Virtual Production

Our virtual production network across Australia routes through the country's flagship stages: Disney Studios Australia in Sydney runs the LED Volume that lensed Thor Ragnarok (Waititi 2017) and Thor Love and Thunder (Waititi 2022).

Here is how this works in practice. Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast carries many virtual production stages supporting Aquaman, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Wan), Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales, Elvis (Luhrmann 2022), and Furiosa (Miller 2024).

Here is the short of it. Standard pipelines run Unreal Engine 5.4 with NDisplay multi-machine rendering, Mo-Sys StarTracker and stYpe encoded tracking, ROE Black Pearl BP2v2 and BP4 LED panels, Brompton SX40 and Tessera processors, Pixotope and disguise xR media servers, full ACES/OCIO colour running, and integrated genlock to ARRI Alexa Mini LF or Sony Venice 2 cinema cameras with linked focus, iris, and zoom encoders.

Here is the breakdown. Australia's virtual production talent pool is in tech mature thanks to Animal Logic (Sydney — the Lego franchise pipeline lead with real-time rendering R&D), Iloura Melbourne (Mad Max Fury Road VFX Oscar nomination), and cross-border partnerships with ILM Stagecraft Los Angeles (The Mandalorian pipeline alignment) and Weta FX Wellington (3-hour Sydney-Auckland flight — adjacent to Avatar Way of Water 2022 Manukau performance-capture).

Here is what that looks like on the ground. We set up Producer Offset 30%, Location Offset 30% (QAPE 30M+ AUD), and PDV Offset 30% (5M+ AUD QAPE) forms through Screen Australia, with state PDV rebates stackable up to 40%+ good via Screen NSW, VicScreen, and Screen Queensland. MEAA crew agreements give reciprocal IATSE/DGA/SAG-AFTRA recognition for visiting global shoots arriving on 12-hour direct LA-Sydney Qantas, United, and American flights.