Virtual Production Explained (Video)

How does Virtual Production Work?

How does it work? With the release of “The Mandalorian”, the technology of Virtual Production went trending. Everyone was excited. Many people were asking if this would be the future of Visual Effects. Some people built their own setups using Unreal Engine 5. Today, it certainly hasn’t replaced the current VFX methods, but it has been used for big budget films like Marvel’s “Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania”.

Having to record or create different elements and then later composite them can be time consuming. Before VFX even existed, filmmakers already had a way to create certain scenes without doing them practically. Think about early car scenes. The filmmakers didn’t have a good method of mounting a film camera on a car and recording a conversation. What did they do? The filmmakers went out and recorded moving footage of roads with special camera rigs. They then used projection techniques to display the footage on a sound stage and then have a car in front of the projected images. This could be easily recorded from the relative comfort of an indoor sound stage. It also had the illusion of motion even though the actual car was stationary. This has been reimagined in the modern day, and now we have Virtual Production.

Here’s something to read on the topic if you wish to take an in-depth look at the history: https://www.britannica.com/art/stagecraft

VFX Artist Samuel Collett takes you on a quick tour of the world of Stagecraft. Will it replace the traditional methods? Watch the video below and see what you think.

Watch: “Node-Based Compositing Explained” Next.