The Virtual Production Field Guide: Epic Games releases Volume 2

The second volume of Epic Games Virtual Production Field Guide, a free in-depth resource for creators at any stage of the virtual production process in film and television is now available.

First released in 2019, The Virtual Production Field Guide v1.2, written by Noah Kadner and published in PDF format by Epic Games, the company behind Unreal Engine, is a 98 pages eBook designed for anyone interested in or already producing projects using virtual production (VP) techniques. The guide was written with the help of a vast team at Epic Games, creators of Unreal Engine, and includes essential information about techniques and solutions for Virtual Production, and interviews with filmmakers who share their insights about virtual production. Now it’s time for Volume 2.

Epic Games has released the second volume of its Virtual Production Field Guide, a free in-depth resource for creators at any stage of the virtual production process in film and television. Available as a PDF download, this latest volume of the Virtual Production Field Guide dives deep into workflow evolutions including remote multi-user collaboration, new features released in Unreal Engine as well as what’s coming this year in Unreal Engine 5, and two dozen new interviews with industry leaders about their hands-on experiences with virtual production.

The impact of COVID-19 on production

The first volume of the guide, designed as a foundational roadmap for the industry as adoption of virtual production techniques was poised to explode. Since then, a number of additional high profile virtual productions have been completed, with new methodologies developed and tangible lessons ready to share with the industry. The second volume expands upon the first with over 100 pages of all-new content, covering a variety of virtual production workflows including remote collaboration, visualization, in-camera VFX, and animation.

This new volume of the Virtual Production Field Guide features interviews with industry leaders including directors Jon Favreau and Rick Famuyiwa, Netflix’s Girish Balakrishnan and Christina Lee Storm, VFX supervisor Rob Legato, cinematographer Greig Fraser, Digital Domain’s Darren Hendler, DNEG’s George Murphy, Sony Pictures Imageworks’ Jerome Chen, ILM’s Andrew Jones, Richard Bluff, and Charmaine Chan, and many more. In addition, it examines a variety of workflow scenarios, the impact of COVID-19 on production, and the growing ecosystem of virtual production service providers.

Follow the link to download the Virtual Production Field Guide as a PDF. The guide is free to download and share. Get your copy today and find inspiration for your own projects. If you want to keep an eye on the directions the industry is moving towards when it comes to VP, visit Epic’s Virtual Production Hub to learn more about how virtual production is transforming the art and craft of filmmaking. To know more about the origins of Virtual Production, read the previous article published here at ProVideo Coalition about the guide.