At first glance, Lightcraft Jetset feels like just one more gadget crowding the bargain end of virtual production: it runs on an iPhone rather than bespoke tracking hardware, offers a fullyfeatured free tier, and its paid “Jetset Pro” upgrade costs barely twenty dollars a month. But that perception changers as you start looking at the pedigree of the company: Lightcraft’s chairman and lead investor is Bill Warner, the same Bill Warner who founded Avid and upended nonlinear editing three decades ago.

Dig a little deeper and you discover that the app’s realtime tracking and compositing are already powering shoots overseen by veteran VFX supervisors, proving their mettle far beyond the indie sandbox. And if the $20 tier doesn’t hint at bigger ambitions, the $80permonth “Jetset Cine” license—complete with genlock, cinelens calibration, and hardsync to ARRI, RED, or Sony bodies—certainly does. (Although, as you’ll see, $80 a month is still a steal for what it does.) 

Let’s dive in and look at exactly what Jetset is, and what it delivers. 

From Forklifts to Phones — A Brief Backstory 

Lightcraft has actually been around since 2004 and their first major virtualproduction system—Previzion—cost roughly $180,000 and arrived on set by forklift. Today, that same core tech weighs about 180 grams because it runs on an iPhone. 

The company soft launched Jetset at NAB 2024, drawing crowds precisely because it doesn’t require an LED volume. You point your phone, frame the shot, and see a live composite of actors inside a CG set—even handheld and outdoors. 

What Jetset Actually Does 

RealTime 6DoF Camera Tracking 

Jetset exploits Apple’s ARKit to generate subpixel, sixdegreeoffreedom tracking data at up to 120 Hz—no physical markers, no reflective tape. It happily rides on gimbals like DJI RS 3 or Steadicam rigs. 

Live Compositing & “Infinite Greenscreen” 

The app pumps a keyable background plate, foreground video, depth map, and a finished composite out of the phone’s USBC port (or wirelessly via Accsoon SeeMo). Blue/green screen, AI matte generation, and even 3D “infinite greenscreen” extensions render in real time, so talent and director see finalpixel framing on set. 

Scene Locators & DepthAware Anchors 

Taptoplace locators let you pin CG props or whole environments to realworld coordinates. Because Jetset writes LiDAR depth per frame, parallax sticks—even when you whippan.  

Autoshot & DCC RoundTrip 

Every take bundles the raw plate, ProRes or H.264 composite, USDformatted camera path, LiDAR mesh, and onset notes. Autoshot pushes that bundle straight into Blender, Unreal, Nuke, SynthEyes, or Resolve/Fusion. 

Under the Hood—Five Features That Matter 

MarkerFree SubPixel Refinement

Optional LiDAR scans refine ARKit solves down to <0.5 px in Syntheyes or PFTrack. 

Gaussian Splat Backdrops

Feed Jetset a NeRF or Gaussian Splat of your location; the phone renders parallaxcorrect 3D scenery in real time. 

Tentacle Timecode & GenLock

Cine tier syncs audio TC and sends a pulse to camera, so your onset composite lines up frameaccurately in post. 

Digital Slate & Metadata

Every take includes focal length, focus distance, Tstop, ISO, and a secure hash so VFX plates can be QCverified later. 

Autoshot Scripts for Blender/Unreal/Nuke

One click rebuilds the shot in 3D with nulls, image planes, and synced dailies—no directory spelunking required. This in addition to live streaming directly into Unreal and Blender. 

Where Jetset Fits in the VP Landscape 

LED volumes excel at complex interactive lighting but remain impractical for indie crews or midtier episodic budgets. Pure plateshooting, on the other hand, lacks director feedback and piles hours onto the tracking department. Jetset offers the perfect solution for this: realtime context without the wall. Even in LED wall settings, Jetset’s Live Link feed can delivers lenscalibrated tracking to Unreal or Disguise. 

Final Thoughts 

Lightcraft Jetset isn’t a novelty phone app; it’s a distillation of highend virtualproduction workflows into something every filmmaker already owns (and the modern iPhone is packed with a ridiculous amount of filmmaking sensors that are, frankly, wasted on the average consumer). The free tier removes any barrier to entry, while the Pro and Cine tiers scale features predictably with budget.

If your show needs tracked, greenscreen composites without the cost or footprint of an LED volume, Jetset deserves a spot in your kit—and possibly on your iPhone’s home screen.