LED for Virtual Production, XR and Film Studios
Are we to witness the end of the green-screen era? A silent revolution is taking place on film and TV sets, virtual production is enabling productions to create immersive and dynamic sets and backgrounds, based on simple LED panels instead of elaborate and costly set designs.
LED panels prove to be the ideal solution and canvas to portray set and backgrounds created in virtual reality. Thereby creating maximum flexibility for the production teams to make last-minute set changes or slight alterations and comforting actors in a setting that is both real and immersive, enhancing their performance in comparison to performing against a green screen.
Partnership
This revolution started when Epic Games partnered with Lux Machina, Magnopus, Profile Studios, Quixel, ARRI, and DP Matt Workman to try out the capabilities of the latest virtual production toolset in Unreal Engine 4.23 for the Mandalorian series. When the right people, tools and materials come together, you can create thrilling and innovative filmmaking.
Premier choice LED products for Virtual Sets
So why do the ROE Visual LED panels have such an outstanding performance in this setting? Intensive testing and tweaking tell us, this is not down to one factor, but a combination of factors. Certain is that the combination of the LED screen and the processing and syncing of these with the camera, is crucial to get good results. This needs to be done for every setup. ROE Visual LED screens work with high-end components, and state of the art driver IC’s, which makes all the difference for the on-camera performance.
All ROE Visual LED panels are capable to display visuals in either 10-bit or 12-bit HDR. By selecting the premium LED batches from carefully selected suppliers, ROE Visual is able to reach more than 90% of the color gamut on a rec2020 target. And last but not least for this type of application, ROE Visual LED panels are able to work with higher frame rates. Due to new high frame-rate options in the software, ROE Visual LED panels can reach up to 144 frames per second.
"Since the technique of LED virtual production was explored and the first pioneering steps were taken, both Unreal Engine and ROE Visual have been involved. It really takes a team of passionate experts to make this technology work, because so many aspects are at play. More importantly though is the amazing working relationship we have with ROE Visual, so together we can experiment, discover and shift the boundaries ever further”.
Epic Games Ben Kidd
LED for film & Virtual production Case studies
IBC Inspirational Panel Sessions
ROE Visual brought inspiring panel sessions to IBC 2024! Enjoy the recordings of these panel sessions, featuring top industry specialists in XR, virtual production, and live broadcast. The panel sessions include in-depth case studies, such as the BBC UEFA Broadcast Studio, the commercial potential of VP highlighted by "The Garage," broadcast strategies for elections, and insights into the development of the Gran Canaria Film Studio.
Delivering a flagship virtual production facility in Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria Studios, one of Europe’s largest virtual production stages to date, has been completed, offering a cutting-edge environment for international content producers looking to leverage Gran Canaria’s film location incentives. The virtual production infrastructure has been designed and delivered by ARRI Solutions, ROE Visual, and integrator Video Cine Import (VCI).
“If the production involves a real-time LED wall, as a DP you’ll find plenty of new options for control over the image. Turnaround becomes far less time-consuming because rather than having to physically move the crew, actors, set pieces, and so on, you can just rotate the background scenery on the screen and be able to reset for turnaround in moments instead of hours. This also means you can hold and control the time of day to any specific mood and color temperature you desire.”
Source: Fieldguide, Unreal Engine