Demand for virtual production is soaring across feature film, TV and advertising but with the technology still at the cutting edge, there are huge gaps in the industry's knowledge about how to use it effectively.
The Supersession at HPA Tech Retreat 2022 aims to set the record straight. The centerpiece to the four-day event February 21-24 will be the industry's comprehensive guide to the essentials of virtual production giving attendees a fundamental grounding in the practicalities of everything from language, to tech provisioning and budgeting while highlighting crucial gaps in skillsets and in vendor interoperability. The Supersession is set for February 22.
Virtual production is rapidly changing almost every facet of filmmaking but it is still an emerging suite of technologies with huge potential and lots of pitfalls, says Kari Grubin, experienced post production executive and HPA board member. The Supersession at the HPA Tech Retreat will bring a real honest conversation around the nuts and bolts of VP so that delegates can leave armed with accurate information and guidance from experts and hands on scenarios, and the fact is that these tools can be available across a variety of budgets and productions, not just giant studio projects.
The knowledge gap is as fundamental as understanding what Virtual Production actually is. To many people VP means The Mandalorian, the ILM and Disney posterchild for filming a VFX-driven episodic show inside of an LED volume. Yet this is just one style of one aspect of the tools and techniques governing the interaction of physical with digital worlds which spans the gamut of content creation from pre- to post.
Over the last twenty years we've all gotten used to the idea of fixing things in post but Virtual Production upends this, says Erik Weaver, Director of Virtual & Adaptive Production Entertainment Technology Center @ USC who is co-curating the Supersession with Grubin. On a virtual production, schedules for films are pre-loaded with more pre-production time and a less extensive post period. Many seasoned filmmakers aren't accustomed to the idea of making every decision in terms of effects imagery before production occurs and may find the process counterintuitive. Successful Virtual Production requires a renewed focus on filmmaking disciplines otherwise there is a real risk of the whole project spiraling out of control.
Different types of LED walls or wall systems can be configured differently for each show. Other variations include using monitors or projection mapping. The screens themselves vary in luminance and pixel pitch with factors including camera-to-screen distance, focal length, focus plane, sensor size, and content resolution determining the quality of the footage.
Virtual Production tools and processes extend beyond the stage environment. Applications range from previz and remote scouting to character creation based on performance capture. Assets such as models, characters, 3D environments must be completely camera-ready before production starts.
From games engines to tracking data there are many interlocking parts to VP which can create cascading problems if one element is misjudged or overlooked, says Weaver. For example, the idea that the LED screens themselves can illuminate the actors and set is broadly true but masks a maze of complications and decisions that the cinematographer and gaffer have to master.
There are new roles for Virtual Production which will be outlined at the Supersession. These include the Virtual Art Department (VAD) where all elements including digital models and physical props are designed and created and Virtual Production Supervisor who acts as the liaison between the physical production team, the Art Department, the VFX team, and the brain bar' (ILM's term for its Volume Control Team).
There is a new lexicon for creating in Virtual Production which organizations including SMPTE, EBU, VES, Siggraph, MovieLabs and more are all playing a vital role in developing, Grubin says. It's clearly important for the sake of production efficiency that we all speak the same language. The same holds true for systems interoperability where we will be pushing the online virtual production ecosystem to do more work in this area.
The Supersession will not be a dry discussion in which delegates are talked at by PowerPoint. On the contrary, the day will be an experiential exploration of Virtual Production from soup to nuts including a chance for attendees to see how tools like camera tracking systems interact with a Volume. And, because it is live, there is the high likelihood of things going wrong providing an invaluable opportunity to learn at ground level how to avoid mistakes from the get-go.
We want to expose the technology and showcase all the different ways it can be used and customized as well as pointing out where mistakes can be made, says Weaver. The goal for the industry should be to educate everyone in production to acquire baseline skills in computing, real-time technology and VFX to make Virtual Production methods as creative and as cost effective as they can be.
One key misconception is that VP is some sort of silver bullet and that the goal is always to produce pixel-perfect final shots on set eliminating post altogether. Not even The Mandalorian captured more than half of its final shots in-camera.
Production starts as it always has, from the script, says Grubin. That is the back to basics approach we will take at the Supersession. We are going to break a script down and ask what type of virtual production tools and workflow might be applicable and whether certain parts of the production are best produced on location or using conventional studio sets.
Through live demos, real world case studies and interactive discussion with the top experts in
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
16/10/2025
The XR Sports Alliance (XRSA) has announced the third cohort of members. The new members include MLSE, Vegas Golden Knights, Pro Climbing League, FansXR, Focal ...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK The Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its 2025 Year-End Giving Campaign which seeks to raise donations from tax-deductible personal and c...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK Australias Nine Network and the National Hockey League (NHL) today announced a media partnership that will bring the worlds premier professional ice ho...
16/10/2025
Parks Associates has released new data showing that nearly half (45%) of U.S. internet homes watch free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services and 89% of U.S...
16/10/2025
TROY, Mich. -New data from J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Residential Internet Service Provider Study shows that residential wireless internet providers are growing...
16/10/2025
This Saturday October 18 Katja Mia will burst onto the radio airwaves for the first time as she joins 2FM. Katja will be standing in for Bl thnaid Treacy on Sat...
16/10/2025
This October, RT is delighted to support Wexford Festival Opera, Babor International Arts Festival for Children, Open House Dublin and 36 other arts and cultu...
16/10/2025
GeForce NOW is more than just a platform to stream fresh games every week - it offers celebrations for the gamers who make it epic, with member rewards to sweet...
15/10/2025
Across the world, early-career reporters are interrogating systems that shape daily life, from mortuaries and classrooms to the corridors of legal education and...
15/10/2025
St. Louis Blues Pay Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne in New Pregame Open VideoThe NHL franchise worked with production firms 2WEI and 4th Floor CreativeBy Mark J Burns,...
15/10/2025
Cobalt Digital, G3DVu, Proxima Vision, and Telos Alliance Renew Premier Sponsors...
15/10/2025
By Paige Bethmann
Before my grandmother passed away in 2019, I went to visit her in the hospital where she'd been for a few weeks. When I arrived, the nurs...
15/10/2025
Two years ago, Spotify set out to grow the entire publishing industry by making ...
15/10/2025
People turn to DJ for a listening experience that feels personal, dynamic, and j...
15/10/2025
Las personas recurren a DJ para vivir una experiencia de escucha personal, din m...
15/10/2025
Rock legend Bruce Springsteen and luminary actor Jeremy Allen White came togethe...
15/10/2025
At Spotify, we're all about supporting rising talent and helping them connec...
15/10/2025
New SBS Documentary Series THE CANCER KILLERS Premieres 4 November on SBS & SBS ...
15/10/2025
SBS celebrates the Festivals of Lights with bold, illuminating stories across th...
15/10/2025
One of humanity's most profound questions continues: Is there any place in our galaxy suitable for life beyond Earth? NASA intends to find out, with the hel...
15/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
15/10/2025
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage software for the AI era, today announced the advancement of its comprehensive AI ecosystem certification pro...
15/10/2025
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today unveiled key highlights of the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, scheduled for Feb. 15 19 at the Westin Rancho Mirage Go...
15/10/2025
At NAB Show New York 2025 (Stand 244), Interra Systems will showcase the future of media QC, monitoring, and captioning, highlighting its award-winning, AI- and...
15/10/2025
Grass Valley today announced that RMC BFM, part of the CMA-CGM Group and France's third-largest private media group, has chosen Grass Valley's productio...
15/10/2025
Appear, the global leader in live production technology, will demonstrate how its powerful hardware and software innovations are shaping the future of hybrid, s...
15/10/2025
Rakim to Join Berklee's Hip-Hop Hall of Fame at Signature Series Concert The rap icon becomes the latest inductee, following luminaries such as Roxanne Sh...
15/10/2025
Berklee Brings Live Music to the Head of the Charles Student artists will perform on multiple riverfront stages during the 60th anniversary of the world's...
15/10/2025
CobbTV, the government access television channel for Cobb County, Ga. recently acquired an automated playout system from Pebble, a global provider of automation...
15/10/2025
OSLO, Norway Appear, the global leader in live production technology, will demonstrate how its powerful hardware and software innovations are shaping the future...
15/10/2025
NEW YORK The NBA is making major changes to the NBA App and NBA TV as it takes control of them from TNT Sports, which has long managed the league's digital ...
15/10/2025
SAN MATEO, Calif. In what promises to be a major expansion of interactive features and personalized content on the DirecTV platform, the operator and Glance hav...
15/10/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Roku has launched changes to its user interface (UI) that the streaming platform says will better showcase original programming on the platform...
15/10/2025
LOS ANGELES Software-defined data storage and data services provider OpenDrives has elevated Alex Dunfey to chief technology officer, responsible for driving th...
15/10/2025
Abu Dhabi, UAE October 15, 2025: Space42 (ADX: SPACE42), the UAE-based AI-powe...
15/10/2025
Sheldon Nichols and Will Trickett to find and prepare more classic cars for budget conscious would-be owners from Wiser Films
UKTV have recommissioned the clas...
15/10/2025
Wednesday 15 October 2025
Nick Cave
JPEG (275 KB)
Explore the creative univer...
15/10/2025
Wednesday 15 October 2025
From breaking up with your partner to quitting your job - new polling shows some messages are just too scary to send
Over a fifth (...
15/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz unveils compact MXO 3 oscilloscopes with 4 and 8 channels: Advan...
15/10/2025
Back to All News
Revenge Series The Resurrected' Captivates Audiences Across Asia
Entertainment
15 October 2025
GlobalTaiwan
Link copied to clipboard
...
15/10/2025
Back to All News
Bringing the Best in VFX and Virtual Production Together as Eyeline
Jeffrey Shapiro
CEO, Eyeline
Business
15 October 2025
GlobalCanadaInd...
15/10/2025
Deployed by Astound Business Solutions, Harmonic's Primary Distribution Solution Ensures Outstanding Video Quality and Seamless Ad Insertion at the Edge
SA...
15/10/2025
Collaboration extends a trusted relationship as RMC BFM invests in scalable, fut...
15/10/2025
Series coming in 2026 stars Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Justine Mitchell and Jason O'Mara released today
RT today released first look images of new comedy-drama ...
14/10/2025
SVG Europe Summit 2025: All Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAYNetworking event that preceded IBC2025 shone a light on elite live sports innovation acro...
14/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Author Rich Podolsky on Writing Madden & Summerall: How They Revo...
14/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Michael Reiners, Coordinating Producer, FloRacingThe Illinois State grad steers a vast schedule of motorsports events at tracks across the countr...
14/10/2025
Content protection: Getting the right management for your DRM By Neal Romanek
Friday, October 10, 2025 - 10:11
Print This Story
Eluvio power the EPCR'...
Demand for virtual production is soaring across feature film, TV and advertising but with the technology still at the cutting edge, there are huge gaps in the industry's knowledge about how to use it effectively.
