Filmmaking has always been an art form built on the foundation of innovation. From hand-cranked cameras to sound synchronization, Technicolor to CGI, each new era of technology has reshaped how stories are told on screen. The latest revolution in this line is virtual production, a method that merges real-time rendering engines, advanced LED screens, and traditional cinematography into a hybrid approach that redefines what is possible.
Among the pioneers at the forefront of this movement is Sam Nicholson, founder and CEO of Stargate Studios. With over three decades of experience in visual effects and cinematography, Sam has been instrumental in transitioning film and television production from analog methods to fully immersive digital workflows. His work on shows like Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy, and Our Flag Means Death illustrates the power and flexibility of virtual film sets.
In this part, we’ll explore the history, core technologies, and initial challenges of virtual production as a transformative force in modern filmmaking.
A Brief History of Virtual Sets and Digital Imaging
The idea of creating artificial environments in cinema is not new. As early as the silent film era, matte paintings were used to create illusions of grand locations that did not exist on set. Later, green screens and chroma key technology allowed actors to be inserted into backgrounds digitally. However, these techniques often required extensive post-production and limited actors' ability to interact naturally with their surroundings.
Sam Nicholson’s career began in the early days of digital imaging when shows like Max Headroom experimented with combining live-action and computer graphics. His founding of Stargate Studios in 1989 positioned the company at the intersection of storytelling and digital visual effects.
Over the years, the studio evolved through multiple technological waves—from film to high-definition video, from static compositing to motion tracking, and now, to real-time rendering with game engines like Unreal Engine. Virtual production is the culmination of these developments, allowing filmmakers to see their digital worlds in real-time, during principal photography.
What Is Virtual Production?
Virtual production is a filmmaking technique that combines real-time computer graphics with traditional cinematography tools to create final-pixel shots in-camera. It relies on massive LED walls that project digital environments, which are rendered live using powerful engines like Unreal. These environments respond to the camera's position and movement, giving the illusion of depth and realism that matches the lens and perspective used.
Instead of shooting actors against green screens and replacing the background later, virtual production lets directors see the finished scene—complete with lighting, set extensions, and animated elements—while shooting. This means creative decisions can be made on set, saving time and avoiding costly reshoots.
The Role of LED Screens in Filmmaking
The LED wall is the centerpiece of virtual production. These massive, curved screens surround the physical set and display 3D environments in high resolution. Unlike rear projection used in the past, modern LED walls emit their light, which can affect the actors and objects on set, blending physical and digital elements more convincingly.
Sam Nicholson emphasizes the need for high-resolution imagery when working with these screens. For instance, when shooting a project like Our Flag Means Death, the production team needed a circular screen resolution of 64K to ensure that the final image captured by the camera was equivalent to a full 8K resolution at any angle. This required a setup of nine Sony Alpha 1 cameras arranged in a circle, each capturing ultra-high-definition footage.
The clarity of the final image depends on both the resolution of the source content and the quality of the screen. Lower-resolution content may look acceptable from a distance, but under scrutiny through high-end cinema lenses, the lack of detail becomes noticeable.
Real-Time Rendering with Unreal Engine
At the heart of virtual production is the real-time rendering engine. Unreal Engine, developed by Epic Games, has become the industry standard due to its photorealistic capabilities and adaptability. Initially created for video games, Unreal’s engine allows filmmakers to create entire digital worlds that respond to real-world inputs instantly.
For example, if a scene takes place during sunset in a virtual desert, the lighting, shadows, and sky can all be adjusted in real time to match the director’s vision. This is crucial for scenes that require consistent lighting, such as sequences filmed over multiple days that need to look like they were shot at the same time of day.
Unreal also enables volumetric lighting and interactive elements, allowing directors and DPs to visualize complex scenes before committing to camera moves or blocking. This level of control improves efficiency and gives creatives more flexibility.
The Advantages of Working in a Controlled Stage Environment
Filming on location comes with many variables—unpredictable weather, time constraints, and logistical issues. With virtual production, these concerns are mitigated. Directors can film daytime scenes at night, create rainstorms without water trucks, or adjust lighting without repositioning massive rigs.
Sam Nicholson shared a scenario from the Netflix film White Noise, where a night scene involving children had to be shot during the day due to labor regulations. Using virtual production, they recreated the environment indoors with accurate nighttime lighting and rain simulations. The actors were able to perform safely and comfortably, while the final shot maintained the realism expected from a practical shoot.
Magic Hour—traditionally the brief window during sunrise or sunset when lighting conditions are most cinematic—can now last as long as the production needs. This not only saves time but also allows for precise control of every aspect of the environment, from color temperature to the position of shadows.
Photorealism Versus Stylization
One of the central debates around virtual production is whether digital sets can ever truly replace real-world locations. Sam Nicholson maintains that when possible, filmmakers should always shoot in the real world, as nature provides complexity and imperfections that are difficult to simulate. However, for scenes that are logistically or financially unfeasible, virtual sets offer a powerful alternative.
Photorealism has advanced significantly, but some productions choose to stylize their virtual environments for artistic purposes. The key is making sure the visuals match the tone and narrative of the project. Whether a director is aiming for hyper-realistic backgrounds or surreal, stylized worlds, virtual production offers the tools to achieve that vision.
Building Virtual Location Libraries
One of the long-term benefits of virtual production is the ability to reuse digital assets. For shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty, Stargate Studios created virtual versions of Seattle and New York, respectively. These digital cities can be accessed at any time, allowing for location changes without additional travel or permits.
As productions build libraries of environments, they reduce the need to reshoot or relocate for future episodes. This is especially valuable for episodic television, where consistency and quick turnarounds are essential.
Over time, studios can accumulate massive digital backlots, complete with customizable lighting, textures, and props. This scalability is a game-changer for budget-conscious productions.
High-Resolution Image Capture with Sony Alpha 1
Capturing ultra-high-definition footage is essential for producing realistic results in virtual production. The Sony Alpha 1, with its 8K video capabilities and robust sensor performance, has become a go-to tool for filmmakers working in this space.
When used in multi-camera rigs to capture circular environments, the Sony Alpha 1 ensures that each segment of the 360-degree image maintains clarity and depth. Its low-light performance and ease of use make it ideal for capturing plates for LED walls.
Sam Nicholson notes that even with a single image, maximizing resolution is critical. The goal is to recreate reality as closely as possible, and that requires attention to detail in both shooting and post-production.
Managing Data in High-Volume Productions
Virtual production generates massive amounts of data, especially when capturing high-resolution imagery with multiple cameras. Efficient data management is a logistical necessity. ProGrade CFexpress Type A cards have proven to be a reliable solution for high-speed recording.
Each Sony Alpha 1 is typically loaded with two 160GB CFexpress cards, allowing a total of 18 cards in a nine-camera setup. The speed and durability of these cards are essential in high-pressure environments where delays are costly.
When it's time to offload the footage, ProGrade’s stackable card readers allow for parallel downloads of all 18 cards, significantly reducing turnaround time. With a robust backup system and organized workflow, teams can handle hundreds of terabytes of footage without risk of data loss.
The Future of Virtual Sets
The tools of virtual production continue to evolve. Lightweight LED panels, improved color accuracy, and advanced lighting systems like ProLight are pushing the boundaries of what’s visually possible. In upcoming sections, we’ll explore how these tools are used in production, dive into data management workflows, and hear more from industry veterans on the next generation of filmmaking.
What remains clear is that virtual production is not just a trend—it’s a foundational shift in how films and series are made. As the technology becomes more accessible, the barrier between imagination and reality continues to shrink.
Inside the Virtual Production Stage: Building the Setup
Creating a functional and efficient virtual production stage is both a technical and creative endeavor. It requires a precise combination of high-end hardware, real-time software, and expert coordination across multiple departments. While the concept of shooting scenes with digital backgrounds may sound simple in theory, the actual implementation demands meticulous planning and execution.
At the core of any virtual production stage is the LED volume—a curved or sometimes full-surround wall of LED panels that acts as both a light source and a display. Around this, the production builds a physical set, adds motion-tracking equipment, mounts specialized cameras, and syncs everything through real-time rendering systems.
This part explores the key components that bring a virtual production stage to life, focusing on the systems used by Stargate Studios and insights from Sam Nicholson on achieving reliable, repeatable results.
Understanding the LED Volume
The LED volume is the heart of the virtual set. It typically consists of modular LED panels that can be arranged in flat, curved, or cylindrical configurations. These panels display the 3D environments rendered in real-time and are designed to deliver extremely high brightness and resolution.
Pixel pitch is a critical specification in LED panels. It refers to the distance between each LED and directly affects image clarity. For film and television, lower pixel pitch values (like 1.2mm to 2.6mm) are ideal because they minimize the visible grid pattern, especially when viewed through a high-resolution camera lens.
Sam Nicholson emphasizes that the resolution of the LED wall must match the demands of the camera system. If you're capturing footage in 8K, your background needs to render with enough fidelity to look convincing under a microscope. Any compromise in image quality can break the illusion, especially with modern cameras capturing every subtle detail.
Camera Systems and Lens Matching
The choice of camera and lens is another critical factor in virtual production. Cameras must be capable of capturing extremely high-resolution footage with dynamic range that matches the lighting from the LED walls. Sony’s Alpha 1 has become a popular choice due to its 8K capabilities, compact form factor, and excellent color science.
Lens matching is essential to maintain depth and parallax. The virtual environment must match the focal length, aperture, and distortion characteristics of the lens in use. This is achieved through meticulous calibration between the camera and the rendering engine. If a DP uses a 50mm anamorphic lens, the virtual scene must replicate how that lens warps space to maintain realism.
Camera tracking systems also come into play. These use infrared markers, LIDAR, or optical tracking sensors to constantly update the virtual scene based on the camera's position and orientation. The result is seamless motion that respects perspective, depth of field, and spatial continuity.
Real-Time Rendering with Unreal Engine
The real-time rendering engine is where the digital magic happens. Unreal Engine processes the 3D environments and delivers photoreal visuals to the LED walls at high frame rates. These environments aren't static; they adjust instantly as the camera moves, creating the illusion of parallax and immersion.
Unreal’s Blueprint system allows for logic-based animation and lighting changes. For instance, a director might request a storm to roll in, or the sun to shift positions—these changes can be triggered live, without any post-production. Artists build these environments in advance, often using photogrammetry, 3D modeling, and texture mapping techniques.
The GPU powering Unreal must be industrial-grade. NVIDIA RTX A6000 and similar cards are typically used in render nodes, often synchronized in clusters for more complex scenes. In some setups, multiple machines are dedicated to different layers—background, reflections, and lighting—to maintain performance.
Lighting Integration with the Physical Set
One of the most profound benefits of virtual production is how lighting from the LED volume affects physical actors and props. Unlike green screen setups that require lighting to be manually matched in post, LED walls cast real light with real color temperature onto the scene.
This interaction is especially noticeable with reflective surfaces like metal, water, or glass. A car on a virtual street will reflect the cityscape around it naturally. This drastically reduces post-production labor and improves realism.
Lighting control is further refined with additional tools like ProLight, a Stargate-developed system that augments virtual lighting with programmable fixtures. These can mimic natural sources such as the sun, fire, or lightning while remaining in sync with the digital world projected on the LED screens.
Sam Nicholson notes that lighting is no longer just about illuminating the subject—it’s about shaping the entire atmosphere of the scene. With full control over direction, intensity, and color, cinematographers are empowered to paint with light in ways that were once impossible on traditional sets.
Syncing Audio and On-Set Playback
While visual fidelity is often the focus of virtual production discussions, audio also plays a role. The LED screens can generate noise, especially when running at high brightness. Advanced setups use quieter panels or place screens far enough from microphones to avoid interference.
For scenes that require on-set playback—like synchronized music, dialogue timing, or animated cues—the production team integrates timecode systems that sync everything with Unreal Engine. This ensures that moving elements in the virtual world remain consistent with actor performance.
In musical scenes or sequences that rely on choreography, the virtual background can play an active role. For instance, animated lighting synced to music can pulse across the LED walls to support the mood of the scene.
Physical Set Design and Blending with Virtual Environments
Virtual production often involves hybrid sets—physical elements that actors can touch and interact with, combined with digital extensions. These real props help ground the performance and give DPs physical points of reference for lighting and composition.
A typical example might be a throne room where the walls, floor, and throne itself are practical, while everything beyond the columns is digital. The key to success is seamless blending between the two realms. Color, perspective, and lighting must match across the boundary, so the illusion is not broken.
Set designers and virtual artists work together to determine where to draw the line between physical and virtual. This is often influenced by budget, time constraints, or the need for actor interaction. With pre-visualization tools, these decisions can be made early in the production pipeline.
Building and Managing Virtual Assets
Virtual production introduces the concept of digital inventory. Every rock, chair, tree, or building used in the virtual environment exists as a 3D asset. These assets are often purchased from libraries, custom-modeled, or generated via photogrammetry.
Asset management becomes a major concern when scenes involve hundreds of objects or complex animations. Dedicated asset managers ensure that files are optimized, properly labeled, and easily accessible by different departments. Unreal Engine supports version control, so changes can be tracked and undone when necessary.
Stargate Studios builds proprietary location libraries—digital backlots that can be reused across multiple productions. For example, a downtown street scene used in Grey’s Anatomy might be redeployed in another series with different lighting and signage, saving time and cost.
Connectivity and Data Bandwidth
One of the technical challenges of virtual production is handling massive data loads in real time. Multiple 8K video feeds, motion tracking data, real-time rendering, and camera metadata all need to flow seamlessly between systems.
High-speed networks using fiber optic connections and 10GbE or higher Ethernet backbones are required. In many setups, a central server coordinates data between render nodes, Unreal Engine, camera tracking systems, and LED wall controllers.
Backup systems are equally important. If one node fails, the system should be able to continue rendering or fall back without compromising the shoot. Redundant storage and failover protocols are built into the pipeline to prevent costly downtime.
Collaboration Across Departments
Virtual production is a highly collaborative process. Success requires input from DPs, directors, set designers, VFX supervisors, gaffers, and software technicians. Unlike traditional post-heavy workflows, where departments often work in silos, virtual production brings everyone together during principal photography.
Sam Nicholson describes the virtual set as a live performance. The director calls the shots, the DP controls the lights, the Unreal artist adjusts the environment, and the actors perform—all in real time. Mistakes can be corrected immediately, and creative changes can be implemented on the fly.
This real-time collaboration not only saves time but also improves morale. Everyone can see the vision come to life on the monitor, which inspires better performance and tighter coordination.
Training and Future-Proofing Talent
Because virtual production involves a blend of filmmaking and gaming technology, training becomes critical. Cinematographers must learn to work with virtual light, camera operators need to understand parallax distortion, and VFX artists must think about final-pixel delivery.
Stargate and other studios are investing in cross-training programs, where traditional crew members are taught new digital skills. Understanding the basics of Unreal Engine, motion tracking, and virtual lighting is now as important as knowing how to load a film magazine once was.
Sam Nicholson notes that the next generation of filmmakers will not distinguish between virtual and real—they’ll expect both. The tools are becoming more accessible, and with that comes a democratization of high-end production.
Toward a New Visual Language
As more productions adopt virtual production, a new visual language is emerging. Directors are discovering new types of camera moves, lighting techniques, and story structures made possible by real-time environments.
For example, impossible transitions—such as moving from a microscopic world to a galaxy-scale view in one continuous take—are now achievable without visual breaks. Entire sequences can be pre-visualized and executed with precision in a single day.
The flexibility of the virtual stage unlocks storytelling potential previously confined to massive budgets or animation. As the technology matures, we may see genres evolve and new types of narratives emerge that are native to this medium.
The Data Pipeline: From On-Set Capture to Final Output
Virtual production generates an enormous amount of data during even the simplest shoot. Every frame rendered in real time, every camera move, lens change, lighting adjustment, and environmental tweak produces metadata that must be logged and organized. Unlike traditional production, where much of this work is deferred to post, virtual workflows require this data to be live, accessible, and accurate on set.
The pipeline begins with synchronized data capture. The camera department records not only footage but lens metadata, focus distance, zoom values, and shutter settings. Meanwhile, Unreal Engine logs camera position, environmental changes, and timecode. All of this is fed into centralized data management tools that ensure continuity between takes and scenes.
These logs are then formatted for editorial, color, and VFX handoffs. Rather than passing a flat plate with a green screen, the team provides a “final pixel” version already lit and composited. Editors work with near-finished visuals, dramatically accelerating post timelines. This transformation in data handling represents one of virtual production’s most profound shifts, blurring the line between production and post.
Color Science and Virtual Cinematography
Virtual production introduces new considerations for color grading. LED walls emit light, so their white point and color space must be carefully calibrated to match camera profiles. Mismatched color spaces can result in unwanted color shifts, strange skin tones, or background artifacts that are hard to fix in post.
To prevent this, many productions use 3D LUTs and calibrated monitors to match the virtual environment to the camera’s output. Live grading tools such as Pomfort Livegrade or Assimilate Live Assist allow DITs (Digital Imaging Technicians) to grade footage in real time, preserving creative intent from set to screen.
Color pipelines must also accommodate changes to the digital environment. If the scene’s lighting changes from sunset to moonlight mid-shot, the DIT must compensate to keep exposure and contrast consistent. These dynamic workflows require close coordination between the DP, Unreal artists, and color team—a level of interactivity not found in traditional pipelines.
Sam Nicholson describes this process as “painting with pixels and photons”—a synthesis of digital art and physical light, where visual decisions are made live, on set, with the full image already in place.
Real-Time Compositing and Layered Outputs
Although LED walls can deliver final pixel images in-camera, many productions still opt to capture additional passes for flexibility. These include matte layers, depth maps, and lighting passes that allow further tweaking in post. This hybrid approach is known as "enhanced final pixel."
For instance, a production may shoot the actor against the LED volume while also capturing a separate alpha matte that defines their silhouette. This allows the background to be replaced or modified without reshooting. Depth maps can be used for rack focus effects or atmospheric layering in post.
Virtual production stages often include a compositing operator on set. This artist blends real and virtual elements, removes unwanted shadows or reflections, and adds finishing touches. The result is a layered image ready for editorial and VFX, while still preserving the live production speed.
The presence of these tools on set doesn’t eliminate post—it redefines it. Instead of fixing problems after the fact, post teams now build upon a polished foundation. Compositors can focus on enhancement, not rescue work.
Post-Production Integration and Editorial Workflows
One of the greatest advantages of virtual production is how it streamlines post-production. By capturing final-pixel images or enhanced composites on set, the editorial team can begin cutting scenes immediately, without waiting for VFX.
Footage from the main camera is ingested alongside timecode-locked metadata, including Unreal scene files, lens data, and environmental variables. This allows editors to relink shots to the original virtual environment if needed, enabling future adjustments or alternate renders.
Nonlinear editing systems like Avid, Premiere, or DaVinci Resolve can now accept metadata packages that track everything from LED color values to actor positions. This metadata-rich workflow enhances everything from continuity to audio syncing.
Sam Nicholson explains that virtual production "pulls post forward into the production day." With the right setup, editors can deliver rough cuts the same day a scene is shot, with backgrounds, lighting, and camera motion already in place.
Cloud Collaboration and Remote Access
As virtual production becomes more complex, cloud-based workflows are gaining popularity. Real-time rendering farms, asset libraries, and review systems can now live in the cloud, allowing remote teams to contribute regardless of location.
A cinematographer in New York can work with a virtual art department in London and a rendering technician in Vancouver, all viewing the same Unreal scene and live camera feed through low-latency streaming systems. Cloud collaboration tools like Frame.io, Evercast, or AWS Thinkbox have become essential parts of the workflow.
Stargate Studios uses hybrid systems, where the heavy lifting is done locally on high-end machines, but approvals, dailies, and backups are handled in the cloud. This allows productions to scale globally while keeping latency and downtime to a minimum.
Cloud workflows also support versioning, allowing multiple variations of a scene to be reviewed, compared, and updated without confusion. This speeds up decision-making and ensures that everyone is looking at the most current version of the project.
AI in Virtual Production: Emerging Use Cases
Artificial Intelligence is beginning to play a role in virtual production, though it's still in early stages. Some of the most promising applications include real-time environment generation, asset optimization, and facial performance tracking.
AI can be used to automatically generate 3D environments from 2D concept art or to fill in background details like foliage, debris, or skyboxes. Generative AI models trained on massive image datasets can synthesize realistic textures or architectural elements in seconds, saving time for artists who previously built these manually.
Machine learning also helps optimize assets for real-time use. AI can identify redundant polygons in a model, reduce texture size without visible loss, and suggest lighting optimizations to boost render performance. These improvements allow for richer scenes to be displayed on LED walls with fewer GPU bottlenecks.
In performance capture, AI is used to track facial expressions without the need for markers. This allows actors to perform naturally, while machine learning interprets subtle expressions and maps them to digital characters in real time.
Sam Nicholson believes AI will eventually serve as a creative assistant. It won't replace artists, but it will handle repetitive tasks and open up new creative possibilities, particularly for indie filmmakers with limited budgets.
Virtual Scouting and Previsualization
Virtual scouting has become an essential tool in modern production planning. Directors and cinematographers can explore digital versions of sets or real-world locations long before shooting begins. These environments are often built in Unreal Engine and can be experienced through a desktop screen, VR headset, or even a tablet.
During virtual scouting, a team can plan blocking, camera angles, lighting cues, and environmental changes. They can test how shadows fall at different times of day or preview how a scene might look in fog or rain. These sessions are recorded and converted into animatics or camera diagrams, streamlining pre-production.
Sam Nicholson notes that previsualization is now a collaborative event, not just a technical stage. Directors walk through their scenes, actors can rehearse, and department heads weigh in—all inside a virtual environment that accurately mirrors what will be shot.
The value of this approach cannot be overstated. It reduces guesswork, saves time on set, and gives every team member a visual target to aim for. In many cases, scenes shot on virtual sets match their previs versions almost frame-for-frame.
Budget Efficiency and Sustainability
While virtual production requires significant upfront investment, it offers long-term savings in multiple areas. Location costs, travel, logistics, and overtime expenses can be drastically reduced. Reusing digital environments across episodes or productions further cuts costs.
LED stages eliminate weather delays, permit fees, and travel insurance. Crews work in controlled environments, with predictable schedules and minimal downtime. This stability allows for leaner crews and shorter shoot days without compromising quality.
There’s also a strong sustainability argument. Virtual production reduces the need for physical set construction, material waste, and transportation emissions. A scene that once required a crew to fly to Iceland for two weeks can now be shot in a single day, with no jet fuel or carbon offsets required.
Studios like Stargate are designing their pipelines with sustainability in mind. They recycle digital assets, minimize render waste, and reduce storage footprints by optimizing data at every stage.
Challenges and Limitations
Despite its many advantages, virtual production is not a magic bullet. It introduces new challenges that require skill, planning, and experience to overcome.
LED walls are expensive to rent or build, and they require significant power and cooling infrastructure. Poor calibration can result in moiré patterns, flickering, or color shifts. Real-time rendering can crash or stutter under high complexity, interrupting the shoot.
Not all scenes are ideal for virtual production. Extremely fast camera movements or tight close-ups can reveal imperfections in the digital background. Action scenes with stunts, pyrotechnics, or extensive practical effects may require traditional sets.
Finally, there is a learning curve. Directors and cinematographers used to traditional workflows must adapt to real-time decision-making. Teams must coordinate more closely than ever before, and there’s little room for error once the cameras roll.
Real-World Case Study: “The Mandalorian”
No discussion of virtual production is complete without “The Mandalorian.” As the first major series to fully embrace LED volume technology, it changed industry perception overnight. Lucasfilm’s StageCraft system, built by Industrial Light & Magic, used Unreal Engine to render expansive environments in real time on massive LED walls. The results were groundbreaking.
Instead of filming in deserts or cities, the show’s cast and crew worked in a controlled soundstage in Manhattan Beach, California. Planets, cities, spaceships, and battlefields were all built virtually, giving directors full control over lighting, weather, and time of day.
This approach was not just visually effective—it was practical. Episodes were shot faster, with fewer reshoots and minimal VFX cleanup. The actors performed in immersive, realistic environments, improving their performances. And the cinematographers could plan shots like they were on location.
Jon Favreau, the show’s creator, emphasized the narrative flexibility that virtual production enabled. Sets could be changed between takes, and scenes rewritten mid-shoot without the logistical chaos that typically follows. “The Mandalorian” proved that virtual production wasn’t a gimmick—it was a viable, even superior, way to make cinematic television.
Case Study: Stargate Studios and Episodic Television
Stargate Studios, founded by Sam Nicholson, has brought virtual production to mainstream television at scale. Unlike massive projects like “The Mandalorian,” Stargate’s approach focuses on making the technology accessible for shows with tighter schedules and smaller budgets.
On series like “Station 19,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “The Rookie,” Stargate deploys mobile LED stages, prebuilt environments, and customized Unreal scenes. These productions often need to shoot three to four scenes per day, meaning speed and efficiency are critical. The key is creating reusable assets—city streets, hospital corridors, apartment interiors—that can be adapted across multiple episodes.
Stargate’s team builds a digital library of these assets and can modify them on demand. If a script changes the time of day or weather conditions, they update the Unreal scene and are ready to shoot within hours. This flexibility is impossible with traditional VFX, where even a minor background change might take days or weeks.
The results speak for themselves. These shows maintain high visual quality, stay on schedule, and avoid costly reshoots. Stargate’s model has become a blueprint for how to do virtual production outside the blockbuster bubble.
Independent Filmmaking in the Virtual Era
While virtual production was once the domain of mega-budget franchises, it is now within reach of independent filmmakers. Affordable LED walls, real-time engines like Unreal, and AI-assisted tools are lowering the barrier to entry.
Filmmakers can now rent small stages or even build garage-sized volumes using consumer-grade LED panels and gaming GPUs. Prebuilt environments are available through asset marketplaces like Quixel, Sketchfab, and Unreal Marketplace. AI tools can generate variations or optimize assets, saving time and cost.
This democratization is transforming how indie films are made. Sci-fi shorts, fantasy pilots, and period dramas can now include expansive digital worlds without leaving the studio. Creators retain full artistic control and can iterate in real time. They no longer need to compromise vision due to budget constraints.
Sam Nicholson often mentors emerging directors on how to start small. He suggests testing with a single wall, one camera, and a simple scene. With careful planning, even low-budget productions can achieve professional results.
Training the Next Generation
As virtual production becomes standard, the demand for trained professionals is surging. Universities, film schools, and studios are launching dedicated programs to teach students the skills they’ll need on modern sets.
These include courses in Unreal Engine, real-time lighting, camera tracking, motion capture, and LED volume operation. Many schools now build their mini-stages for hands-on learning. Collaborations with Epic Games and industry partners ensure that the training stays relevant and cutting-edge.
Beyond technical knowledge, students must also learn how to collaborate in this new paradigm. Virtual production requires tight integration between departments—art, cinematography, direction, and post must all work together from the start. Soft skills, communication, and adaptability are more important than ever.
Studios like Stargate actively recruit from these programs, often hiring students as interns and training them on live projects. This pipeline helps bridge the gap between education and professional work, ensuring a future workforce ready to meet the industry’s evolving needs.
Lessons Learned from On-Set Experience
Productions that have adopted virtual production often come away with valuable lessons. These insights help refine workflows, improve communication, and avoid common pitfalls.
One of the most important lessons is to involve the virtual art department early. If Unreal scenes aren’t locked before shooting, delays and mismatches can occur. Directors must treat digital environments like physical sets—planning blocking, lighting, and shot lists with the same rigor.
Another key takeaway is to test the camera’s interaction with the LED wall in advance. Moiré, flicker, and exposure issues can disrupt production. Lens selection also affects how realistic the background appears—some lenses work better than others when blending real and virtual depth of field.
Communication is critical. Everyone on set—from grips to gaffers—must understand the virtual setup. A lack of awareness can lead to simple mistakes like blocking a tracking marker or lighting the screen improperly.
Finally, producers stress the importance of rehearsals. With real-time rendering, there’s no excuse not to test the scene before rolling. Even 30 minutes of pre-lighting and camera movement practice can prevent hours of lost time during the actual shoot.
Creative Freedoms Enabled by Virtual Production
Virtual production removes many of the physical constraints that have long governed filmmaking. Directors are no longer bound by location availability, daylight hours, or seasonal weather. Entire worlds can be constructed from scratch, tailored to the story’s needs.
This creative freedom has led to new forms of visual storytelling. A fantasy film can transition from desert to forest to city in a single take. A historical drama can recreate ancient Rome without a single brick of physical set construction. A horror film can explore shifting environments that morph in real time as characters move through them.
Sam Nicholson describes this as “cinematic teleportation.” The director becomes a world-builder, unbound by geography or budget, free to explore narratives that were previously out of reach.
This doesn’t mean practical filmmaking is obsolete. Many productions blend the two, combining physical props, real costumes, and actors with digital environments. The best virtual production is often invisible—when the viewer forgets they’re not on location, the illusion is complete.
Industry Adoption and Evolving Standards
Virtual production is no longer an experiment—it’s a rapidly growing sector of the film and television industry. Major studios, streaming platforms, and commercial houses are all investing in LED stages and real-time pipelines.
Organizations like SMPTE, ASC, and VES are working to standardize practices around color, data exchange, and LED calibration. These efforts ensure consistency across productions and simplify collaboration between vendors.
Vendors are also maturing. Companies that once focused solely on post-production are now offering real-time services, and hardware manufacturers are designing products specifically for virtual production, from high-refresh LED panels to specialized tracking systems.
This maturing ecosystem reduces friction. Filmmakers can now trust that equipment will interoperate, that environments will render correctly, and that talent exists to support the process. What once required a custom pipeline for each project is becoming plug-and-play.
The Global Expansion of Virtual Production
Virtual production is expanding worldwide. From Korea to the UK, from Canada to the Middle East, new stages are being built at a rapid pace. Tax incentives, remote collaboration, and demand for high-end content are driving growth.
Studios like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple are investing in regional facilities, ensuring that their productions can be shot closer to local talent and markets. Countries like Australia and Spain are creating production hubs that include virtual stages as part of their infrastructure offerings.
This globalization has two major effects. First, it democratizes access to cutting-edge filmmaking tools. Second, it accelerates innovation, as diverse creative voices bring new ideas and workflows to the table.
Sam Nicholson envisions a future where “any city can be a studio.” With remote rendering, cloud collaboration, and modular LED stages, the barriers of distance and geography continue to shrink.
Final Thoughts
Virtual production stands at the crossroads of art and technology, rewriting the language of filmmaking. What was once confined to the pages of science fiction is now an everyday reality on sets across the globe. LED volumes, real-time rendering, and immersive digital environments have empowered directors, producers, and storytellers with tools that not only enhance creativity but also optimize time, budget, and collaboration.
At its core, virtual production is not just about fancy screens or cutting-edge software—it’s about storytelling without limitation. It allows a creator to visualize a world before it’s built, to explore camera angles and lighting before a single frame is captured, and to involve departments from script to screen in ways never before possible. This integration of pre-production, production, and post is creating a more fluid and efficient filmmaking process.
As pioneers like Sam Nicholson and Jon Favreau have shown, success in this field hinges not only on technology but on vision, preparation, and teamwork. These leaders understand that virtual production doesn’t eliminate the need for craft—it simply enhances it. Cinematographers still light scenes with precision. Set designers still influence aesthetics. Editors still shape rhythm. What changes is the sandbox they all get to play in—more dynamic, more responsive, and more open to iteration.
The democratization of these tools marks one of the most exciting cultural shifts in modern filmmaking. No longer do you need a massive Hollywood budget to tell a visually ambitious story. With careful planning, resourceful design, and an understanding of virtual pipelines, independent filmmakers can craft worlds once considered out of reach. This levels the playing field, amplifying new voices and bold ideas from every corner of the globe.
But with great possibility comes responsibility. As filmmakers enter this new realm, they must embrace continuous learning. Virtual production demands a new kind of creative agility—willingness to previsualize, to collaborate deeply, and to think holistically from day one. It’s not a shortcut or a magic fix. It’s a framework—one that rewards preparation, experimentation, and communication above all else.
The future of storytelling will not belong to those who simply chase trends, but to those who understand the tools and the story equally. Those who embrace virtual production as a partner, not a replacement. Those who remember that behind every LED wall, every Unreal render, and every motion-captured frame is still the beating heart of cinema: human emotion.
Whether you are a student with a passion project, a showrunner planning your next season, or a studio executive building the next stage, virtual production is your canvas. The technology is here, the knowledge is growing, and the potential is limitless.