Technology-driven Virtual Production

The Advantages and New Applications of Game Engines in the Film Industry

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-3729.2022.1.43370

Keywords:

Game engine, Virtual production, Real-time rendering, Ray tracing, In-camera VFX

Abstract

The “subversive” technological drive of game engines for virtual film production is gradually being valued by filmmakers. This technical advantage is manifested in the game engine’s (1) real-time rendering of final pixels (speed and image quality), (2) “post-production in advance” and multi-pipeline for project production, (3) open-source code sharing and plug-ins for VFX. Based on the advantages, this article takes the mainstream Unreal Engine (UE) and Unity as the research objects to clarify the application prospects of game engines in four aspects: digital humans with high fidelity, real-time ray tracing in complex scenes, in-camera VFX, and remote collaboration in the post-pandemic era.

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Author Biography

Dong An, Southeast University (SEU), Nanjing, China.

Dong An is a lecturer at the School of Art, Southeast University. He received his PhD from the School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. His research interests are film technology and materiality, film archaeology. His manuscripts have been published in Early Popular Visual Culture, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, and Film Art (Dian Ying Yi Shu).

References

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Published

2022-08-05

How to Cite

An, D. (2022). Technology-driven Virtual Production: The Advantages and New Applications of Game Engines in the Film Industry. Revista FAMECOS, 29(1), e43370. https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-3729.2022.1.43370

Issue

Section

DOSSIER - TECHNOLOGICAL & CULTURAL CHANGES IN THE DIGITAL ERA