Today, ARWall, a virtual production product and services merchant, updated its augmented reality effects (ARFX) Pro Unreal Engine Plugin to streamline workflows for end-users incorporating immersive backdrops for media productions.
The update consolidates all integrated features from Unreal Engine, by Epic Games, under the ARWall infrastructure for increased ease of use. The update invites virtual production teams, both independent and significant, to scale their media productions using no-code and low-barrier tools.
ARWall users no longer need to leave the firm’s native virtual production application to access Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) tools, increasing the efficiency and cost of producing high-quality real-time 3D (RT3D) graphics for film, broadcast, and gaming.
In a statement, Terry Crews, the Founder of Amen & Amen Studios, an official ARWall partner and virtual production studio, said that immersive technology is capable of changing the production industry.
He added,
“ARwall was the team that started this revolution for indie filmmaking, and they’re continuing to innovate with the most accessible solution. We’re happy to say our stage is powered by the original virtual production solution, ARFX Pro by ARwall”
Additionally, major media companies like Disney and 20th Century Fox adopt ARWall’s solutions to enhance AAA productions.
New Features
The ARWall ARFX Pro Unreal Engine Plugin update introduced a trove of new tools, including:
- New post-processing image editing tools like temperature, tint, saturation, contrast, gamma, and gain options.
- ARFX Camera options enable on-set engineers to alter preferences such as tracking, movement speed, yaw and pitch speed, screen dimensions, near clip distance, and bookmark transition speed.
- The update also includes an integrated SteamVR (virtual reality) setup that adds hero serial, calibration serial, tracking delay, threshold sample size, and velocity threshold tools.
- On-set engineers have new keyboard inputs, including navigating preset camera positions, instant access to calibration options, and manual depth of field adjustment for the virtual camera giving production teams greater on-set control.
- The update also adds Microsoft Xbox controller input, enabling production teams to navigate the same tools present via the keyboard input.
- New graphic options give a production team more control over the quality of a backdrop. The feature also adds a Quality Preset tool, enabling the crew to adjust the quality of all display graphics and textures quickly.
- Production teams can alter the display settings with new options, which change a backdrop’s resolution scale, display mode, gamma, v-sync, max VPS, and max FPS.
- Additionally, new texture settings allow on-set engineers to adjust anisotropic filtering and the quality of a backdrop’s textures.
- Finally, new graphics options give production teams various creative features like post-processing, anti-aliasing, shadows, effects, detail mode, foliage, view distance, motion blur, and planar reflections.
ARWall Establishes a New Virtual Production Studio
Earlier this month, ARWall partnered with Los Angeles-based production studio Soapbox Films to build a virtual backdrop so that the studio can host film AR-enhanced film productions.
The team installed a 30 x 12-foot LED panel that displays RT3D visuals at a high refresh rate with no artefacts or colour banding on a matte surface that removes light glares.
The studio’s AX Pro 1.5mm by Absen LED panel installation is purpose-built for in-camera virtual production, enabling a production team to display immersive visualisations at a 6K horizontal resolution.
The site also comes packed with the latest ARWall integrated ARFX Pro Plugin and ARFX Launcher for streamlining the production process.
