Virtual Production
Real locations, scanned and rebuilt for the LED volume. Visualskies captures landscapes and interiors with LiDAR and our multi-camera array, then optimises them for Unreal Engine, so your stage can play a real place with full control over angle, scale and light.
Real places, ready for the LED volume
Virtual production puts a real-time 3D environment on an LED volume behind the actors, so the background is filmed in camera instead of added in post. The environment has to look real from every angle the camera might take, and it has to run in real time.
Visualskies scans real locations and interiors, then optimises them for Unreal Engine so they play back on the volume. We capture with our bespoke multi-camera array alongside terrestrial LiDAR for millimetre-level accuracy, and we record 360° panoramas and skydome HDRIs so the lighting matches the place.
For Netflix's 1899, we captured 24 Scottish Highland assets in three days for the Dark Bay LED volume at Studio Babelsberg. The same data also feeds virtual scouting in VS Scout, previs and VFX.
What you get
- Unreal Engine environmentsScanned landscapes and interiors optimised to run in real time on the volume.
- Real-world scalePhotogrammetry locked to LiDAR, so distances and proportions hold up on camera.
- Panoramas and HDRIs360° plates and skydome HDRIs for backgrounds and matched lighting.
- Modular scenesEnvironments built to be reconfigured and swapped on the day.
Visualskies for virtual production
Behind the scenes on Netflix's 1899, Merton College Chapel reconstructed in full 3D, a large-scale Icelandic valley, House of the Dragon, and our own Unreal Engine demo environments.
Scanned environments, not flat plates
A 2D plate is locked to the angle it was shot from. A scanned 3D environment gives you full control over camera angle, scale and lighting, which matters when directors and DPs are working at the pace of a virtual production stage. Move the camera, change the time of day or reframe the shot, and the background moves with you.
Capture
Our multi-camera array, drones and terrestrial LiDAR record the location, with 360° panoramas and skydome HDRIs for lighting.
Build
Photogrammetry is aligned to the LiDAR, cleaned and split into assets, then optimised for Unreal Engine.
Stage
Environments are delivered matched to your stage's scale and origin, ready to run in real time on the LED volume.
Shoot
Modular scenes can be reconfigured and swapped on the day, so one stage can play several locations.
Scout the shot before the stage
The same scan data that drives the volume can be used to plan the shoot. VS Scout, our virtual location scouting app, lets directors and DPs frame shots with real cinema cameras and lenses, check where the sun will be on the day and build a shot list before anyone travels.
On House of the Dragon, VS Scout was used to plan the season one Dragonstone bridge scenes.
Previs with VS Scout
- Real lensesFrame on real camera bodies and focal lengths.
- Sun pathSee the light for the shoot day and time.
- Shot listStills and camera moves with lens, height and position.
Virtual production in practice
NETFLIX // 24 ASSETS1899
Highland landscapes captured in three days and optimised in Unreal Engine for the Dark Bay LED volume at Studio Babelsberg. Data delivered to Framestore.
Read the case study →
HBO // DRAGONSTONEHouse of the Dragon
Our LiDAR of the Dragonstone bridge became the backbone of a fully digital environment for virtual production and CGI, and guided the rebuilt sections of the set. Drones were banned at the location, so those shots could only exist in CG.
Read the case study →
HBO // 6 INTERIORSWatchmen
Penrhyn Castle scanned from the air and inside, with six interiors rebuilt as real-time Unreal Engine scenes so they could be shot on a greenscreen stage.
Read the case study →
CHANNEL 4 // UNREALPrincess Anne: The Plot to Kidnap a Royal
ClockWork Films' physical model of The Mall scanned and brought to life in Unreal Engine, recreating a 1974 event with no archive footage.
Read the story →
PARIS // 2,000+ PHOTOSLe Train Bleu
The ornate dining salon captured in one night with LiDAR and photogrammetry, then rebuilt as a real-time Unreal Engine environment.
Read the story →
OXFORD // INTERIORMerton College Chapel
An intricate historic interior reconstructed in full 3D, using the same capture techniques we take to landscapes.
SPLATS // UNDER A DAYGaussian splat environments
With Heliguy, a complex site was captured by drone and mobile LiDAR and turned into a VP-ready Gaussian splat for Unreal Engine in under a day.
Read the story →Demo environments
Our own modular Unreal Engine scenes, including this coastal set and a large-scale Icelandic valley, built for fast reconfiguration and scene swapping on virtual stages.
Need the location scanned as well? See environment scanning and on-set VFX support.
Ready to Brief Us?
Tell us about the location, your stage and your shoot dates. We will come back with the right capture plan and how we will get the environment ready for the volume. No obligation, no spreadsheet to fill in.