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Real-Time In-Camera VFX for Next-Gen Filmmaking | Project Spotlight | Unreal Engine

Real-time technology is transforming the art of filmmaking, with next-generation virtual production tools coming to Unreal Engine. At SIGGRAPH, Epic Games partnered with Lux Machina, Magnopus, Profile Studios, Quixel, ARRI, and DP Matt Workman to demonstrate how LED walls can provide not only virtual environments but also lighting for real-world elements, so the entire scene can be captured in camera in a single pass. Learn more at http://www.unrealengine.com

Unreal Engine

4 years ago

[Footsteps in gravel] [Motorcycle engine revs] >> Great! Let's cut and reset. >> No matter what the project is, creatives always want to see the closest representation to the final product, as early on in the creative process. >> When I first walked on the set and the wall was up and we started to look through the camera, it really started to feel like I was just filming in this actual location. >> We can track a camera's position in space in real-time and render its perspective so that we can c
ompellingly convince a camera that something else is happening in front of it that really isn't there. >> The thing to keep in mind is that the 3D world that you see on the wall, is also a 3D scene that you can manipulate in Unreal Engine, so this gives the filmmakers full flexibility to make any change they want to the scene live. >> It's really exciting to see that we can use the real-time lighting to not only change the environments virtually, but also have it affect the on-set lighting as we
ll. This opens up kind of like a virtual playground to shoot in. >> We've tried to expand the Engine to be a very collaborative platform, so the director of photography the director, they can all go into the scene and then make modifications as they wish, as opposed to waiting for months and months. >> In this new frontier of virtual production, the filmmaker is more grounded into the scene they're shooting, into the story they're trying to tell. >> Because you can interactively change the world
, it brings all of those departments together. Because each one of them has a role in how this world is portrayed at some point along the production. >> It's been my dream to get computer graphics to the point that they're totally photo-real. I've loved video games and movies all my life and this is bringing the best of them together.

Comments

@janjezz

At this rate UE5 will be called Real Engine..

@markcubanz43

If you’re gonna do a shot in a studio, this is how to do it believably. It feels like a step in a good direction for film-making. Get as much as possible in camera. That’s where the fun of film making comes in for everyone.

@5MadMovieMakers

The future is here

@locolama

After watching the Mandalorian I finally understand how awesome this tech is. Having a virtual set being rendered in real time in the background and also cast actual lighting for the scene makes such a huge difference compared to how cgi has been incorporated into films in the past. Everything feels so much more believable when the lighting, cast reflections and shadows blend in with the scenery.

@mariopllumbi3748

From UNREAL to REAL.

@LetTheWritersWrite

First Blender 2.8 and now this. What a time to be alive

@inceptional

Somehow this feels like the first steps of what will lead to the real holodeck. :D

@iankelsall25

its the little things that sell an effect, like the lighting and reflections on the bike in the close up, everything matches in terms of colours, reflections, depth of field. it will also cut down on production effect turnaround for a number of scenes that ordinarily might takes weeks to produce to this standard of reality. look at Oblivion and first man for excellent examples of LED or projection backgrounds being used, this is even more sophisticated, so i cant wait to see it used practically in a movie/s.

@ZachBobBob

I can't wait for the Mandalorian behind the scenes so we can see how they used this in practice on a real film set

@DrTheRich

Remember that at some point these backgrounds were done by literally painting a background on a wall. This is THE next step

@BADBILLY

I was thinking about how amazing this technology was today while driving - then I come home to see this in the top of my feed.

@signsofmacguffin5247

I think this is the way how the genius and great Stanley Kubrick would film today! You guys revived the art of making touchabel films and also fuzed it with new digital and for human helpfully achievments! Thank you!

@7249xxl

Unreal engine will be the stepping stone for the matrix

@johndoe-rd3hq

Its all fun and games until Tom cruise runs a motorcycle into an led wall when he is in full character.

@starkiller1092

This is the new perfect balance between practical and computer effects😁

@Cheatcoe

ThE FACT that The Mandalorian uses this is awesome. Hope more films in the future utilize this method.

@lzmihich

Wow! This interactivity is amazing !especially lighting control and photorealism.

@richardsalo1265

Quixel Megascans!!!

@CGPacifica

This is so beyond exciting. What a time to be alive.

@Kriscoart

This is soooo coooooll.