BTS of Resorts World’s in-camera virtual production

Resorts
(BTS of Resorts Stay Fabulous campaign)

Last April, the new US $4.3 billion, 3,500-room Resorts World Las Vegas luxury destination launched its “Stay Fabulous” campaign with an immersive, groundbreaking short film featuring Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, Tiësto, and Zedd.

Created by Hooray Agency and Psyop to build excitement for Resorts recent grand opening and convey the astounding entertainment in store for guests, the agency and production partners famously pioneered some revolutionary workflows. Among the production’s key technology vendors was the Las Vegas-based virtual production and creative solutions studio, Extended Reality Group (ERG)

Launched last year by Founders Evan Glantz, Zack Kingdon, Keith Anderson, and Patrick Beery, ERG’s phenomenal roster of artists, integrators, and production experts pioneer new applications for XR, MR, AR, and VR, extending reality in new dimensions. While most of ERG’s first collaborations remain confidential, its reputation is soaring in the world of cutting-edge virtual productions.

In Resorts World’s campaign’s credits, ERG lists Glantz, Kingdon, CG Supervisor Darrion Granieri, and Senior Unreal Artist Patrick Beery with their company, under Unreal Engine (UE) Workflow Optimization and Creative Services.

For the record, their project talents also included Virtual Lighting Director Alvaro Turino Grosso, Senior Technical Artist Warrell Andrew, Project Manager Andrea Frey, and a group of highly skilled animators that extends around the globe.

To shine more light on the extraordinary Resorts “Stay Fabulous” production approach, ERG shared the following insights, accompanied by a new case study video. Watch below:


REELated: MGM, Bellagio relaunch in new campaign from McCann


Building Virtually Tracked Content

Supporting the opulent vision of Psyop’s Director and Founding Partner Marco Spier and his colleagues, ERG’s assignment began by providing asset optimization of geometry and texture for LED volume production, based on models provided by Psyop.

“In direct collaboration with Marco, we were tasked with doing all the scene building, lighting, and final touches,” Glantz began. “We were responsible for optimizing, and in some cases, creating, the content appearing in the volume, which is the space where the virtual-tracked content is presented for motion capture. In other words, the volume is comprised of the LED screens where the Unreal Engine technology renders all the complex visual effects shots in real-time during the live-action shoot.”

Drilling further into cinema magic widely hailed as the future of production, ERG’s maestros began with models created in Autodesk Maya, Maxon’s Cinema 4D, SideFX’s Houdini, and Adobe’s Substance Designer. Those assets were then integrated into the UE environment volumetrically, where optimization largely focused on designing for geometry.

According to Beery, “This project’s high number of animation and lighting elements interacting together required a tight polygon budget to render everything at an acceptable frame rate. Our workflow allowed us to optimize and re-topologize these models to work well within Unreal, and required us to model each component and environment accordingly, to meet the industry standard for motion capture.”

While this artistry resulted in the creation of vibrant worlds where the campaign talents seamlessly appear in the finished brand film, there is more to know about the process of making the content interactive, to serve the filmmakers’ needs during production.

Hybrid UE Workflow for Real-Time Visual Effects

Following Psyop’s aim to leverage talents and technologies behind the award-winning Disney+ series The Mandalorian, this campaign’s physical production took place at LA’s Nant Studios, and involved the acclaimed director of photography Matthew Jensen, ASC

As part of its pre-production services, fully understanding the potential for massively impacting in-camera virtual production scenarios, ERG created and programmed several different “baked” lighting scenarios for instant activation on the set. These addressed factors like various positions for the sun and incorporating effects such as “lazy God rays,” with appropriate shadows. 

“This approach of preparing baked lighting workflows saves a huge amount of time on set,” Turino Grosso explained. “In settings like this, it allows us to give the director and DP content that is consistent across all playthroughs, which can be invaluable for blocking and rehearsals.”

Anticipating on-set demands for dynamic interactive lighting, Turino Grosso programmed full CUE to CUE and in-engine control via DMX. This allowed him to run both UE environmental lighting and physical lighting on the set using a GrandMA3 lighting console. The results include the ability to make on-the-fly color adjustments and vary the speed of the pinball’s roll, among many others.

For ERG, Turino Grosso, Beery, and Granieri actively participated in the production, providing quality control during the rehearsals and shoot, in concert with executives from Nant Studios and Epic Games. 

“Along with Virtual Production Supervisor Lawrence Jones, Marco gave us an amazing set of references and concept art that helped us understand the goal of telling a dynamic story blending classic Las Vegas with the newest technology,” Kingdon added. “In this case, the use of bold physical set pieces to bend the line between photoreal and surreal elements – what we call photo-surrealism – worked like a charm. We were honored to be part of this epic, groundbreaking campaign, alongside the world’s premier talents.”

Complete project credits are available upon request. To see the campaign and learn more about Resorts World Las Vegas, please visit here.

CREDITS:

CLIENT: Resorts World Las Vegas

AGENCY: Hooray Agency, Orange County

  • CEO: Steven Seghers
  • Executive Vice President: Randy Stuck
  • Chief Creative Officer: Eric Stein
  • Creative Director: Christopher Leon
  • Creative Producer: Kevin Johnston
  • Creative Director/Copywriter: Ted Trautwein
  • Agency Producer: Angela Castaneda
  • VP Marketing: Katelyn Raman
  • Account Director: Tracey McRae
  • Editor: Nelson Acosta (:30)
  • Storyboard Artist: Bart Bus

PRODUCTION: Psyop

  • Director/Founding Partner: Marco Spier
  • Chief Executive Producer: Justin Booth-Clibborn
  • Executive Producer: Noah Goldsmith
  • Head of Production: Andrea Panda
  • Line Producer: Saul Germaine
  • Director of Photography: Matthew Jensen
  • 1st Assistant Director: Scott Harris
  • Production Supervisor: Kevan Dirinpour
  • Production Coordinator: Phoenix Lawton
  • Talent Coordinator: Kim Seko
  • Production Designer: Jeffrey Higinbotham
  • Art Director: Mike Martella
  • Art Coordinator: Nicki Nevlin
  • Costume Designer: Cris Araujo
  • Key Costumer: Andrea Peraza
  • Key Makeup: Stella Tzanidakis
  • Key Hair (Celine): Deanna Amore Marti
  • Key Makeup (Celine): Justin St. Clair
  • Key Costumer (Celine): Pepe Munoz
  • Key Makeup (Carrie): Melissa Schleicher
  • Key Costumer (Carrie): Emma Trask
  • Key Hair (Katy): Jesus Guerrero
  • Key Makeup (Katy): Michael Anthony
  • Key Costumer (Katy): Heather Picchiottino
  • Groomer (Luke): Paula Turner
  • Key Costumer (Luke): Lee Moore
  • Groomer (Zedd): Jaime Maloney

EDIT: Psyop

  • Producer: Jodi Kraushar
  • Virtual Production Supervisor: Lawrence Jones
  • Technical Producer: Kristin Carey
  • CG Supervisor: Pakorn Bupphavesa
  • 2d Lead: Sang Lee
  • Flame Artist: Brandon Sanders
  • Editor: Loren Christiansen
  • Color: Marla Colour
  • Grading Colorist: Fernando Lui

VIRTUAL PRODUCTION PARTNER AND STAGE: Nant Studios

  • Director of Virtual Production: Gary Marshall
  • Supervisor of Virtual Production Engineering: Juan Nader
  • Virtual Production Technical Director: Fernando Rabelo
  • Unreal Developer: Julia Lou
  • Real Time Content Lead: Bryan Brown
  • Stage Manager: Adolfo Sanchez
  • Operations Director: Keaton Heinrichs

UNREAL ENGINE WORKFLOW OPTIMIZATION and CREATIVE SERVICE: EXTENDED REALITY GROUP

  • Executive Producers: Evan Glantz, Zack Kingdon
  • CG Supervisor: Darron Granieri
  • Senior Technical Artist / Senior Lighting Artist: Patrick Beery
  • Virtual Lighting Programmer: Alvaro Turino Grosso
  • Sr. Technical Artist: Warrell Andrew
  • Project Manager: Andrea Frey

SOUND DESIGN AND MUSIC: Squeak E. Clean Studios

  • Creative Director: Zac Colwell
  • Composers: Josh Hoisington & Zac Colwell
  • Sound Designer: Stuart St Vincent Welch
  • Final Mix Engineer: Stuart St Vincent Welch
  • Additional Recording: Stuart St Vincent Welch
  • Producers: Nicholas Doering & Danielle Toporoff
Resorts
(BTS of Resorts Stay Fabulous campaign)

Last April, the new US $4.3 billion, 3,500-room Resorts World Las Vegas luxury destination launched its “Stay Fabulous” campaign with an immersive, groundbreaking short film featuring Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, Tiësto, and Zedd.

Created by Hooray Agency and Psyop to build excitement for Resorts recent grand opening and convey the astounding entertainment in store for guests, the agency and production partners famously pioneered some revolutionary workflows. Among the production’s key technology vendors was the Las Vegas-based virtual production and creative solutions studio, Extended Reality Group (ERG)

Launched last year by Founders Evan Glantz, Zack Kingdon, Keith Anderson, and Patrick Beery, ERG’s phenomenal roster of artists, integrators, and production experts pioneer new applications for XR, MR, AR, and VR, extending reality in new dimensions. While most of ERG’s first collaborations remain confidential, its reputation is soaring in the world of cutting-edge virtual productions.

In Resorts World’s campaign’s credits, ERG lists Glantz, Kingdon, CG Supervisor Darrion Granieri, and Senior Unreal Artist Patrick Beery with their company, under Unreal Engine (UE) Workflow Optimization and Creative Services.

For the record, their project talents also included Virtual Lighting Director Alvaro Turino Grosso, Senior Technical Artist Warrell Andrew, Project Manager Andrea Frey, and a group of highly skilled animators that extends around the globe.

To shine more light on the extraordinary Resorts “Stay Fabulous” production approach, ERG shared the following insights, accompanied by a new case study video. Watch below:


REELated: MGM, Bellagio relaunch in new campaign from McCann


Building Virtually Tracked Content

Supporting the opulent vision of Psyop’s Director and Founding Partner Marco Spier and his colleagues, ERG’s assignment began by providing asset optimization of geometry and texture for LED volume production, based on models provided by Psyop.

“In direct collaboration with Marco, we were tasked with doing all the scene building, lighting, and final touches,” Glantz began. “We were responsible for optimizing, and in some cases, creating, the content appearing in the volume, which is the space where the virtual-tracked content is presented for motion capture. In other words, the volume is comprised of the LED screens where the Unreal Engine technology renders all the complex visual effects shots in real-time during the live-action shoot.”

Drilling further into cinema magic widely hailed as the future of production, ERG’s maestros began with models created in Autodesk Maya, Maxon’s Cinema 4D, SideFX’s Houdini, and Adobe’s Substance Designer. Those assets were then integrated into the UE environment volumetrically, where optimization largely focused on designing for geometry.

According to Beery, “This project’s high number of animation and lighting elements interacting together required a tight polygon budget to render everything at an acceptable frame rate. Our workflow allowed us to optimize and re-topologize these models to work well within Unreal, and required us to model each component and environment accordingly, to meet the industry standard for motion capture.”

While this artistry resulted in the creation of vibrant worlds where the campaign talents seamlessly appear in the finished brand film, there is more to know about the process of making the content interactive, to serve the filmmakers’ needs during production.

Hybrid UE Workflow for Real-Time Visual Effects

Following Psyop’s aim to leverage talents and technologies behind the award-winning Disney+ series The Mandalorian, this campaign’s physical production took place at LA’s Nant Studios, and involved the acclaimed director of photography Matthew Jensen, ASC

As part of its pre-production services, fully understanding the potential for massively impacting in-camera virtual production scenarios, ERG created and programmed several different “baked” lighting scenarios for instant activation on the set. These addressed factors like various positions for the sun and incorporating effects such as “lazy God rays,” with appropriate shadows. 

“This approach of preparing baked lighting workflows saves a huge amount of time on set,” Turino Grosso explained. “In settings like this, it allows us to give the director and DP content that is consistent across all playthroughs, which can be invaluable for blocking and rehearsals.”

Anticipating on-set demands for dynamic interactive lighting, Turino Grosso programmed full CUE to CUE and in-engine control via DMX. This allowed him to run both UE environmental lighting and physical lighting on the set using a GrandMA3 lighting console. The results include the ability to make on-the-fly color adjustments and vary the speed of the pinball’s roll, among many others.

For ERG, Turino Grosso, Beery, and Granieri actively participated in the production, providing quality control during the rehearsals and shoot, in concert with executives from Nant Studios and Epic Games. 

“Along with Virtual Production Supervisor Lawrence Jones, Marco gave us an amazing set of references and concept art that helped us understand the goal of telling a dynamic story blending classic Las Vegas with the newest technology,” Kingdon added. “In this case, the use of bold physical set pieces to bend the line between photoreal and surreal elements – what we call photo-surrealism – worked like a charm. We were honored to be part of this epic, groundbreaking campaign, alongside the world’s premier talents.”

Complete project credits are available upon request. To see the campaign and learn more about Resorts World Las Vegas, please visit here.

CREDITS:

CLIENT: Resorts World Las Vegas

AGENCY: Hooray Agency, Orange County

  • CEO: Steven Seghers
  • Executive Vice President: Randy Stuck
  • Chief Creative Officer: Eric Stein
  • Creative Director: Christopher Leon
  • Creative Producer: Kevin Johnston
  • Creative Director/Copywriter: Ted Trautwein
  • Agency Producer: Angela Castaneda
  • VP Marketing: Katelyn Raman
  • Account Director: Tracey McRae
  • Editor: Nelson Acosta (:30)
  • Storyboard Artist: Bart Bus

PRODUCTION: Psyop

  • Director/Founding Partner: Marco Spier
  • Chief Executive Producer: Justin Booth-Clibborn
  • Executive Producer: Noah Goldsmith
  • Head of Production: Andrea Panda
  • Line Producer: Saul Germaine
  • Director of Photography: Matthew Jensen
  • 1st Assistant Director: Scott Harris
  • Production Supervisor: Kevan Dirinpour
  • Production Coordinator: Phoenix Lawton
  • Talent Coordinator: Kim Seko
  • Production Designer: Jeffrey Higinbotham
  • Art Director: Mike Martella
  • Art Coordinator: Nicki Nevlin
  • Costume Designer: Cris Araujo
  • Key Costumer: Andrea Peraza
  • Key Makeup: Stella Tzanidakis
  • Key Hair (Celine): Deanna Amore Marti
  • Key Makeup (Celine): Justin St. Clair
  • Key Costumer (Celine): Pepe Munoz
  • Key Makeup (Carrie): Melissa Schleicher
  • Key Costumer (Carrie): Emma Trask
  • Key Hair (Katy): Jesus Guerrero
  • Key Makeup (Katy): Michael Anthony
  • Key Costumer (Katy): Heather Picchiottino
  • Groomer (Luke): Paula Turner
  • Key Costumer (Luke): Lee Moore
  • Groomer (Zedd): Jaime Maloney

EDIT: Psyop

  • Producer: Jodi Kraushar
  • Virtual Production Supervisor: Lawrence Jones
  • Technical Producer: Kristin Carey
  • CG Supervisor: Pakorn Bupphavesa
  • 2d Lead: Sang Lee
  • Flame Artist: Brandon Sanders
  • Editor: Loren Christiansen
  • Color: Marla Colour
  • Grading Colorist: Fernando Lui

VIRTUAL PRODUCTION PARTNER AND STAGE: Nant Studios

  • Director of Virtual Production: Gary Marshall
  • Supervisor of Virtual Production Engineering: Juan Nader
  • Virtual Production Technical Director: Fernando Rabelo
  • Unreal Developer: Julia Lou
  • Real Time Content Lead: Bryan Brown
  • Stage Manager: Adolfo Sanchez
  • Operations Director: Keaton Heinrichs

UNREAL ENGINE WORKFLOW OPTIMIZATION and CREATIVE SERVICE: EXTENDED REALITY GROUP

  • Executive Producers: Evan Glantz, Zack Kingdon
  • CG Supervisor: Darron Granieri
  • Senior Technical Artist / Senior Lighting Artist: Patrick Beery
  • Virtual Lighting Programmer: Alvaro Turino Grosso
  • Sr. Technical Artist: Warrell Andrew
  • Project Manager: Andrea Frey

SOUND DESIGN AND MUSIC: Squeak E. Clean Studios

  • Creative Director: Zac Colwell
  • Composers: Josh Hoisington & Zac Colwell
  • Sound Designer: Stuart St Vincent Welch
  • Final Mix Engineer: Stuart St Vincent Welch
  • Additional Recording: Stuart St Vincent Welch
  • Producers: Nicholas Doering & Danielle Toporoff