I realised that there must be a better, easier, cheaper way to do things. “That’s why I got into the world of virtual production,” he continues. “VP enables you to place your talent anywhere, and at a fraction of the cost.” At Masterwork this is especially true, with its green screen technology an affordable alternative to LED volumes. The best around According to Florin, green screens trump LEDs in a few ways. “LED walls are still super expensive,” he begins. “The technology still isn’t that accessible, price-wise. In my eyes, it’s also a bit harder to run,” he continues, adding that LEDs require more processing power, as well as more hands on deck. “If you’re running an LED stage, you need to have a couple of people on set to help you with that, whereas in the green screen studio, I can be the only VP engineer involved.” As well as accessibility, Florin also prioritises flexibility, and green screens support both multicam set-ups and multi-layer recordings. “We do work such as live streams and podcast discussion panels, which require more than one camera. Usually, with an LED wall, you can’t use more than one. But with green screen, I can have as many cameras as I want,” he describes – though the studio typically supports up to three 4K cameras. Then, while capturing content, “we record the composited foreground and background, but we also record an alpha channel – basically the keyed out foreground, as well as the green screen
HAVING PARTNERS that can help you IS IMPORTANT; THAT’S WHY I’M so grateful FOR CVP” footage – at the same time. This allows for a lot of flexibility in post,” he explains. Masterwork’s virtual studio operates high-end, cinema-grade technology, including Unreal Engine 5, an AJA ColorBox and Blackmagic Design Ultimatte systems. The green screen area itself – painted with ChromaLight – measures 602 sq ft, with acoustically treated walls and DMX-controlled stage lights. “This gives us flexibility to take on pretty much any project,” Florin states. It’s an ideal space for podcasts, live broadcasts or discussion panels, and Masterwork also employs RED cameras and Fujinon Premista lenses – the cream of the crop, optically speaking. “I wanted RED cameras in the studio because the brand has a great reputation,” says Florin. “Premista lenses cover the sensor on the RED V-Raptor. We have a 19-45mm lens, and then we have a 28-100mm, and it means I don’t need to change lenses on set. Because we’re in a VP studio,” he continues, “there’s a lot of rigging around these cameras, so taking a lens off and putting on a different one isn’t as simple as just twisting it. You also have to recalibrate and make sure you load the right profiles in Unreal Engine.” Florin also added an Egripment mini jib for smooth camera movement and two Godox KNOWLED F800Rs – one rigged above and another standing – for soft, yet powerfully bright lighting. “We wanted to have as small a footprint as possible,” he says – which is a good choice given
READY PLAYER Masterwork Films is still in its early days, having only just opened its new fixed-location studio in February of this year
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