Gemini Realtime Volume Stage
KEYWORDS: 3D ANIMATION, VFX, REAL-TIME RENDERING, LARGE FORMAT SCREENS
PROJECT TIMELINE
4 WEEKS
TECHNOLOGY USED
- Unreal Engine 5
- Cinema 4D
- Adobe After Effects
iBelieveinSwordfish created a series of environments in Unreal Engine 5 for a virtual production shoot for Gemini Exchange. I served as the Technical Director for the project, ensuring all environments would run in real time on the volume stage’s system. I worked alongside our designers as we built out the scenes to make sure the assets we used were optimized for real-time rendering. Additionally, I was responsible for the initial build out of the Office environment. Finally, I traveled to New York to be our team’s on-the-ground artist and technical advisor. While on set, I made on the fly changes to the scenes per the director’s needs.
ULTIMATE PRE-VIZ
While we developed the environments, the Glass and Marker team were developing the story the video would tell and how they were wanting to present Gemini. We helped them flesh out the visuals by having virtual sessions with the director going through the script and adding cameras and actors to the environments with exact positions to establish the framing they wanted. This not only helped establish the story with the clients, but saved time on the set because the stage was able to set up approximate markers for where the cameras should be before the team was even there.
ON SET FLEXIBILITY
While on set, I was able to work with the director to alter the scenes in real-time, adding and removing foliage, repositioning actors for different framing, and finessing the lighting to achieve the exact look he wanted. Whenever a technical glitch came up, it was easy to fix it and have the screens update immediately. Overall, this was a really fun project and highlighted the way real-time rendering can dramatically change how flexible directors can be when your assets are completely free from traditional pipelines.
