Sony has announced the presentation of its new Virtual Production Tool Set, with the new Camera and Display Plugin and Color Calibrator, to help improve pre-production and on-set workflows.

This new tool set works with the Sony Venice, Crystal LED and other HDR-enabled LED walls to improve performance and help solve common virtual production challenges such as color matching and moiré to enhance in-camera visual effects.

The Camera and Display Plugin is a software plug-in for Unreal Engine that allows productions to identify and solve common virtual production workflow issues. For example, one of the most common workflow issues in virtual production is that the Virtual Art Department (VAD) is unable to anticipate the actual color performance of specific cameras. When installed in Unreal Engine, the Virtual Venice in the Camera and Display Plugin allows productions to reproduce the settings of the Venice, Venice 2, and Crystal LED display. This allows the VAD to create assets using the Venice’s color pipeline during pre-production. The Virtual Venice feature in the Camera and Display Plugin can also uniquely simulate the camera’s exposure index and Neutral Density (ND) filters to recreate shallow depth of field and help productions identify lens choices during pre-production. This plug-in also displays a custom moiré alert, depending on the pixel pitch and other specifications of the Wall. Additionally, the settings of the Virtual Venice camera and display plugin can easily be exported from the plug-in and transferred to the on-set Venice and Venice 2.

Sony’s new Color Calibrator is a simple and easy-to-use application for Windows 10 to ensure proper color reproduction when shooting LED walls with the Venice camera. The Color Calibrator eliminates the need for guesswork, reshoots, or complex LUTs on set or in post. Instead, an intuitive interface improves on set workflows by calibrating the look of LED walls, including HDR-enabled LED walls, to the intended look of the Venice camera.

“The new Virtual Production Tool Set was born from the voice of our creative community who requested tools to help them leverage In-Camera VFX and improve the overall process,” said Sebastian Leske, Head of Cinema Business Development, Sony Europe. “Thanks to the continued feedback of our customers and our partnership with Epic Games, we were able to introduce this toolset after rigorous testing.”