The CastleVision toolset
Camera tracking, live compositing, Unreal Engine and motion capture on one system, so effects shots finish in camera at our Burbank and Albuquerque studios.
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
How it works
Our virtual production technology is the toolset behind CastleVision, our U.S.-patented real-time method. Camera tracking, live compositing, Unreal Engine, motion capture and in-camera VFX are integrated into one system and proven on real productions since 2007, at two studios: one in Burbank, in Los Angeles, and one in Albuquerque. In plain terms: cameras that know where they are, a computer that draws the location from each camera's point of view, and a compositor that puts actors and location into one finished picture, live.
For the producer, that means 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, with no background added later in post, and the location can change between takes. New to the idea? Start with what virtual production is.
Every camera move is tracked live, so the digital world holds correct perspective and parallax as the lens pushes, pans and cranes. Tracked camera moves are what separate a believable virtual set from a flat backdrop.
Burbank: Mo-Sys StarTracker, a 13-ft CamMate Encodacam jib, encoded Vinten heads and dollies. Albuquerque: three camera- and motion-tracking systems and a carbon-fiber telescoping crane.
Performers are keyed and composited into the environment in real time. The final look is on the monitor on set, not deferred to post. Live compositing is the heart of our in-camera workflow.
Three Ultimatte keyers at each studio (Ultimatte 12 in Burbank), one per camera.
Photoreal, real-time worlds run on Unreal Engine, the video game engine that draws our virtual sets, and relight, re-scale and reload in seconds. 250+ environments are ready to shoot, with custom builds on request.
Burbank: three Unreal Engine virtual studio systems. Albuquerque: Unreal Engine render and playback machines. Each camera gets its own render.
Motion capture, set extensions and in-camera VFX are part of the same pipeline, so effects shots are designed and seen on the day rather than discovered months later in post.
Albuquerque: a motion-capture setup on the floor, on the same pipeline as the live composite.
Both studios
Both studios run the same CastleVision pipeline and share the full virtual set library, so a production can split between them without losing continuity.
Live compositing, on camera
Raw green on the floor, the finished frame on the monitor, and the capture methods that feed the sets. Hover to preview; click to play with sound. Tap to play with sound.
Worlds that used to mean a VFX budget
On a plain green screen each of these is a plate and a post-production bill. Here the tracked camera moves through them live, and a different one loads between setups.
Check availability
Tell us the world, the camera moves and how many cameras. A producer replies with availability at both studios and a quote.
Rather talk it through? 818-934-3775 · Burbank
818-861-7317 · Albuquerque
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A producer will reach out to talk through your project and next steps. Need us sooner? Call 818-934-3775 (Burbank) or 818-861-7317 (Albuquerque).
In camera, not in post
On a plain green screen the effects arrive weeks after the talent has gone home. With live compositing and camera tracking, the set extension or the planet is on the monitor during the take. The director frames to it, the DP lights to it, and the client signs off on the day.
We never shoot against an LED wall as the background; the world is composited live on green. There, every camera gets its own render, so three cameras can move in different directions through the same space. The foreground can also be delayed to wait for the render, which keeps fast moves locked. The honest trade: that delay lags the monitor feed slightly for operators and talent, never the recorded image. More on virtual production beyond LED walls and the green screen studio itself.
The live composite is keyed from a Rec709-class 4:4:4 feed rather than log, so settle the look with your DP on set rather than planning a log grade of the composite. Physical foreground pieces (desks, tables, furniture, props) sit in the shot and blend with the virtual world.
Load it from the virtual set library, from a planet surface to a spaceship interior. Have our in-house artists build it from a reference. Or capture the real place with CastleVision, or scan it into a 3D set the camera can move through with CastleVision 3D (Gaussian splatting). See any location, recreated.
The method was pioneered in 2007 at our virtual production studio in Los Angeles and is covered by two U.S. patents: one for filming with a video game engine, one for the CastleVision method itself. Unreal Engine draws each set; AI-assisted set building is optional and human-led.
On the floor
Camera tracking, live compositing and the Unreal Engine floor, at both studios.
Click any photo to enlarge.
Questions
Each part of the pipeline has its own page, and so does each studio it runs in.
Tours and live CastleVision demos run by appointment at both studios. Send your dates and a producer replies with availability and a quote.
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