- What are standing sets in Los Angeles?
- Standing sets are permanently built locations, such as apartments, offices, hospitals and police stations, that productions rent instead of building from scratch. Traditional LA standing sets live on lots and stages around the city, one location per address. Ours are virtual: 250+ photoreal standing sets that load in our Burbank studio in seconds and are captured in camera, with the same library available in Albuquerque.
- What standing sets are available in Los Angeles?
- The library holds 250+ virtual standing sets. The ones scripts ask for most include courtrooms, a police station with holding cells, a jail, hospital rooms and corridors, apartments and houses, corporate offices and conference rooms, bars, restaurants and cafes, a grocery store, a classroom, a church, a bank, a motel and a hotel lobby, an airport terminal, an airplane cabin, a subway train, city streets and the Oval Office. Browse them by room in the set library, and tell us the sets you need when you check availability so we can confirm them.
- How is a virtual standing set different from a traditional one?
- A traditional standing set is one location at one address, booked around other shows' schedules. A virtual standing set library puts every location in one studio. Swap from the apartment to the hospital to the precinct between setups, redress without a rebuild, and come back months later to the exact same set for pickups.
- How much does it cost to rent a standing set?
- Every production is quoted individually; there is no rate card. The quote depends on shoot days, crew size, set complexity and which studio you use. The whole 250+ set library comes with the studio, so you are not paying for one location at a time, and there is no set construction required, no strike and no storage between seasons. Send your location list and dates and a producer replies with availability and a quote.
- Can we shoot several standing sets in one day?
- Yes. Sets load in seconds and swap between setups, so one shoot day can run from a courtroom in the morning to an apartment after lunch and a hospital corridor by evening. The crew stays on the floor, there is no company move, and because the whole library comes with the studio you are not paying for one location at a time.
- Are the standing sets pre-lit and pre-dressed?
- The studio is ready when you arrive. Lighting, grip and audio packages are already on the floor as part of the rental, and in Burbank the green screen cyclorama is pre-lit. Each virtual room comes dressed, and its colors, design and often its weather can be changed to fit the script. Your art department adds real furniture and props in the foreground, and Albuquerque has a furniture and prop warehouse on site.
- Can we dress a virtual standing set with our own props?
- Yes. Real furniture and props sit in the foreground where your actors work and blend into the virtual environment. The camera records the finished composite live, with the operator who runs the virtual sets included in the rate. Albuquerque also has a furniture and prop warehouse on site.
- Can we come back to the same standing set for pickups or a second season?
- Yes. The sets live on drives, so there are no storage fees and nothing is struck. A pickup months later, or the next season, reloads the exact set, lighting and framing.
- What if the standing set we need is not in the library?
- Our set builders and artists create it from a reference, or we capture the real place with CastleVision, our patented method for filming a real place and bringing it onto the stage. That includes a client's own restaurant, store or office, recreated so it never has to close. Between the library, a custom build and a capture, nearly any scene can be shot here.
- Are the same standing sets available in Burbank and Albuquerque?
- Yes. Both studios share the full library and run the same pipeline, so a production can split between Los Angeles and Albuquerque without losing continuity. Because the systems and software are upgraded constantly, not every set is available at all times; tell us the sets you need when you check availability and we will confirm them.
- Can we see a standing set before we book?
- Yes. Producers with a project can book a studio tour by appointment at either studio and watch a standing set composited live, in camera, on the monitor. Bring the script's location list and we will show you sets from the library that fit it.