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    What is virtual production?

    From the university magazine Zett

    Exterior shot of the spaceship, the protagonist DEA (Shedea Dona Walser) looks through a window into the galaxy. Photograph: Norbert Kottmann.

    Published on 16.07.2023

    Author Michael Schaerer

    • Film

    Virtual production means producing films in virtual space, where film, game design and animation intersect. Unlike a typical film shoot, in a virtual production some or all elements are not physically visible in front of the camera, but are generated digitally using game engines. This new technology has many applications, from previsualizing a scene as a 3D sketch to shooting a scene in front of LED walls as a state-of-the-art alternative to rear projection and green screens. Thanks to ongoing technical developments, virtual production is booming worldwide. Film schools are expanding their curriculum to virtual production, thus offering students first-hand insights into mixed reality approaches to filmmaking.

    In the โ€œWorld Buildingโ€ project, for instance, BA production design students virtually created the exterior of a spaceship. Using photogrammetry, existing objects were digitized to create a landscape. The exact position of the film camera is recorded during shooting with motion tracking and transferred to the virtual world. When the camera moves, the foregrounds (actor/actress, set) behave synchronously like the digital exterior world on LED walls. Virtual production as such enables checking the final image already during shooting, moreover without retouching and VFX compositing, where a green background is replaced by a digital world: it marks a great step forward for actors and actresses, directors, cinematographers and production designers.

    • In the construction phase In the construction phase

    MICHAEL SCHAERER

    Prof. Michael Schaerer is head of film editing at the Department of Performing Arts and Film.


    Programme

    Studying Film at the Departement Department of Performing Arts and Film.

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