Video conferencing is a handy tool that can bring together groups of people from great distances. The benefits are clear – you save money and reduce your carbon footprint because you don’t need to travel too much. And, you have more time and can achieve a better work/life balance.
However, many people don’t take advantage of video conferencing because they feel it will be too expensive to set up. Although buying a particular system is indeed a significant investment, there are many lower-cost options for video conferencing on a limited budget.
Virtual sets are television studios that allow backgrounds to be manipulated in real-time. A virtual set will allow you to change backgrounds or settings with digital graphics – your imagination is the limit. As graphics technology improves, so Virtual devices are becoming more common.
With extraordinary realism, Computer graphics can create scenes now. Virtual sets are also known as Virtual Studios which are mostly used in video production and live broadcasts.
- What’s in it? There are many. For example, you can save time and money, control the weather and lighting, and a variety of choices. Because you will be indoors, you will also have better sound quality, which is another amazing benefit.
- So how does it work? You are shooting your program in front of a green screen. This can be done directly with a virtual set that appears in real-time, or you can add them digitally in post-production for other uses. Whatever it is, you can shoot from many cameras and angles, as most sets come with multiple camera angles giving you fantastic flexibility.
The main variations of the sets are that computers produce still images, computer-generated animations, cameras that produce still images, and video produced by cameras. Still, images are usually used for virtual backgrounds when the full set is not necessary. Also, you can make special sets.
Many news shows often record their programs in virtual sets, which means that the studio has a green background and later the studio’s interior is added to the scene. For each camera angle, to add a virtual background, you need to have an image that shows a particular perspective from each camera. Virtual studios are of two types of:
Virtual 3D Studio
To create 3D scenes in real-time from a camera perspective, the actual camera position and its movements in the studio are used and added to the video. This technique is cost-intensive and requires sophisticated arrangements.
Virtual Set
During production, the position of the camera is fixed and will not change. Now you can use static images as a background to create the illusion of a large set on a budget.
Normal studio sets are often more time consuming and expensive. Compared to that, Virtual Studio has more advantages and benefits, as explained below.
- Virtual Studio devices are much faster to install than standard devices.
- Producers have the option to create their own studio set themes or choose from a series of digital sets that have been made before. It is also possible to change the background of the virtual studio set based on the agenda of the event as and when needed during the show.
- It’s possible to get video recordings in different environments and merge videos into a virtual studio simultaneously.
- Virtual studio devices can be taken from various angles using a camera that is set from different points of view.
- It’s even possible to create virtual areas in the studio set for animation or “picture in picture” effects.
You must first think of your studio and the placement of your camera to create a virtual set. You need the amount of space and green screen fabric in your studio, depending on how many cameras you plan to use. Nowadays, as a background, virtual studios use green or blue screen technology that will display recorded images of videos that are worn in digital designs.
Competition for viewers is very intense, and viewers demand higher quality and realism as high as possible in what they see on television. So using virtual studios is quite attractive to broadcasters of various sizes, making it possible to save on production costs while increasing their content. Therefore, what used to be a sophisticated tool only for the largest companies is now a broad solution.
Image credit: Virtual Set via architect9/Shutterstock