From independent productions to global tentpole blockbusters, VFX-packed movies have come a long way since CGI displayed practical effects. Modern-day films seamlessly interweave CG effects with live action in ways unimaginable even a decade ago. Productions like “Ready Player One” or “The Lion King” reboot present extremely complex challenges for filmmakers. High production costs and long render times constrain creative vision and impact schedules. Thanks to the ultra-high performance of the NVIDIA Quadro RTX professional graphics boards—powered by innovative VR headsets, like the HTC VIVE Pro Eye—those issues are a thing of the past.
Traditionally, actors and crew on set interact with what is physically in front of them.The crew manually changes lighting, moves objects, or deploys matte-painted backgrounds (practical or digital) as necessary. When shooting a scene, compositing, rendering, and color grading for playback often interferes with the creative process. This also increases production time and costs. Noted directors, like Steven Spielberg and Jon Favreau, recently found an alternative to this approach with VR. Being on set with greenscreens, multiple digital cameras, and lighting variance—all while unaware of the surroundings, what characters look like, or where they’re positioned—was a constant problem. The solution turned out to be the HTC VIVE. By using the combination of HTC VIVE and an NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics board, these renowned Hollywood directors were able to create a set in VR. HTC’s VIVE enabled the directors to be virtually present on multiple sets and interact with the scenes they were shooting.
The ability of the HTC VIVE Pro Eye to help directors explore their creative vision in greater depth is bolstered by the power of the NVIDIA Quadro RTX. That’s because it’s ideal for rendering motion graphics of cinematic quality in real time. Other unique aspects of the graphics card include RT cores enhanced by new shading techniques, like VRS (Variable Rate Shading) and Foveated Rendering—which places detail where the director is looking within a scene. All of these features use an AI-denoising assist and VR rendering enhancements, allowing for seamless transitions across multiple panoramas. If something isn’t right, it can be identified and changed immediately, giving production the ability to quickly move forward.
The synergies from the NVIDIA Quadro GPU and HTC VIVE Pro Eye pairing resulted in the successful, on-time, and on-budget production of two high-grossing box office hits. There is no doubt that as NVIDIA’s and HTC’s technology continues to advance, so will digital VFX-dependent films.
To learn more about NVIDIA QUADRO RTX VR applications, visit www.pny.com/vr. Make sure you watch the YouTube video to see how Steven Spielberg utilized HTC’s VIVE Pro Eye to create “Ready Player One.”