Picture This Production Services has been hard at work developing revolutionary technology for In-camera VFX and extended reality (XR) production.
In camera VFX/ XR production is the exciting new ability to shoot anywhere, any time and at any scale in a single, controlled location. This cutting edge tech uses large-scale LED backdrops and camera tracking tied to 3D rendering software to create the illusion of a subject in a virtual environment. XR differs from green screen by having the ability to make changes on the fly, seeing content before it’s produced and walking away with finalized footage in the can.
Our full-size setup currently has a background wall at ~31’ wide by ~13’ tall. We are using 2.6mm panels for a resolution of 3648 x 1512 at a brightness of 1200 nits, all powered by a 4K video processor to enable genlock of camera, computers and LED wall. Our side and ceiling walls are 4mm panels with matched brightness. The side walls are 12.5’ x 9.5’ with our ceiling at 15.75’ x 9.45’. This gives us an effective talent volume of around 30’ x 15’
Tracking is done thru 6x OptiTrack X13 Slim active cameras paired with Motive software. This solution gives us extremely accurate tracking with the ability to record takes for post purposes.
Our two 18-core Intel Xeon W machines with Quadro RTX 8000’s w/ sync cards are state of the art. One machine runs the back wall while handles sides and ceiling. We are also working with a contact from Intel to use these machines for benchmark testing and demonstration purposes.
Using Unreal we have created numerous blueprints and tools to help us in XR production. Some of these tools include full camera/post processing effects, world adjustments, view adjustments, lightcards and more all controlled from a Stream Deck and handheld controllers for fast and easy adjustments on-the-fly.
See our “Ultimate Cut” show reel to see The PTPS XR tech in-action!: