Devi8 - Virtual Production

Virtual Production (VP) merges the physical and digital worlds, enabling real-time interaction with virtual environments. This innovative technology has transformed film production by reducing the need for the time- and cost-consuming post-production process that is common with traditional methods. Through advanced digital 3D environments, Virtual Production can provide increased creative freedom and enable film scenes that would otherwise be impossible to implement with traditional methods. "The Mandalorian" showcased VP's success, demonstrating creative freedom, faster set-ups, and cost savings. However, there are still challenges to be solved, especially for Script Supervisors who must maintain coherence between physical and virtual elements. In the research project Devi8, NETRON, LED HUB, Atea, and the Institute for Energy Technology have partnered to further develop this production technique by focusing on the automatic construction of film sets, digital recording of complex stage conditions, and the development of a knowledge database for virtual production. Devi8 will include end users and Script Supervisors in the project, with the goal of improving situational awareness during film production. Devi8 supports the UN's sustainability goals and reduces the carbon footprint through reduced travel and interdisciplinary research collaboration. This innovative technology promises cost savings, and the project aims to elevate Norway's role in Virtual Production.

Virtual Production (VP) is a state-of-the-art production process and technology in film making. VP is the cross section between physical and digital worlds. A large rig of LED displays is used in VP for presenting the virtual content, a digital wall. The LED walls completely surround the object in the VP scene, and both illuminates and reflects the on-screen environment back onto objects and performers. The real part of the mixed reality environment is represented by the actors and the scene props in the immediate vicinity of the digital wall. The virtual content on the digital wall is live (can be changed at runtime) and is seamlessly mixed with the real environment, thereby creating a close to real immersive experience. In film production, one of the key roles is the Script Supervisor (ScSu). The ScSu role is best filled by persons with large attention to detail, strong organisational capability, and great multitasking skills due to the vast amount of data generated and the need for full situational awareness of the film making. Many of the tasks of a ScSu today are manual. Also, the tools that are available are not research-based products that supports the situational awareness of the ScSu In addition, there is no tool available that supports automatic capture of key data as described in the innovations. NetVIP will develop a set of innovative methods and tools for virtual production set and scene optimization. The set of tools are jointly called NetVIP Tool Suite, and will help redefine the work process, simplify ScSu tasks, enable faster set turnaround and reduce the need of costly reshoots in the international film and VP industry. NetVIP will enhance and automate ScSu role tasks, thus support this very important part of international production of film, theatre, concerts and other scene related industries. The NetVIP project will apply a holistic work design and stakeholder collaboration processes.