In this episode of VP Land, Aaron Gordon from Synapse VP and David Long from RIT dive into the current state and future of virtual production. Learn about the challenges of LED stage design, how they're teaching virtual production, and how emerging tech like AI will impact filmmaking.

RIT | Certified
Get Certified in Virtual Production
http://ntm.link/RITcertified

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https://ntm.link/vp_land

📺 MORE VP LAND EPISODES

This indie sci-fi film used miniatures
https://youtu.be/n9FnPxlra-I

Inside the ZEISS CinCraft Scenario & Nano Primes
https://youtu.be/4nnkkR34WwY

This music video tested out every new piece of filmmaking gear
https://youtu.be/vFFqiyU2wUY


Connect with David @ RIT:
Website - https://www.rit.edu/magic
Twitter - https://twitter.com/RITMAGIC
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@ritmagiccenter
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ritmagic
David @ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidllong

Connect with Aaron @ Synapse VP:
Website - https://www.synapsevp.com
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/synapse-vp
David @ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-gordon-os


David Long is Director of the RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity (MAGIC) and MAGIC Spell Studios. David joined the faculty of the School of Film and Animation at Rochester Institute of Technology in 2007, where he also serves as an Associate Professor for the motion picture science program. His research interests at RIT include engineering multispectral video capture and display systems, studying variability in human color vision for artistic applications, and modeling sensory perception of motion media.

Aaron Gordon is the founder and CEO of the forward-looking technology innovation firm, Optic Sky Productions. Aaron built a global team of award-winning directors, digital artists, storytellers, producers, and creative technologists that has reaped double & triple-digit growth each year. He has also dedicated much of his focus into education and helped nurture the next generation of filmmakers by positioning them in the bleeding edge technologies our industry is undoubtedly moving toward.

Toward that end, Optic Sky partnered with Rochester Institute of Technology to create one of the first Virtual Production curriculums in the country.

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📝 SHOW NOTES & SOURCES

RIT MAGIC Center
https://www.rit.edu/magic/

Synapse VP
https://www.synapsevp.com/

RIT MAGIC Spell Studios
https://vimeo.com/user172407267

College of Art and Design at RIT
https://www.youtube.com/@CollegeofArtandDesignatRIT

Visit vp-land.com for the complete show notes.

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00:00 Intro
01:48 David Long's backstory and RIT
06:25 Aaron Gordon's backstory
09:07 Designing RIT's VP curriculum
12:35 The Synapse VP stage
17:59 Transferable skills in VP
19:07 RIT's immersion course and curriculum
24:46 Technical skills for cinematographers
28:38 Scanning and photogrammetry
31:25 Color challenges in VP
36:12 AR/VR in virtual production
41:20 Photogrammetry, NeRF, and 3D scanning
58:35 AI in virtual production
01:05:25 Outro

In this episode of VP Land, we dive into the world of sci-fi and indie production with Steve Dabal, co-founder of the production house The Family. Steve shares his experience working on the indie sci-fi rom-com, Molli and Max in the Future, and how the filmmakers overcame budget constraints with creative solutions.

📧 GET THE VP LAND NEWSLETTER
Subscribe for free for the latest news and BTS insights on video creation 2-3x a week:
https://ntm.link/vp_land

📺 MORE VP LAND EPISODES

Inside the ZEISS CinCraft Scenario & Nano Primes
https://youtu.be/4nnkkR34WwY

This music video tested out every new piece of filmmaking gear
https://youtu.be/vFFqiyU2wUY

The CPU Powering The Creator, Pixar, and Virtual Production [AMD's James Knight]
https://youtu.be/F-4bJaOaYlc

Connect with Steve @ The Family:
Website - https://www.stevedabal.com
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/stevewithav
Twitter - https://twitter.com/SteveDabal
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevedabal
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/stevedabal
Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/dabal
IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4288461

The Family
Website - https://thefamily.tv
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thefamilybts
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@the_family
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/family

Molli and Max in the Future
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/molliandmax/


Steve is an independent film director with a background in visual effects, working with brands (Google, Adidas, Paypal, NFL, etc.) and artists (Joey Bada$$, T-Pain, Scarlett Johansson, Oliver Tree, etc.)

As the co-founder and creative director of the Family in New York City, he has grown a small art collective into a full service production house creating digital and physical artworks. It is proudly artist owned and operated.

His work has been recognized at festivals around the world (SXSW, Coachella, Lollapalooza, Clusterfest, New York Film Festival) and he has spoken about using technology for storytelling at SIGGRAPH, Infocomm, Dior, SVA, Villa Albertine, etc.

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📝 SHOW NOTES & SOURCES

BTS - Molli and Max in The Future
https://www.instagram.com/molliandmax/

Molli and Max in The Future Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhFmVkgxveA

Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 Hands-on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzJUcdYQBj8

Tilt Brush: Painting from a new perspective
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TckqNdrdbgk

CNN Tech For Good BRAVEMIND PTSD VR Exposure Therapy 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44ymmQ1kdZw&t=2s

3D virtual reality device for stroke rehabilitation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPcpn665O_s

Hello Apple Vision Pro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY4x85zqoJM&t=1s

A Guided Tour of Apple Vision Pro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb0dG-2huJE&t=203s

Cuebric
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK6HndLX7wg

The Blackmagic Camera App Tutorial - iPhone Filmmaking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9nf7oE75TM

stYpe RedSpy
https://stype.tv

Disguise
https://www.disguise.one/en/solutions/virtual-production

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00:00 Intro
01:45 Steve Dabal's Background and The Family
03:42 How Molli and Max in the Future Started
07:10 VR and Storytelling Research
10:45 Learnings from Early VR Experiments
13:20 About Molli and Max in the Future
15:00 Prep and Production Process Timeline
21:00 Generating Plates and 3D Models
26:32 Color LUT Process for Backgrounds
28:28 Stage Hardware and Tracking
32:15 Tips for Indie Virtual Production
37:30 How Molli and Max Would Differ Today
39:53 Photogrammetry and NeRFs
43:08 Mobile Virtual Production Projects
48:55 AI as an Alternative to Virt

In this episode of VP Land, we dive into the ZEISS CinCraft Scenario with Nick Hayes and Tanner Grimshaw, a powerful camera tracking system for virtual production.

📧 GET THE VP LAND NEWSLETTER
Subscribe for free for the latest news and BTS insights on video creation 2-3x a week:
https://ntm.link/vp_land

📺 MORE VP LAND EPISODES

How GhostFrame is Creating Multiple Realities Simultaneously for Virtual Production
https://youtu.be/hDCHxS8pl1M

This music video tested out every new piece of filmmaking gear
https://youtu.be/vFFqiyU2wUY

The CPU Powering The Creator, Pixar, and Virtual Production [AMD's James Knight]
https://youtu.be/F-4bJaOaYlc

Connect with Tanner and Nick @ ZEISS:

ZEISS Cinematography - https://www.zeiss.com/cine
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/ZEISSCinematography
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ZEISSCinematography
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/zeisscinematography
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/zeiss-cinematography

Tanner @ Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanner-grimshaw
Nick @ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-hayes-7130b084

Tanner Grimshaw is a seasoned industry professional with over a decade of experience in the film & broadcast industry. Possessing a robust technical background and adept skill for troubleshooting, Tanner has supported a wide range of customers such as Netflix, Amazon Studios, NASA, Ross Video, Brainstorm, and numerous others.

Nick Hayes is an experienced sales professional in the Film, Television, and Broadcast industry. For the past 16 years, Nick has been employed by such technology leaders as: FOX Sports Network, RED Digital Cinema, Angenieux, Teradek, SmallHD, Wooden Camera, Ncam Technologies, and ZEISS Cinema. Nick has also worked 3 years as a Digital Media associate faculty member for Mt San Jacinto Community College and has an intimate knowledge of video production technology for cinema, broadcast, virtual production, and live event applications.

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📝 SHOW NOTES & SOURCES

ZEISS Cinematography
https://www.zeiss.com/cine

ZEISS CinCraft Scenario
https://cincraft.zeiss.com

ZEISS Nano Prime Lenses
https://www.zeiss.com/consumer-products/int/cinematography/nano-prime-lenses.html

ZEISS CP.3 Lenses
https://www.zeiss.com/consumer-products/int/cinematography/compact-prime-cp-3-lenses.html

ZEISS Supreme Prime Lenses
https://www.zeiss.com/consumer-products/int/cinematography/supreme-prime-lenses.html

ZEISS Supreme Prime Radiance Lenses
https://www.zeiss.com/consumer-products/int/cinematography/supreme-prime-radiance-lenses.html

ZEISS Cinema Showroom
https://www.zeiss.com/consumer-products/us/home/local/cinematography/cinema-showroom.html

ZEISS Nano Primes Review
https://www.cined.com/zeiss-nano-primes-review-supreme-look-for-the-rest-of-us/

Artificial Intelligence: Job killer or job creator?
https://youtu.be/I3lo1UmM4Dw

How AI Took Center Stage In The Hollywood Writers' Strike
https://youtu.be/eK9QWB1OOro

RED Digital Cinema
https://www.red.com

Ncam
https://www.ncam-tech.com

GhostFrame
https://youtu.be/hDCHxS8pl1M

ARRI
https://www.arri.com

Teradek
https://teradek.com

Intel RealSense
https://www.intelrealsense.com

NAB 2024
https://nabshow.com/2024

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00:00 Intro
01:58 Tanner's Background
03:07 ZEISS Acquisition of Ncam
03:48 Nick's Background
05:58 ZEISS CinCraft Scenario
10:46 Tracking with Digital Markers
12:33 Choosing the Best Tracking Method
18:10 Lens Integration & Calibration
22:57 The Camera Bar Placement & Offset
34:00 Choosing the Right Lens - Nano Prime/CP.3/Supreme/Radiance
38:57 AI in the Film Ind