Case study

Lightcraft, Unreal, and Blender — trench layout before the crew arrives

Storyboarding a WWI trench in a small room with an iPad and marketplace assets, then marrying Blackmagic plates with iPhone tracking data in Blender for Virtual Production Partners.

Client: Virtual Production Partners Virtual production

Context

The conversation opens on historical fiction logistics—what happens when supply lines collapse and a “supernatural” element pins you between forces—then pivots to how previs in a small room lets you storyboard an entire idea before expensive set days.

What we covered

  • Buying a digital environment from Unreal Marketplace (example cited: about twenty dollars), blocking with an iPad in a warehouse, and using that pass to decide what physical trench to build.
  • Lightcraft Technology’s stage workflow: markers called out as optional thanks to a newer iOS camera-track / compositing app referred to in the piece as Stellar.
  • On-set capture: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K plus an iPhone running the Lightcraft stack—iPhone delivers 6‑DoF-style tracking so shots can drop into Blender with motion that matches what the operator did on the stage.
  • Framing the mission of Virtual Production Partners: pair familiar production craft with virtual production and generative AI to empower filmmakers rather than replace them.

Tools mentioned (index)

Lightcraft Technology, Stellar (iOS tracking/compositing), Unreal Engine & Unreal Marketplace, Blender, Blackmagic Pocket 6K, iPhone, iPad, Virtual Production Partners practice, generative AI as a collaborator motif.

Outcome

An R&D journal note on portable previs: cheap marketplace geometry, tablet blocking, markerless tracking on iPhone, and Blender as the hub for plate + motion—useful when you need to show partners a plan before you rent Grand Central.

The full piece is embedded at the top of this page (with an optional transcript), or you can open it on YouTube.

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