse the scenes with the details of the underwater experience. The making of No Way Up was a testament to how LED walls and realtime virtual production can be harnessed by independent content creators. NO WAY UP BY STEVE JELLEY CO-FOUNDER/CO-CEO DIMENSION STUDIO HTTPS://DIMENSIONSTUDIO.CO C VIRTUAL PRODUCTION www.postmagazine.com 24 POST JULY/AUG 2024 MEPTIK RELEASES TURNKEY VIRTUAL-PRODUCTION STUDIO ATLANTA — Meptik (www.meptik.com), Disguise's virtual & immersive produc- tion & installation company, has released its first turnkey virtual production stu- dio solution. Meptik Studio Pro packs a pre-configured Disguise studio control stack, ROE LEDs, camera tracking, comprehensive creative & technical support, and training into a seamless solution that's available in four options. At the core of Studio Pro is a pre-configured rack consisting of Disguise's VX and RX servers, along with Disguise Designer software to control the visuals. Designer enables both previs and on-set control of cinematic content, which can be 2D, 2.5D or realtime 3D, such as Unreal Engine or Volinga for NeRFs. Studio Pro will also be available in a range of ROE LED sizes specific to the customer's application. The four options include "small" for presentations, keynotes or other sin- gle-talent setups; "medium" for commercial shoots, advertisements, online courses and teaching; "large" for high-budget film and episodic projects with multiple actors and elaborate sets; and "XR" for augmented reality projects that extend the virtual world into the physical space. "Virtual production can save significant time," says Meptik co-founder Nick Rivero. "It allows for immediate visual feedback on-set, reduces travel to new locations and cuts down on post production. But you'll need to design and build a virtual produc- tion stage first — a process that can take months. With Meptik Studio Pro, we cut that time down. Everything you need to create stunning virtual productions is now in a simple, pre-configured, end-to- end solution, taking the guesswork out of what hardware and software to choose, or how it can all work together." Meptik Studio Pro customers get Always On support, a 24/7 support option that helps to make sure the studio is optimized for production, as well as extensive training.