News: Meptik Takes The Audio\Visual Crew Through Five Locations in One Day with Seamless Virtual Production

Los Angeles, CA, October 15 – The Audio\Visual Crew collaborated with Meptik, the creative & technical services division of visual experience platform Disguise, to create a powerful public service announcement (PSA) for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The project, focused on veterans' mental health, used advanced virtual production techniques and  Meptik’s expertise in creating and delivering virtual production environments to deliver a visually powerful and impactful message.

Veterans face a wide range of mental health issues affecting their daily lives. The goal of this PSA was to create scenes that authentically represent these struggles and encourage veterans to explore mental health treatments available at the Veterans Affairs.

To convey this message in the most efficient way, the Audio\Visual Crew worked with Meptik’s virtual art department (VAD) to create five different environments virtually and shoot within the safety and comfort of XR Stage in Los Angeles. Each virtual environment, including a battleground scene, a backyard birthday party, an office setting, a community center, and the Grand Canyon, was thoughtfully designed in Unreal Engine and tested on Meptik’s R&D stage before shoot day.

“I chose virtual production for this project because I needed a way to shoot so many different scenes so quickly. I knew that I would be in the battles of Afghanistan and then in the next moment I needed to be in the Grand Canyon, but I also wanted to make sure that I offered something that was cutting edge to my client,” said The Audio\Visual Crew’s director, Andy Vallentine.

Virtual scouting was a key component in creating the virtual environments. Using reference images, Meptik recreated the environments virtually, allowing real-time adjustments based on team feedback. This approach ensured everyone had a clear, aligned vision of the virtual environments, while also refining shot angles and locking in the lighting ahead of the shoot. 

“We started based on the script and the storyboards that the client provided, and from there, we built all of the sets,” said VAD/VFX Supervisor Carlos Fueyo. “We worked with the production designer, the director, and the director of photography to perfect the scenes to their liking. We had interactive calls with them where they could move geometry around or change lighting.”

The production involved one day for setup, one day for filming on the LED Volume, and a third day for shooting the remaining scenes on a practical set. Meptik worked closely with the production team to ensure an efficient transition from concept to execution and managed volume operations on set.

“We created all content in real-time, and the only post-VFX adjustments were painting out practical lights we used for sunlight and an LED panel,” said Meptik’s VAD Producer, Andrew Amato. “By working fully in-engine, we achieved photoreal, final pixel ICVFX, shaving possibly weeks off the traditional post-production process.”

The finished PSA provides a clear and effective message about support for veterans' mental health while demonstrating the benefits of virtual production techniques in improving both the efficiency and quality of the production.