What are your thoughts on using green screens for commercial purposes?
Because we don’t have to shoot at the location, and the entire crew and cast may be in one place, using a green screen truly allows for lots of freedom and cost-savings. In terms of transportation and traveling, there’s a lot of flexibility and cost-saving available. You can also make use of advanced technology to create virtual sets and platforms, as well as virtual props, which don’t need to be set up physically.
Green screen might be used in a variety of inventive ways for company videos. What are some of your favorite uses for it?
For businesses, we conduct a lot of webinars. Webinar is one of the most popular applications in a green screen setting. Of course, in Hollywood, you see a lot of green screen movies being produced. Using virtual sets made with green screens for webinars, conferences, and town halls allows you to save money while offering significant production value and exposing all your talents. All of the productions are really immersive, which draws and keeps a lot of attention from the viewers.
Have you ever worked with a firm that utilized green screen and been pleased with the results?
Yes, in fact, the majority of my clients who have used our green screen services are happy with the results. Because we are one of the few businesses that genuinely utilize Unreal Engine as a rendering platform and provide 3D perspective or 3D depth to the whole production. The speakers or presenter didn’t appear to be cut and pasted into an image or picture; rather, they appeared very real since they seemed to be standing or living inside the virtual world.
What do you believe is the most essential consideration when arranging a green screen shoot?
The quality of the content is vital. You must first plan the information, such as what additional information you wish to display and how you intend to present it. We spoke about what and how to show the data, for example if you wish to have the launched product or object animated and inserted into a virtual setting. Essentially, this entails deciding how to design the virtual set so that it properly complements and promotes your brand/ branding in order for the overall appearance and feel are pleasant for viewers.
Do you have any advice for producing the most of green screen footage after it’s been edited?
Color correction is really important. The next step after the entire production is completed is to add some polish to the overall video. In post-production, we usually apply a little bit of color grading to make the whole video seem and feel more finished.
What was the driving force behind your company’s decision to start utilizing green screen?
Many physical events were canceled as a result of COVID starting. We began to construct our green screen studio in order to move the company forward. But, because we began employing 3D virtual set productions in all of our productions, the studio really just took off and started up. With the 3D production sets, many customers are attracted since to the depth and 3D perspective. They can really see themselves presenting the material in a realistic setting. A lot of clients have visited our studio looking to hold townhalls, seminars, and conferences. COVID is a game-changer, but actual inspiration comes from 3D virtual set productions.
How has green screen aided you in expanding your business and attracting new consumers?
Green screen alone is simply a tool, but utilizing it to create 3D Unreal Engine productions has helped me attract or allow me access to high-value clients that not only communicate the message, but also deliver it in a world-class production setting. The creators of the many leading video sharing sites are all eagerly anticipating a three-dimensional panoramic video platform that can replace Zoom gallery view, which has become increasingly ineffective in engaging audiences. They want something more immersive, and the green screen 3D production actually allows us to create something more immersive and utilize augmented reality and animated things to create truly creative ways to present information.
Do you have any advice for companies wanting to get started with green screen?
Choose a contractor that has the appropriate equipment. Many individuals believe green screen is simply having a green cloth in the background and then keyframing the individual. In reality, the Green Screen/Cloth/Background is merely one component of the equation. If you want to make sure that the quality of your presentation is as good as possible, you’ll need enough and even lighting. You’ll need a lot of room so that you can capture multiple camera angles. Select a skilled company with a solid track record, plenty of expertise, and the ability to provide high-quality webinars.
How did you learn about 3D virtual studio?
The push factor is demand and supply. We were one of the first companies to begin 3D in Singapore when we initially began. When customers find out about the type of production that we offer, a lot of clients leave traditional productions for 3D. Not only has the number of projects increased, but so has the quality. We moved our old office/studio to a much bigger green screen studio, which we now call home. We currently operate two 60 sq.m green screens. Each green screen consists of three to six cameras, including both tracking and static cameras. These are the kinds of services that we offer to our clients.
What difficulties have you encountered when getting and running your business up?
Having technical expertise is one thing. However, being able to advertise your services to the market is another matter. We’ve done a lot of green screen videos, which has given us a lot of experience and taught us new skills. I can state that we are extremely competent in these films. In Singapore, we are one of the top three 3D production companies. The next step for us is to be able to market our services. One approach to advertise our services is to network with a large number of event planners. Reaching out to event companies may be difficult.
What has been the most difficult aspect for you thus far?
I think marketing and outreach are the most difficult challenges right now. We are only permitted to conduct our business in Singapore during COVID. So, when we look to open borders, the next issue is how can we advertise our services outside of Singapore.
Do you think you’ll keep operating this firm in the long term?
Yes, we’re just scratching the surface with this expertise of creating 3D virtual videos. We’ll be producing short-form film projects using Unreal Engine in the near future. This will be our next move, not only are webinars and conferences limited to us, but we also want to provide services for other film production companies. We will one day be able to offer our services as an Unreal Engine Studio, which means we’ll provide a virtual gaffer and camera tracking system studio for the film production company to focus on the story rather than the technical side. We’ll just give basic technical assistance for Unreal Engine.
What sort of impact has a 3D virtual production package had on your marketing videos?
According to the results, viewers are more drawn to high-production quality video that can only be achieved with 3D virtual productions. Traditionally, 3D films have been shot in front of a green screen; thus, the actor or talent is generally filmed in front of it. Then at post-productions, they actually key out the subject in the background. However, in a 3D virtual production/or live production, the results are recorded in real time, which means that we really key out the individual live and place him or her into the 3D virtual world. The entire process is carried out in real time. All of the videos you’ve seen on my website aren’t post-production keys. These events are all occurring right now. We call cut and wrap up after we have finished capturing it, so we already have the video. All we have to do now is polish it up by color grading to make it appear better visually. The consequence is that a lot of clients felt it was more immersive. They can observe the outcomes. Actors or presenters may interact with virtual things. He’s able to see himself in the digital world straight away, and there’s a confidence monitor that displays where he is and where the virtual objects are so that he can virtually reach out his hands and touch them. In the end, the final result is a highly immersive production that may create a very realistic setting while also reducing down the entire production process.
How much does renting your studio cost?
We offer dry rental, which means you only pay for the studio and all of our services. So the price range is between $1,500 and $15,000. The spectrum is considerably broader than that. It depends on the demands of the client.
What kind of technology do you use in your studio?
We have Unreal Engine workstations that allow us to render the 3D video. We also utilize Visual Projection Software to generate and publish/push the Powerpoint slides in the Unreal Engine. We have six cameras at our disposal, which allows us to provide various close-up or wide angles. We have three checking cameras that feed position data to the Unreal Engine so that when we pan or zoom in the camera, the background will move and achieve accordingly. To guarantee outstanding audio quality, we employ professional sound mixers. We utilize studio-quality lighting to ensure that the entire facility is well-lit and that our results are enhanced.
How long can I reserve the studio for? Is there a specific length of time that I must book the space for?
The shortest booking period is one day.
What is the best way to ensure that your live broadcast goes off without a hitch?
In terms of technical sophistication, the internet connection is the weakest link, so we utilize our own facilities to overcome this. We actually have two internet networks and providers: Starhub and Singtel. Our firewalls are all programmed for immediate failover, which means that if there is a problem with the primary internet service provider (Singtel), our firewall will switch to the secondary internet service provider (Starhub) in 3 seconds. This is in our own studio. To ensure that our cloud streaming is seamless, we invested in firewall and two internet service providers. We currently use expensive industrial modems like Cradlepoint, which has already called load balancing. We have four M2M sim cards inside this Cradlepoint. We’re not using consumer sim cards; we’re using industrial M2M sim cards. The type of sim cards that are used on ATM machines to host connections will give us the stability and redundancy we need for streaming the feed to the cloud smoothly.
What do you anticipate live streaming services will look like in the next several years?
COVID has pushed the world to embrace live streaming. Events and townhalls are being pushed forward by COVID, which has forced governments around the world to adapt live streaming. Live streaming is still being utilized by clients even as physical events return into the picture, and companies have learned how to make effective use of it. They understood that if they spent too much money on a physical event, it was better to broadcast it to the whole world. We’ve seen an increasing demand for live streaming in the future. In the future of live streaming, all of these components will be more common.
What is the most popular activity you host?
Internal so-called dissemination of information are frequently held. I’d say that 70% of my events are townhalls.
Have you planned any special activities for Singapore?
No.
Do you have any interest in expanding into mainland China?
I don’t have any specific plans for any one country, but we’ll need to grow our services outside Singapore because the demand for 3D movies is increasing, but the skills available on the market aren’t yet able to match it. As a result, we’ll need to develop more people or human resources to meet the demand. Within this area, I believe that there will be a significant demand for this product.