Pro Cyc teams up with Paul LaCombe, DisruptAR, and Panasonic to power Unreal Engine Virtual production studios

Paul Lacombe, Founder and CEO, DisruptAR teamed up with Pro Cyc to create a new game-changing integrated virtual production studio

Pro Cyc: Tell us about your background? 

Paul Lacombe: My career has always been focused on real-time 3D GFX, starting with Silicon Graphics in the late 80’s.  I have worked over 20 years on virtual production, from children’s television to Presidential Elections, the Super Bowl and Feature Films. DisruptAR bridges the gaps between the technology and production, building studios, training personnel and creating content. We transfer our 20+ years of knowledge as mentors, guiding you through your initial productions and returning to assist as needed.

We have a diverse client range from global brands to empowering individual creators with our Unreal Engine PTZ camera virtual production plugin.

Pro Cyc: Tell us about the new Panasonic PTZ camera and your Free Unreal Engine camera tracking plugin?

Paul Lacombe: Our Panasonic PTZ Unreal Engine virtual production plugin (free download) interprets the data and drives a cinematic camera within your scene to match the movements of the physical camera. The Unreal Engine Livelink plugin receives Free-d data from the Panasonic AW-UE150 came. The plugin calculates the the camera position as well as the pan, tilt, zoom and focus parameters from the camera and applies those settings to a cinematic camera in your Unreal Engine project.

The Panasonic AW-UE150 features large MOS 4K sensor, with 4K/UHD 60p video, 75.1-degree viewing angle, 20x optical zoom with 12G-SDI, HDMI, optical fiber, and IP.

Regardless of your studio size or project, Panasonic’s PTZ cameras are universally compatible to fit your desired space. The cameras can be paired with existing control systems or paired with Panasonic’s remote switchers for powerful setup.  From free software, to our powerful all-in-one KAIROS streaming solutions, we’ve covered all the bases to ensure that your professional video production needs are covered and can properly scale as your production grows.

“We want to help creators globally by providing our Unreal Engine virtual production plug-in  for free using an open source technology model.”

Pro Cyc: Let’s discuss how you helped level-up Panasonic’s virtual productions?

Paul Lacombe: Panasonic partnered with DisruptAR to create a fresh, innovative, forward-thinking way to virtually communicate and connect with their audiences. The goal was to take immersive storytelling to the next level through our pioneering production process. Mission accomplished: the results exceeded.

Pro Cyc: How is DisruptAR helping level the playing field for single person creators and small teams?

Paul Lacombe: Due to the Covid-19 virus, millions of people are now working from home and have converted their garages, basements and extra rooms into home studios. These “at home” creative producers are often one-person operations and do not have extra staff to run video cameras in the studio. The idea of “garage virtual production” is a really cool recent development. This is where the Panasonic PTZ cameras come in as they have smart tracking systems that follow the talent in the studio.

The Panasonic PTZ cameras have other automations and smart features that help small teams and single operators that work as show hosts. The new DisruptAR Unreal Engine virtual production plugin and Pro Cyc green screens and cyclorama wall kits offer a new world-wide wave of creators to create content.

Single Person Controller Operation

Let’s dive into the your use of Pro Cyc’s portable green screen kits for your Garage Studio?

Paul Lacombe: I love the flexibility of the Pro Cyc PC240 Portable green screen. In its normal configuration it is a 20ft-wide seamless green screen wall up to 10ft high and about 15 feet deep on the floor. As you see in our garage studio we modified the PC240 by breaking it up into 2 parts to create a corner cyc wall. It’s not how Pro Cyc recommends that it be used, but it worked perfectly for us to create a 2-wall cyclorama so that we could shoot from multiple angles. We simply added some extra Pro Matte flooring material in the corner by attaching it to each wall with carpet tape from behind. It wasn’t a perfect corner like in other Pro Cyc cyclorama studios, but it worked perfectly for us. (Read more about how DisruptAR recently used the garage studio to create a fully professional music video for the 2022 NAB tradeshow on the Virtual production music video blog).

Tell us about your cool new mobile DisruptAR Virtual Production Sprinter Van?

Paul Lacombe: DisruptAR now has now gone mobile with an all-terrain Sprinter van featuring 10,000 Watts of power, 500 Watt Solar Roof deck working in a 5 person Virtual Production Van. Other features include: portable Pro Cyc green screen, LED lighting, 3 cameras, an Ultimatte 12 chroma keyer, Unreal Engine and a Jib.

We selected the Pro Cyc PC240 Portable green screen for our green screen chroma key backdrop. Pro Cyc uses the best chroma key materials that are washable and durable. The portable green screen rolls up into a tube along with the stands and fits perfectly into the van so we can use it over and over again.