The Key Advantages of Virtual Production
Filmmakers, agencies and production companies are continually seeking new ways to push the boundaries of creative storytelling while managing budgets, timelines, and logistical challenges.
Virtual production is a solution you may want to consider. In just the past few years it has revolutionized the world of filmmaking and media creation, offering a more efficient, flexible, and cost-effective alternative to traditional methods.
If you’re curious about how virtual production can benefit you, here are 10 advantages to consider:
Unlimited Creative Possibilities
Virtual production combines several technologies that together, create a powerful medium for next generation of filmmaking. These include:
LED stages with virtual sets: Large, high-resolution LED screens, typically arranged in a semicircular “volume” display photorealistic 3D digital environments that are combined with physical set pieces and props.
Real-time rendering: Game engines like Unreal Engine or Unity render these environments and visual effects in real time, as they are tracked and captured in camera. This is known as in-camera-visual effects, or ICVFX.
Motion and performance capture: Motion capture cameras track actor’s movements and expressions so they can be translated into digital characters and extras.
Previsualization (Previs): Virtual tools that allow creatives to block scenes and rehearse camera moves in a fully digital space before actual production begins.
These technologies allow filmmakers to create dynamic, visually stunning scenes that push the boundaries of storytelling in ways that were previously unimaginable.
Traditional filmmaking is restricted by the inherent constraints of real-world locations, and if a practical location doesn’t exist, producers face the expense of building expensive practical sets on location or in studio.
Virtual production environments eliminate these restrictions. Scenes that would be impossible or prohibitively expensive—like alien planets, futuristic cities, intricate historical settings—are now achievable at a fraction of the cost. And with rapid advances in GenAI and image creation workflows, creative possibilities will continue to expand while costs decrease.
Flexibility and Control
Filming on location comes with its own set of challenges, like unpredictable weather, constantly shifting light and uncontrollable circumstance in the environment. Virtual production offers complete control over environmental conditions—lighting, weather effects, and time of day can be adjusted with precision. Multiple “locations” can be shot in a single day. You can shoot magic hour indefinitely, move the sun or any light source and watch the environment respond in real time.
This level of control ensures that the filming environment is continually optimized for production efficiency. With a more efficient shoot, Directors have time to optimize performances and deliver more options to editorial. This reduces stress on talent and the entire production team.
Cost Savings and Efficiency
Traditional production is costly due to location scouting, permits, rentals, travel, and set construction. Virtual production significantly cuts these expenses by using digital locations and sets.
Virtual production workflows also streamline pre-production and eliminate much of the onset guesswork by incorporate previsualization tools that allow filmmakers to capture finished shots more efficiently on set, which can reduce the number of shoot days required—for significant cost savings.
Real-Time Visualization
A major challenge in traditional production is the lack of real-time visualization. With green screen shoots, final visuals aren’t seen until post-production, which can lead to costly revisions and re-shoots. Virtual production allows for real-time visualization (ICVFX) allowing immediate adjustments to effects, lighting, and set design, ensuring alignment with the creative vision from the start.
Faster Adaptation
In traditional production, making changes mid-shoot can be challenging, especially if it involves complex set changes, reshoots, or location changes. Virtual production allows for quick adjustments to sets and environments, offering a level of flexibility that traditional methods can’t match.
Global Collaboration
With traditional production, coordinating a geographically dispersed team can be an overwhelming challenge. Virtual production, however, enables seamless global collaboration. Scenic designers, directors, VFX artists, and other key crew members can make adjustments to digital environments in real time, ensuring the creative vision is always aligned. They can even work together on set during the shoot. This enhanced level of collaboration facilitates rapid decision-making and makes seamless teamwork across borders a reality.
Faster Turnaround
Traditional green screen production involves long post-production timelines where special effects and digital elements are added to filmed footage. With virtual production, most of the visual effects work is done in camera. This significantly reduces editorial timelines for faster releases.
Sustainability
The environmental impact of traditional location production is significant. But with virtual production, talent and crews don’t need to travel to far-flung locations or use physical materials to build elaborate sets. This greatly reduces the overall carbon footprint. If needed, you can scan real world locations and build digital twins for use in a virtual volume. You can also re-use digital environments and modify them as needed, building up a “back lot” of digital sets and environments over time.
Improved Safety
On-location shoots can pose safety risks due to environmental factors, stunts or unwanted crowds. Virtual production eliminates these hazards, since everything takes place in a controlled studio environment. Dangerous or complex scenes, such as car process shots, chases or large-scale explosions, can be safely simulated through digital effects, reducing the risk to the cast and crew. This allows for a faster, smoother and lower cost production.
Accessibility for Smaller Productions
Virtual production opens up high-quality filmmaking to smaller productions, corporate clients and independent filmmakers. By eliminating the cost of location shooting, elaborate sets, and complex visual effects shoots, filmmakers can now create visually rich content to compete more effectively in their markets.
Conclusion
Virtual production is revolutionizing the way creative directors and producers approach filmmaking. With its ability to offer unprecedented creative flexibility, real-time collaboration, cost efficiency and environmental sustainability, it’s clear that virtual production is no longer just a trend—it’s the future of media production. As the technology continues to evolve, virtual production will only become more accessible, allowing for even more groundbreaking projects that were once deemed impossible.
If you're looking to stay ahead of the curve and unlock new possibilities in your projects, embracing virtual production might just be the key to success.
