TL;DR
- A new white paper from graphics technology vendor Brainstorm examines the technologies that enable extended and virtual production, and the pros and cons of each approach.
- It argues that scenes filmed in a volume using background plates on LED walls will be “baked” in if there are any issues requiring tinkering in post.
- “We may have to re-shoot or enter in long and complex postproduction, meaning all the time and cost savings of virtual production disappear,” the paper says.
READ MORE: Understanding XR Production (Brainstorm)
One of the biggest benefits of virtual production is the reduction of costs in actors’ time, props, setup, travel, and outdoor shooting time. But according to graphics technology vendor Brainstorm, scenes shot in a LED wall environment are fixed and can’t be changed later unless the scene is shot again.
In a white paper that details the various technology set-ups for virtual production, Brainstorm favors virtual production based on chromakeying.
It argues that scenes filmed in a volume using background plates on LED walls in part to light the scene will be “baked” in if there are any issues requiring tinkering in post.
“We may have to re-shoot or enter in long and complex postproduction, meaning all the time and cost savings of virtual production disappear,” it says.
“Using LED-based XR will still maintain some of these benefits, but at the cost of not being able to alter shots easily in post, so if we need changes in the scene, the background needs some adjustments, etc, we will still need to reshoot the scene.”
The paper continues, “Of course, rehearsals in live productions can help with these issues, however, some other changes may not be possible to make because of scheduling, availability or change of minds after production, so they will require going into postproduction.
“On the other hand, chroma keying, when used with tracked cameras and multilayer shooting, can perform any changes in post with total ease.”
For film and drama productions, shooting the background “as is” leads to a “significant loss in flexibility when postproduction is required”, such as compositing, VFX, environmental grading, particles, etc.”
As the image is “fixed” rotoscoping or other techniques may be required to isolate parts of the image prior to apply effects, “which makes no sense in complex productions, whereas using chroma keying will allow VFX operators to easily achieve all that is required, as the elements are already shot separately and stored independently.”
