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Learning path · Post-production

Virtual production

How LED-volume and in-camera VFX shoots work, who does what on a VP stage, and the Unreal Engine skills to start with.

Free films in teaching order, for one craft. Watch, tick them off and test yourself. It's practice that prepares you for an Academy course. This one prepares you for Virtual production Foundation.

18 lessons · About 5.5 hours · New to set to working crew · Not started

Lesson 1

A Quick Vū: Lighting in a Volume

Vū · 4:12 · original on YouTube

You will learn: See how an LED volume lights the set, and how bright it is.

Watch for: US stage. Watch how close crew stand to the wall, and where they don't go.

Safety first

The LED volume, heat, height and eyes

An LED volume is a lighting rig, a giant screen and a computer room in one. Its hazards are brightness and flicker, heat and noise, heavy panels at height, power, and long hours at the brain bar.

The hazards

  1. Brightness and flickerA volume can be very bright and can strobe (lightning, explosions, fast moves). Warn cast and crew before flashing content, so anyone with photosensitive epilepsy can step out, and give eyes a rest between set-ups.
  2. Heat and noiseWalls and processors make heat, and cooling fans make noise. Water, breaks and air flow on long days; check sound's levels too.
  3. Panels and riggingPanels are heavy, with sharp edges and fragile faces. Walls and ceilings are rigged by qualified riggers under LOLER. Nobody climbs the wall or goes up to the ceiling without the rigging supervisor.
  4. Behind the wallBehind the volume are power, data cables and processors. It's a restricted area for the LED team.
  5. PowerVolumes draw a lot of power. Only qualified electricians and LED technicians touch distribution or open panels.
  6. The brain barLong hours at screens: the DSE Regulations apply, plus the same fatigue rules as any shoot day.

Who is responsible

  • The VP supervisor runs the volume; the LED engineer owns panels and processors.
  • The rigging supervisor owns everything at height, under LOLER.
  • The 1st AD briefs flashing content and keeps the restricted areas restricted.

As a trainee, never

  • Never climb the LED wall or go up to the ceiling.
  • Never go behind the wall unless you're on the LED team.
  • Never run flashing content without warning the stage first.

Anyone can say stop. If something feels wrong, say so to your head of department or the 1st AD.

Where this comes from

  • HSE: LOLERThe Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998: rigging, hoists and anything lifted overhead.
  • HSE: work at heightThe Work at Height Regulations 2005: ladders, towers, platforms and who may use them.
  • HSE: electrical safetyThe Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
  • HSE: non-ionising radiationIncluding the Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at Work Regulations 2010 (lasers and very bright sources).
  • HSE: display screen equipmentThe Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992: workstation set-up, breaks and eye tests.
  • Epilepsy Society: photosensitive epilepsyWhy flashing light needs a warning.

Checked 13 November 2026. This is awareness, not a safety qualification: follow your production's risk assessment and your head of department.

Check yourself

3 situations. Get them all right.

Pass the safety check before the rest of the path. One wrong safety answer means try again. It's practice, and your answers stay on this device.

Question 1: The director wants lightning flashes on the LED wall in the next take. What happens first?

Question 2: A panel near the top of the wall has gone dark. A runner offers to climb up and reseat it. What do you say?

Question 3: You're new on the volume and need to find the stage manager, who is behind the wall. What do you do?

By the end you will be able to

  • Explain LED volumes, in-camera VFX and when green screen is still the better choice
  • Name the VP crew roles and how they fit with traditional departments
  • Navigate Unreal Engine, set up Cine Cameras and light a scene
  • Describe camera tracking, nDisplay, lens calibration and moiré management

Test yourself

Could you do it on a set?

4 real situations, one for each thing this path teaches. It's optional practice, not pass or fail, and your answers stay on this device.

When is green screen still the better choice than an LED volume?

On a volume, who runs the Unreal scene during the take?

In Unreal, which actor gives you real lens settings like focal length and aperture?

You see moiré on the LED wall in a close-up. What helps?

Next: do it for real

This path prepares you for Virtual production Foundation.

Six lessons in the order a VP crew meets the work: planning, plates and worlds, camera and tracking, colour and light on LED, Unreal for film-makers, and the roles. Each has a practice task.

It's free and open in the pilot. Finish it to book a competency check, then a practical on our unit.

Start VP FoundationBook a competency check

How learning with FIF works

Learning path. Free films in teaching order, for one craft. Watch, tick them off and test yourself. It's practice that prepares you for an Academy course.

  1. Learn onlineFree films, paths and Academy coursesYou are here
  2. Competency checkA short check with us, online or in person
  3. In-person practicalOn our unit at Pinewood or 3 Mills
  4. FIF CertificateFrom the practical only

The FIF Certificate comes only from the practical. How it works · Book a competency check

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