The Zoic co-founder reveals his vision of how virtual production will make producing ambitious TV drama faster, cheaper and more creative
This week, 3D World is at FMX 2012 in Stuttgart. Visit 3dworldmag.com to stay in touch with the conference as it unfolds, with coverage of presentations from the industry’s key figures and a flavour of what it’s like to visit Europe’s leading CG conference.
The Zoic co-founder reveals his vision for how virtual production will make creating TV faster, cheaper and more creative
This week, 3D World is at FMX 2012 in Stuttgart. Visit 3dworldmag.com to stay in touch with the conference as it unfolds, with coverage of presentations from the industry’s key figures and a flavour of what it’s like to visit Europe’s leading CG conference.
Good morning. It’s day three of FMX 2012, and I’m back in the main hall as the three-day virtual production strand continues. It’s quite quiet in here: anyone would there was a huge party last night.
Loni Peristere, VFX supervisor and commercial director at Zoic Studios, is going to talk about how virtual production is changing the studio’s specialism of episodic TV.
“In episodic TV, they expect the best you can do, only we have a tenth of the time and a tenth of the budget. It’s our job to come up with creative and technical solutions to achieve that.”
Peristere compares the aims of virtual production with the immersive qualities of Ridley Scott’s seminal Blade Runner and Alien projects. “They created worlds that you felt existed beyond the lens. You never question the authenticity of the story.”
He then talks about when he visited a TV studio with his school to see a weather presenter work in front of a greenscreen map. “The weatherman was the first real example of virtual production that we saw.”
Of course, it was Avatar that really brought focus to the concept of virtual production in film-making. But Zoic wanted to achieve it in full production, not just pre-viz. They explored using Unreal Engine to drive a real-time system, but the changes required to the technology weren’t happening fast enough to meet the demands of TV producers looking to greenlight series.
The breakthrough for Zoic came with Warner Bros’ reboot of the alien invasion series V. They tested some virtual production concepts for the pilot, but the challenge was how to make these work on a regular series production schedule. “We needed to figure out how to do 300 shots in two weeks.”
Zoic teamed with Prevision, which had a real-time engine called Lightcraft, which formed the basis of Zoic’s real-time system Zeus (the Zoic Environment Unification System). Markers set into the ceiling of the greenscreen studio enable the system to track the camera position, while a gyroscope monitors its rotation. This information is combined with the virtual set data stored in the system to show what the camera is ‘looking’ at. Templates for composite work are generated for use in Maya.
“A shot that would take a day and a half takes 15 minutes,” says Peristere. “This April, we rendered two million frames.”
Now Zoic is developing tools to enable film-makers to prep the day’s shooting. An iPad app is given to directors with all the sets available for the show, enabling them to scout locations and set up shots before they even arrive at the studio. Zeus can import the director’s data into the system.
Now, says Peristere, “it’s time [for all of us] to create tools and technologies to bring real-time production to life.” But more than that, he wants to explore the storytelling potential of the technology.
He shows a few clips of how directors have used contemporary technology with narrative intent. There’s some great use of sound to raise suspense in Hitchcock’s early thriller Blackmail, and the more famous use of colour in The Wizard of Oz.
“That’s what I’m talking about in virtual production,” says Peristere. “A platform so innovative it will be remembered like these clips. Production will no longer be segregated into phases. It will cost a lot less and do a lot more. As a film-maker, it makes me giddy.”
He shows a commercial for Killzone 2 he was involved in a couple of years ago. The game engine enabled real-time production, with changes made to the set or the broader environment and characters added or removed on demand. “It’s an incredible sandbox to play in.”
After the commercial was released, the virtual set was was released for Killzone players to explore for themselves as a game level. “If you move your joystick, you change the lens.”
When you can bring the virtual production process into people’s homes, Peristere believes, you can enable more people to be content creators or directors.
Peristere’s enthusiasm is infectious. After finishing, he takes a few questions. Someone asks what real-time engine they’re planning to use to make Zoic’s plan possible. Peristere replies that they’re talking to a few games companies.
Another question asks about the traditional distinction between different disciplines, like pre-viz and production. “Virtual production breaks down all those boundaries,” says Peristere, adding that this could disrupt the way studios like Zoic are structured. “We’re going to cast the talent for the show as well as the actors. I kinda see a paradigm shift that we’re all going to have to adapt to.”
Posted on Thursday, May 10th, 2012 at 10:49 am under Events. You can subscribe to comments. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.
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