Challenge

On Air Milano’s premises include a mid-sized studio, previously used primarily for advertising productions, that required some renovations to make it competitive in an increasingly crowded and demanding market. For this reason, On Air Milano sought to create more opportunities to boost the studio, differentiate it from the competition, and explore additional activities as part of its Production division. In his role as Producer, Niki Petrucci was aware of the potential of LED Volumes and Virtual Production, so he approached Video Progetti to evaluate the possibility of setting up a full in-house Virtual Production set.

For a company of On Air Milano’s size, this represented a significant investment. Therefore, their request didn’t entail only the creation of a Virtual Production set, but it also included special assistance in financing the project and offer a solid partnership for all post-sales activities, including the full training and re-skilling of the internal team.

Solution

Given the complexity of the project and the scale of the investment, it was mutually decided to go through a Proof-of-Concept (POC) stage by renting a LED Volume, a media server (Disguise), and a camera tracking system. Video Progetti supported On Air Milano also with the initial training of the staff.

This phase extended well beyond a mere technical test. With the POC setup, On Air Milano successfully produced “ZERO,” a TV program for RAI, which aired on RAI2, one of the state broadcaster’s primary channels.

With the POC demonstrating that the solution was “ready for prime-time” and capable of opening new business opportunities for On Air Milano, it was decided to proceed with the full implementation of a Virtual Production Studio.

The solution deployed at On Air Milano by Video Progetti is a typical In-Camera VFX Virtual Production setup that includes:

• 12m x 3.5m backdrop LED wall. This is a Unilumin Upad IV with 2,6mm pixel pitch.
• 6m x 3m ceiling LED wall. This is a Unilumin Upad III with 5mm pixel pitch.
• Brompton SX40 Tessera processors SX40
• Disguise Media Server (1 x VX2)
• Disguise Render Engine (2 x RX2)
• Stype camera tracking system for 2 cameras

Interestingly, On Air Milano decided to finance and self-produce a short film, “23”, before putting the Virtual Production studio into full operation. This allowed them to experiment all nuances of VP without the typical hassles of a “real” production and demonstrate the possibilities of Virtual Production to prospective clients. “23” has been selected at some major festivals in recent months.