What is a Virtual Art Department?

Silvertown Studios is always looking to improve how efficiently virtual productions are shot at our studios. The first element we implemented was to instal on-camera LED. The second, we quickly figured out, was to create an in-house Virtual Art Department (VAD).

Understanding the role of a Virtual Art Department (VAD)

VAD is a team of digital experts who design and build visual elements for a virtual production. When creating the environments digital artists will work on ensuring the digital assets are able to be integrated with the physical set as, it is pivotal to ensure verisimilitude is not broken.

In the pre-production phase VAD will be instrumental in bringing a Director’s vision to life. Working closely with the creative team the VAD team will design detailed and tailored environments prior to the production shoot days, this in turn allows the Director and team to visualise the virtual environments to create a smoother production.

Communication between the production crew and our VAD team is quick and streamlined. Without the need to wait for external teams, our VAD team, are able to modify assets without delays to your production schedule.

Our studios’ virtual production infrastructure allows our VAD team to be able to efficiently make real-time modifications. Resulting in any feedback from the Director being acted on during the production swiftly.

A Virtual Art Department is a fundamental cog in any virtual production. As virtual production technology continues to grow, having an in-house VAD that operates in sync with the LED volume workflow, unreal- engine pipelines and real-time rendering is now an essential component for productions seeking efficiency and creative precision.

If you would like more information or want to leverage the power of an integrated VAS for your next project, get in touch with our team…