How much does it cost to rent a virtual production studio?

We quote every production individually, because the number is driven by your shoot days, crew size, set complexity, and which studio you use. What we can tell you up front is what a virtual production studio takes off the budget that a traditional build never could: company moves, set construction, per-location fees, scouting, travel, and weather days. Tell us what you are shooting and we will scope it against your real budget.

Is virtual production cheaper than building a set?

Usually, yes, and the savings compound. A physical build costs you design, materials, construction labor, on-set space and a strike at wrap. In our studio the set loads in seconds and reloads for pickups, even months later. You also collapse multiple locations into one studio with no company moves, which is often the single biggest line item virtual production erases.

Why don’t you publish a rate card?

Because no two productions are the same, a flat rack rate would either pad a simple shoot or undersell a complex one. We would rather scope your production honestly so you pay for exactly what your shoot needs, not a number built for someone else’s job.

What is included in a shoot day?

The studio comes with our patented CastleVision real-time pipeline, 250+ loadable sets, the lighting, grip, audio and teleprompter systems, on-site dressing rooms, makeup, green rooms and production offices, and the virtual system operator who drives the environment in real time. Additional crew is an optional add-on: our crew package adds three camera operators, one of them on the jib, plus a teleprompter operator, or you can bring your own team. You bring the script and the talent.

Is a camera crew included in the rate?

The virtual system operator is included in every rental, so the system is always staffed. A camera crew is optional: our crew package adds three camera operators, one of them on the jib, plus a teleprompter operator. Or bring your own team, and we hand them a studio that is already rigged and running.

What should I send to get a quote?

Use the form below: the format, your dates, roughly how many shoot days, and which studio (Burbank, Albuquerque or not sure). A producer reads it, not a sales queue, and replies with availability at both studios and a quote built on your shoot.

How do I check dates for my shoot?

Send your dates with the inquiry. A producer replies with current availability at both studios and a quote built on your shoot.

Can financing or incentives cover part of the production?

Often, yes. Our Albuquerque studio is a New Mexico Qualified Production Facility, so a production shooting there can reach the state's 30% refundable credit on qualifying spend (the 25% base plus the 5% facility uplift), and for a limited number of productions we choose to back, investor-backed financing is available.

Does the Albuquerque studio save even more?

It can. Our Albuquerque studio is a Qualified Production Facility, and the 5% facility uplift is what takes New Mexico’s refundable film tax credit from the 25% base to 30% on qualifying spend. That stacks on top of the savings virtual production already delivers. Same patented pipeline as Burbank.

Bryan Cranston seated in a wine cellar virtual set on the Burbank stage at L.A. Castle Studios

RatesBurbank & Albuquerque

Virtual Production Cost and Studio Rental Rates

Every quote is built on your shoot, never a rack rate. Here is what drives the cost, what every rental includes and what drops off your budget.

250+ sets in every rental
Virtual set operator included
Optional crew, or bring your own
Albuquerque: 30% refundable NM credit

Check Availability Book a Studio Tour

Or call 818-934-3775 Burbank 818-861-7317 Albuquerque

Productions that have trusted us

The networks, the streamers and the studios have all shot here.

Hart to Heart, Aquaman 2, Inventing Anna, Bosch, The Mummy, Greenland, Deadliest Catch and national spots for T-Mobile, Amazon and Domino's. Full credit list

Cost drivers

What drives your virtual production cost

We quote every production individually, so there is no rate card to read here. Instead, here is what your number depends on and what every rental already includes. In plain terms, the location is a photoreal virtual set that appears around your talent live, in camera, on our stage. You see the finished shot on the monitor while you film, so there is nothing to build, move or tear down, and that changes what a shoot costs.

Shoot days: How many days you are on the floor. More pages a day means fewer days, and fewer of every other line item.
Crew: Bring your own team, or add our optional crew package: three camera operators, one of them on the jib, plus a teleprompter operator.
Set complexity: Any set in the library loads in seconds. A custom environment built to your spec by our set builders and artists, or your own location captured with CastleVision, adds custom environment work to the quote.
Which studio: Burbank, the Media Capital of the World, or Albuquerque, a New Mexico Qualified Production Facility. Qualified New Mexico spend earns the state's 25% refundable credit, and shooting at a Qualified Production Facility adds the 5% uplift toward 30%. Our guide to New Mexico film incentives has the details.

The format, the number of cameras and a live audience shape the scope too, so say whether it is a commercial studio rental, a music video studio rental with several looks, or a talk show studio rental with an audience. Both studios seat an audience, and Burbank’s seating is stadium-style. A plain chroma key day on the pre-lit cyc in Burbank is quoted on its own, so see green screen studio rates for that.

Behind the scenes on the Burbank stage: crew shooting against the green-screen cyclorama under the lighting grid while a live in-camera composite plays on the monitor

Sets in every rental: 250+
Albuquerque: refundable NM credit: 30%

Included in every studio rental

The studio, and the virtual system operator who drives the environment in real time for the whole shoot
250+ ready-to-load virtual sets, swapped between setups the same day
Our patented CastleVision real-time pipeline
Lighting, grip and audio packages
The teleprompter system
Dressing rooms, makeup, green rooms and production offices on site

Optional, quoted if you want it

The crew package: three camera operators (one on the jib) and a teleprompter operator. Or bring your own team.
A custom virtual set built to your spec, or your own location recreated with CastleVision.

You bring the script and the talent. You keep your production, your client and your credit. See the green rooms, offices and support spaces on the facility page, or the production offices for rent in the Burbank building.

Where the budget shows on screen

Locations that would cost a fortune to build, finished in camera

A two-level game-show floor, a future Los Angeles rooftop built from scratch, a full airport terminal with no company move, two worlds in one Excedrin spot, and a Wolf & Shepherd commercial day from behind the camera. Hover to preview; click to play with sound. Tap to play with sound.

Game Show

Custom build

Future L.A. Rooftop

Built from scratch

Airport Terminal

No company move

Excedrin

Two worlds, one spot

Wolf & Shepherd

A shoot day, behind the scenes

Film & TV

Feature & episodic

See the Full Video Gallery →

Locations you would otherwise lock up

Million-dollar sets, ready at either studio

An airport terminal, a subway car, a courtroom, a hospital corridor and the Oval Office: the places that cost the most to lock up or build. Here each one loads in seconds, at either studio, as part of the rental.

Browse all 250+ sets →

Check availability

Get a quote built on your shoot days

Send the format, the dates and roughly how many shoot days. A producer reads it, not a sales queue, and replies with availability at both studios and a quote built on your production.

Included: the studio, the sets, lighting, grip, audio, the teleprompter system and the operator who runs the virtual sets
Optional: three camera operators (one on the jib) and a teleprompter operator, or bring your own team
No rack rate: the quote follows your shoot days, crew, sets and studio

Rather talk it through? 818-934-3775 · Burbank
818-861-7317 · Albuquerque

Name

Phone

Target shoot dates

What are you shooting, for how many days, and at which studio?

A producer will get back to you about your project. No spam, ever. By sending this you agree to our privacy policy.

Off the budget

What a virtual production studio takes off your budget

A traditional shoot pays for the location, the build, the move and the teardown, every time. Here is what you get instead, and the line item each one replaces. On the series side, Hilton Head Island shot more than 50 locations across 32 episodes without leaving the Burbank studio.

One address for the whole shoot: No company moves, travel days, per diems or weather days. Once you are in production, the schedule never leaves Burbank or Albuquerque, so there is no trucking the production across town, no relocating cast and crew between setups, and no flights or hotels between locations.
Sets that are already built: No set construction required: no carpentry, lumber, paint or build labor on the schedule. Add as many real props, set pieces and furniture as you want; physical pieces blend into the virtual set.
A day that ends when the shoot ends: No set strike or teardown. Nothing gets torn down at wrap, and you are not paying a crew to dismantle a build.
Any location the script calls for: No location fees, no scouting and no paying for one location at a time. 250+ environments come with the studio, so you can shoot a penthouse, a courthouse, an airport and a spaceship in the same day, without renting, scouting or insuring a different real location for every scene.
Pickups without a rebuild: No costly reshoots. Sets live on drives, so we reload the exact set, lighting and framing, even months later, like a virtual standing set.
More pages a day: Fewer crew days. The same script wraps in less time, and fewer shoot days is fewer of every line item above.

The cheapest set is the one you never build. Browse the virtual set library to see what is already standing, or read how the CastleVision method puts it around your talent. New to it? See what our virtual production services in Los Angeles cover.

Questions

Cost & rates questions

How much does it cost to rent a virtual production studio?: We quote every production individually, because the number is driven by your shoot days, crew size, set complexity, and which studio you use. What we can tell you up front is what a virtual production studio takes off the budget that a traditional build never could: company moves, set construction, per-location fees, scouting, travel, and weather days. Tell us what you are shooting and we will scope it against your real budget.
Is virtual production cheaper than building a set?: Usually, yes, and the savings compound. A physical build costs you design, materials, construction labor, on-set space and a strike at wrap. In our studio the set loads in seconds and reloads for pickups, even months later. You also collapse multiple locations into one studio with no company moves, which is often the single biggest line item virtual production erases.
Why don’t you publish a rate card?: Because no two productions are the same, a flat rack rate would either pad a simple shoot or undersell a complex one. We would rather scope your production honestly so you pay for exactly what your shoot needs, not a number built for someone else’s job.
What is included in a shoot day?: The studio comes with our patented CastleVision real-time pipeline, 250+ loadable sets, the lighting, grip, audio and teleprompter systems, on-site dressing rooms, makeup, green rooms and production offices, and the virtual system operator who drives the environment in real time. Additional crew is an optional add-on: our crew package adds three camera operators, one of them on the jib, plus a teleprompter operator, or you can bring your own team. You bring the script and the talent.
Is a camera crew included in the rate?: The virtual system operator is included in every rental, so the system is always staffed. A camera crew is optional: our crew package adds three camera operators, one of them on the jib, plus a teleprompter operator. Or bring your own team, and we hand them a studio that is already rigged and running.
What should I send to get a quote?: Use the form below: the format, your dates, roughly how many shoot days, and which studio (Burbank, Albuquerque or not sure). A producer reads it, not a sales queue, and replies with availability at both studios and a quote built on your shoot.
How do I check dates for my shoot?: Send your dates with the inquiry. A producer replies with current availability at both studios and a quote built on your shoot.
Can financing or incentives cover part of the production?: Often, yes. Our Albuquerque studio is a New Mexico Qualified Production Facility, so a production shooting there can reach the state's 30% refundable credit on qualifying spend (the 25% base plus the 5% facility uplift), and for a limited number of productions we choose to back, investor-backed financing is available. See how the incentives work →
Does the Albuquerque studio save even more?: It can. Our Albuquerque studio is a Qualified Production Facility, and the 5% facility uplift is what takes New Mexico’s refundable film tax credit from the 25% base to 30% on qualifying spend. That stacks on top of the savings virtual production already delivers. Same patented pipeline as Burbank. How the New Mexico credit works →

Scope your shoot before you ask for a number

Each of these answers one of the things a quote depends on: the studio, the sets, the crew, the credit and the format.

Burbank studio 20-ft ceiling, 15 ft to the grid, stadium-style seating and drive-on load-in.
Albuquerque studio The feature film studio, a Qualified Production Facility for the 5% uplift.
New Mexico film tax credit 25% base plus a 5% facility uplift, refundable.
Production financing For a limited number of productions we choose to back.
Browse 250+ virtual sets Every set in the library comes with the rental.
Any location, real or imagined Custom builds and CastleVision captures, when the library does not have it.
The facility Green rooms, makeup and support spaces included in the rental.
Production offices Furnished offices in the Burbank building, month to month.
Film studio rental rates Features and episodic work at both studios.
TV studio rental Multi-camera shows with audience seating.
Production studio rental Commercials, corporate video, music videos and documentaries.
Talk show set rental Talk show sets with audience seating; Hart to Heart shot in Burbank.
Micro drama and vertical drama production Where pages per day decide the budget.
How CastleVision works The patented method behind the in-camera composite.
LED volume stage alternative How a green-screen composite compares with an LED volume.
Questions producers ask Booking, sets, crew and the technology.