Video production costs can get incredibly high, incredibly fast.
Though it of course varies from project to project, a traditional production budget could run between $50k on the smaller end, to more than a million dollars on the higher end.
Before we get into where those costs might be cut when going the virtual video production (VVP) route on your project, it must be said that virtual and traditional video production do share some of the same hard costs in things like crew, camera equipment, talent, etc.
That said …
What is virtual video production?
Virtual video production is, simply put, the process of using cutting-edge hardware and software to blend the real world and the digital, blurring the lines between what is physical and what is virtual.
In short, virtual video production is what allows us to shoot anything from a relatively “normal” downtown office scene, to the most incredible (and fictional) distant world you can imagine, right here inside our Nashville facility.
So, from a technological standpoint, you can see that we’ve jumped ahead of traditional video production, but what about the money? How can VP bring your budget under control?
5 Ways Virtual Video Production Can Cut Your Costs
We’ve written about the overall benefits of virtual video production right here, but let’s take a moment to focus specifically on the cost benefits …
1. Post-Production
95% of footage is complete on set, during your shoot, no lengthy post-production, the director sees shots on site and will know what final results look like. There are no surprises in post-production!
2. Save Time
Eliminate the cost and time of flying your crew to different locations. Or, change locations entirely with the press of a button. This, of course, is also a much greener approach for our creative industry going forward, especially for automotive brands.
3. Location Recall
This is a big one. Let’s say some time has passed since we shot your project and you need to come back in for a reshoot of some necessary changes. Or maybe you’re shooting a sequel! Whatever the situation, and however long it’s been, we can recall the exact same elements of background and lighting from your shoot (and even track the original shots) to perfectly match the first shoot. And yes, this includes complete control of the weather …
4. Control the Weather
Inside a beautiful climate controlled studio, with the ability to recreate locations from anywhere, weather never becomes a problem on set. No more postponing shoots because of weather conditions, we control the sun and clouds for you.
5. Control the Time of Day
There’s no more holding up production for another day or two if you run out of time … need the golden hour extended to 12 hours in a single day? No problem, we can make that happen.
What (if possible) is a general percentage we could list as savings between virtual video production and analog video production?
All that said, you’ll realize that it’s difficult (let’s say it, impossible) to calculate an exact savings to your project budget, due to the many variations that occur from project to project.
One of the healthiest ways to think about this is the shifting of your dollars.
For example, virtual video production will allow you to shift a lot of your resources to pre-production rather than post-production. This can lead to a major reduction in stress and anxiety leading into production days as everything is already methodically and intricately thought-out and pre-planned.
Additionally this process can save you incredible amounts of time and money.
Our recent work with Apple Music and Thomas Rhett is a perfect example of this. Thomas was only available to us for four hours, yet we were able to create a phenomenal commercial with three different scenes/sets in that time.
We would not have been able to accomplish that if we had needed to film in two or three different physical locations.
Virtual video production made it possible for us to deliver the director’s creative vision in a fraction of the time it would normally take, and the artist only needed to be inside our comfortable facility for a handful of hours!
Ready to make your vision a reality?
In many ways, virtual video production is truly magic.
In others, it’s the natural (though radical) progression of our amazing industry.
If you decide to bring your idea to Arc Studios, you can rest assured that you’re bringing it to a team of experts in this discipline that will help you execute your vision with incredible efficiency, accuracy, and artistry.
