Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2024-05-08 Origin: Site
In recent years, as new gameplay methods such as real-time rendering engines, motion capture technology, and human-computer interaction have become increasingly mature, they have been gradually introduced into various industries and fields to lead them to new upgrades. In the visual effects service industry, these technologies are cross-integrated and create different sparks. The most prominent one is undoubtedly the film and television industry. The impact of the epidemic once caused the entire industry to shut down. After all, "there is a bright future in another village." The film and television industry has turned its attention to LED displays that emit dazzling light, which can solve the difficulties in setting up real scenes and personnel. Issues such as gatherings not only bring hope to the troubled film and television industry, but also point the way for the upgrading of shooting technology.
2019's "The Mandalorian" is the first film and television drama in the film and television industry to use LED screens instead of traditional green screens for special effects shooting. As soon as the behind-the-scenes footage came out, it aroused endless curiosity about virtual production in the industry. , some people even believe that LED screen + virtual production is the inevitable path for the future development of the film and television industry.
What is virtual production based on LED screens?
At its most basic level, LED virtual production is a fusion of technologies that allows film shoots to use LED screens instead of green screens. With the help of game engines, LED screens can display real-time backgrounds and visual effects directly on the set. Virtual production using LED screens, tracking cameras and real-time graphics rendering will make film and television production more convenient, and when combined with equipment and workflows that can be operated remotely, it provides an additional key advantage for shows working under safety restrictions. Through virtual production technology, magnificent scenes and special effects that are difficult to achieve in live production can be realized at a lower cost, and it has been widely used in many blockbusters.
To complete virtual shooting production, "tools" are the key. The importance of the LED screen in the virtual shooting process is self-evident, and the presentation of virtual reality visual effects depends entirely on it. The ultra-high-definition LED screen is a medium for presenting information, and together with the actors' performances in front of the screen, it forms a complete shooting system. In the LED screen, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional information can be presented, that is, the so-called "digital assets" are presented. In addition, real actors interact with the screen content in front of the screen, forming a coexistence of digital information and non-digital information. When weaving. An artistic creation process that obtains woven two-dimensional information through physical digital cameras and virtual digital cameras.
The use of LED screen shooting presents an immersive sensory experience for the entire shooting scene, and its advantages are more obvious. The post-production team no longer needs to spend time on green screen cutouts, and can obtain footage from all over the world in just one studio. Create a large-scale scene expansion that matches the on-site LED background and can be seamlessly connected to prevent the LED screen from filling the camera viewfinder. Dynamic AR augmented reality technology can seamlessly integrate the LED background into content that needs to move in front of the actors... .
The reason why LED virtual shooting has received such high attention in the field of virtual production and has even become synonymous with virtual production is because the support of technical foundations such as computer graphics and Unreal Engine makes the combination of digital information and non-digital information, digital images and real characters Real-time interaction can be so fluid that it blurs the boundaries between virtuality and reality.
However, LED screens also have certain limitations. In film and television virtualization production based on LED screens, issues such as the screen's point spacing, color rendering, moiré, panel reflection, and control systems are important factors that affect virtual shooting. In the selection of LED screens, these problems need to be overcome. Therefore, small-pitch LED screens are more suitable for high-definition display shooting. Curved LED screens are more used to increase the available shooting angles to avoid color casts. Adjust the distance and distance between the camera lens and the screen. The angle can effectively reduce the impact of moiré patterns on it. For reflections, the problem can be avoided to a certain extent by supplementing digital light matrix lighting and other methods. At present, many domestic head screen companies have been able to implement LED screen production applications that meet the technical requirements of virtual shooting, and "tools" are no longer a big problem.
In general, LED screen + virtual production has revolutionized the traditional film and television shooting and production process, including remote collaboration, real-time visualization, etc., connecting virtuality and reality, and creating reusable digital (virtual) assets. Compared with previous shooting technologies, LED screen shooting has the advantages of high immersion, real-time interaction, and high accuracy. Actors can integrate into the surrounding environment in real time in front of the LED screen, thereby better immersing themselves in their performances. Moreover, in the process of technological development in recent years, LED screens have been used more and more frequently. Hollywood's latest movies such as "Batman" and "Thor 4" have also adopted this technology and are scheduled to be released in 2022; Domestic The shooting of the hit online drama "The Beginning" also used LED screens. Under such a trend, it is not unreasonable that virtual production technology will become the new favorite of film and television shooting with its more efficient and cost-effective advantages. And with the rapid iterative updates of photography technology, dynamic tracking, and LED display technology, the national radio and television It is also possible that the State Administration’s support for high-quality film and television dramas will be popularized in the future.
At present, many LED screen companies have participated in the development of related technologies, such as the LED screen + virtual production technology launched by Unilumin Radio, and Leyard's visualization shooting technology based on motion capture technology + small-pitch LED, and the joint Jian Optoelectronics assisted a well-known Swiss TV station in the "comprehensive digital display" project of a large sports channel studio with an area of 800 square meters, etc. LED virtual technology has been applied in the production of many movies and games. Looking at it, the "fate" between LED screens and the film industry does not stop at the production field. The entire industry chain from front-end shooting to back-end projection has already involved LED display technology.
In the theater screening section, LED movie screens have also begun to show their talents. In order for the LED display screen to reach the level of use of movie-level LED movie screens, there is also a related technical certification - DCI certification. Currently, two domestic screen companies have achieved the Hollywood DCI certification. Unilumin Technology was the first to obtain it and on January 26 this year Japan said that LED movie screens are already on sale and plans to gradually implement commercialization; AET Altai movie screen recently passed Hollywood DCI certification, realizing the national production of LED cinema screens and image processing and playback systems. This is great progress for the LED display industry, and also marks the huge progress that domestic LED movie screens have broken through technical barriers and entered the world stage with the spirit of independent research and development.
Virtual production: the integration of multiple technologies creates a visual feast
If the appearance of the American drama "The Mandalorian" is a watershed for the virtual production process of Chinese film and television, then before the appearance of "The Mandalorian", the related technologies for virtual production in Chinese film and television production were mostly in the form of computer special effects. Existence is a tool that serves traditional film creation. Since the 21st century, virtual production technology has begun to enter the mainland. With the emergence of successful commercial films such as "Heroes" and "A World Without Thieves", virtual production including computer special effects has begun to fully enter the production process of the film and television industry. In particular, the huge success of "The Wandering Earth" in 2019 in China marks the importance of Chinese films to The field of virtual production has entered the stage of proficiency, and virtual production in China's film and television industry has approached the world's advanced level.
Since 2020, multiple virtual filming studios have appeared across the country, and multiple large-scale film and television production studios are under planning and construction. Although the application of virtual shooting technology in China's film and television industry has not yet seen a commercial work in the true sense, the research and application of this technology is already underway.
To achieve virtual shooting, cameras and LED screens alone are far from enough. This includes the cross-fusion of various new technologies. The ones that everyone is more familiar with include human-computer interaction, real-time rendering, motion capture technology, etc., and their role cannot be underestimated. watch for.
The film virtualization production technology based on LED screens is based on real-time rendering, which requires the virtual scene to render the picture in real time with the movement of the real camera and the user's interactive control. Many years ago, green screen-based movie virtualization production has used real-time rendering images for on-site previews. With the advancement of rendering technology and the improvement of rendering effects, real-time rendering technology can ensure that the LED screen images and lighting effects on the scene of movie virtualization production are better. reality.
Human-computer interaction technology includes virtual scene control and virtual-real interaction. Virtual scene control means that creators can edit virtual scenes in real time during shooting, and use virtual reality equipment to perform VR scene surveying, editing, and camera location determination. Virtual-real interaction uses sensors to transmit dynamic information in the shooting scene to the virtual scene in real time to achieve virtual matching. These interactive methods have greatly improved the degree of virtual and real integration of movie virtualization production based on LED screens.
The integration of these technologies can better optimize and amplify the shooting effects of LED screens + virtual production. With the simultaneous advancement of the entire film and television industry chain, it also provides a hotbed for the in-depth integration of LED displays, shooting technology and the film and television industry.
As an emerging production technology, virtual production based on LED screens has been initially used in the filming of film and television dramas. However, there are still many limitations and shortcomings. The future development direction needs to be explored and researched from various aspects of software and hardware systems. It is believed that virtual shooting based on LED screens will become increasingly popular in the future and will be further combined with emerging technologies such as future film and television artificial intelligence production, cloud production, and big data, thereby realizing the industrialization of film and television. LED screens will set sail in the film and television industry.