I remember than when directors first starting shooting on digital. It seemed like a major sea change. A decade or two later, and here comes another major change. I think it was Robert Rodriguez who first made the big change and he is still out there. Makes you wonder what young director will be the first with the most to use this new technology.
Green screens are for sure on their way out as more studios will begin to adopt LED technology and offer producers bigger or smaller Volume like studio spaces – ultimately changing the landscape of how VFX artists work, but making them far more important on set.
It’ll also be interesting to see how many level designers from the game industry may start lending their expertise on film sets.
We don’t see MetaHumans replacing actors anytime soon, but it could potentially replace face swap technology for bringing younger versions of aging actors back to a franchise. Productions looking to have less liability on set could also create Digital versions of their actors and animate dangerous stunts.
Hyper realistic cars created in Unreal Engine could replace the need to shut down major roads to film a car chase or crash. As Unreal puts it – there is quite literally “Limitless Potential” with this technology.
The best thing is that all of this software is actually free to use, with Epic Games only taking their 5% commission after you make your first million dollars. As process power gets even better in the years to come, we think this is going to open the door to a new wave of indie developers and producers looking to create wildly innovative types of content.
It’s already being done with what Unreal currently has to offer, with a handful of amazing indie short films that you can go watch right now. But that is only the beginning – and MetaHuman is the next step in this evolution.
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