Virtual Production & XR Stage in Los Angeles

What it is

LED volume plus real-time engine, shot in camera.

XR (extended reality) and virtual production replace the green-screen comp pass with a live LED volume. A real-time engine — typically Unreal Engine 5.4+ — renders the background scene; camera tracking feeds the engine the camera's exact position so the parallax updates as the camera moves. The talent gets accurate eyelines, the lens collects real reflections off the volume, and lighting from the LED falls on the subject for free. The result is in-camera final pixels: no day-of compositing, no rotoscope passes, no surprise re-shoots.

What we build

Four XR formats we run in LA.

The volume stack stays consistent; the show pattern around it changes. Here are the four jobs that fill the calendar.

XR Concert Stages

Mid-pitch LED volumes for touring artists and one-night residencies. The audience sees the stage and the camera audience sees a virtual world. Same crew builds the stage and operates the engine — one bill, one call sheet.

Volume Shoots (Film / TV)

Fine-pitch (P1.5–P2.6) volumes for episodic, commercial, and music video. Full plate workflow, ACES color, 3,840 Hz refresh, and Unreal scene optimization before camera call. We deliver in-camera final pixels.

Live Broadcast

Sports studios, news desks, and live-to-tape entertainment with switchable XR backdrops. Mo-Sys or stYpe tracking, redundant playback, and ACES color so the LED matches the camera transfer function shot to shot.

Brand Activations

Pop-up XR stages for product launches, fashion campaigns, and influencer shoot days. Mid-pitch panels, single tracked camera, branded Unreal scene built to the activation theme. Truckable in three days flat.

The Volume Stack

Five systems running in lockstep.

An XR shoot is five subsystems synchronized to the same clock. Drop one and the take is gone. We own all five, on staff, with redundancy on every layer.

── Layer 01

LED Volume (P1.5–P2.6)

Fine-pitch panels engineered for camera work. Refresh rates above 3,840 Hz to eliminate scan lines on shutter, color-accurate gamut with low Delta E, and curve-capable frames for partial wrap configurations. We stock P1.5, P1.9, and P2.6 in modular wall and ceiling sections, plus dedicated processor pipelines that hand off cleanly to Unreal Engine or Notch. The same panels we use for broadcast volumes run our touring XR stages.

── Layer 02

Camera tracking

Mo-Sys StarTracker · stYpe RedSpy · Vicon

The tracking system that tells Unreal where the camera is in space. Mo-Sys StarTracker handles wide Steadicam and dolly setups using a ceiling sticker constellation. stYpe RedSpy is the right call for fast live-broadcast cuts where latency has to stay under one frame. Vicon optical covers crane and jib work and rigs over 12 ft of throw. We run two tracking systems on every multi-cam shoot for redundancy.

── Layer 03

Real-time engine

Unreal Engine 5.4+ · disguise rx series

Unreal Engine 5.4 or later is our default. UE5's Nanite geometry handles film-grade asset density without proxy meshes; Lumen lighting holds up to camera scrutiny; nDisplay drives the multi-screen output cluster. The Unreal scene runs on disguise rx servers — rx ii or rx range — which handle nDisplay clustering, color management, and timecode. Same crew operates both the engine and the server.

── Layer 04

Genlock + frame-sync infrastructure

Every device on the shoot — camera, LED processor, engine, tracking, switcher — locks to a single house sync. We deploy AJA GenLock generators with tri-level sync distribution, ensure the camera's shutter angle aligns to the LED refresh phase, and validate sync on the scope before first slate. Without this, you get rolling banding on the wall. With it, the wall looks like an empty frame.

── Layer 05

Color science (LUTs, ACES)

ACES is the workflow we lock by default. Camera RAW into ACEScct working space, LED panels calibrated to ACES output, monitor LUTs matched on every station from director's village to post. The LED panel sees the same color the camera DIT sees the same color the editor will see. We supply the on-set calibration kit, the color scientist, and the verified LUT package for delivery.

Crew

Unreal Engine operators, on staff in LA.

We keep certified Unreal Engine operators on the payroll — not freelance subs. That means the same operator who optimized the scene in pre-production runs the engine on shoot day, knows the volume's color profile from the calibration session, and can hot-fix a shader at 2 AM without a vendor escalation. Our operators ship credits on episodic TV, commercial, and music video work. They handle scene prep, nDisplay configuration, in-engine sequencer cues, and live operator runs through wrap. For the dedicated operator page with credit list and rate card, see Unreal Engine operator rental in Los Angeles. Every XR booking includes at minimum one operator plus a tech who knows the volume by serial number; full-volume shoots get a second operator on a hot-spare engine instance.

Pre-Production

Scene plate prep, pre-vis in Unreal.

The shoot day is the easy day. The pre-production work is what makes in-camera final pixels possible. Scene plate prep begins four to eight weeks out for an episodic volume shoot, two to four weeks for a music video, and one to two weeks for a brand activation. The phases: scene sourcing or build in Unreal Engine 5.4+, geometry optimization to hold a steady 60 fps at volume resolution, lighting bake-out (or full Lumen real-time pass), color validation against the panel calibration profile, and pre-vis in the digital twin of the volume so the director can see camera moves before the rig arrives. We run pre-vis on a physical mini-volume in the LA shop — typically a 12 by 6 ft P2.6 sandbox plus a tracked camera — so the director, DP, and operator are aligned before truck call. Last call for scene revisions is forty-eight hours before shoot day; after that we lock the package and the engine operator pre-stages the cluster.

── How we scope it

Every show is engineered to its room.

We don't publish a rate card because two events with the same square footage rarely cost the same. What drives the number: pixel pitch (for LED), fixture density (for lighting), engine + camera count (for XR), permitting (for SFX), and how much load-in lives inside our 24-hour window. Tell us what you're building and we'll come back with a number engineered to it.

Want a directional estimate before you brief us? Run the LED Wall Calculator — it returns panel count, weight, power draw, and a band you can sense-check internally before you send us a brief.

Send us a brief Run the calculator

Where We Deploy

XR stages across greater Los Angeles.

Hollywood is the gravity well for virtual production in LA — the soundstages, the production crews, and the post houses are all within ten miles. We deploy XR builds across the whole metro, with the densest week-to-week presence in Hollywood and Burbank.

XR stages in Hollywood XR stages in Burbank XR stages in DTLA XR stages in Beverly Hills XR stages in Santa Monica XR stages in Pasadena

Markets We Cover

Built for the camera, tuned for the format.

Film and TV is the dominant XR market — but concerts, brand activations, and corporate broadcast all run XR stages now. Each market page below covers crew scaling and pre-production lead times.

Film, TV & Virtual Production Concerts & Touring Corporate Events Brand Activations & Private

FAQ

Six questions we answer every week.

Q1How do you scope a project like this?

We start with discovery — a 20-minute call to understand the room, the run-of-show, and the look you're after. From there we do a site visit (or virtual walkthrough) to verify load-in, power, rigging points, and sightlines. That feeds an engineering document with fixture or panel counts, crew, transport, and any permitting. The fixed quote follows the engineering doc, line-itemed so you can see exactly where each number lands. No surprise add-ons after signature.

Q2What is virtual production?

Virtual production is filmmaking with a fine-pitch LED wall instead of a green screen. A real-time engine — usually Unreal Engine 5.4+ — renders the background scene; camera tracking feeds the engine the camera's position so the parallax updates in real time as the camera moves. The result is in-camera final pixels: lighting, reflections, and depth all land in one take, no compositing pass. See the dedicated LED wall rental page for the volume itself.

Q3Which real-time engine do you use?

Unreal Engine 5.4 or later is our default. UE5's Nanite geometry, Lumen lighting, and nDisplay multi-screen output are the current standard for LED volume work. We also operate Unity in HDRP for clients with existing pipelines, and run Notch for generative content blocks that need to live alongside an Unreal scene on the same server. disguise rx servers handle the nDisplay cluster and color management.

Q4What's the content workflow for an XR shoot?

Pre-production: scene plate prep starts four to eight weeks before shoot day. We build or source the Unreal scene, optimize geometry for real-time at 60 fps, validate it against the volume in pre-vis, and lock color in ACES. Shoot day: scenes load to the disguise rx cluster, camera tracking calibrates against the volume, and we run a one-hour technical rehearsal before first slate. Same crew operates the volume through wrap.

Q5How many cameras can you support on a live XR stage?

Up to six tracked cameras on a single volume. Mo-Sys StarTracker covers wide-roaming Steadicam and dolly setups; stYpe RedSpy handles fast switching for live broadcast cuts; Vicon optical tracking covers crane and jib work where the rig is large. Beyond six cameras we recommend a B-volume or a second tracking system to avoid latency on the engine side.

Q6Can we tour an XR stage?

Yes. We build XR stages designed to break down into truckable modular sections — LED panels on rolling carts, server racks with dedicated road cases, camera tracking that recalibrates inside two hours at a new venue. Touring XR stages are heavier on logistics than a standard concert rig: plan an extra day of load-in for calibration and a half-day for color validation in the new room. Multi-week tour rates are project-based, not daily. See recent tour builds for examples.

The volume, rendered.