Virtual Production For Broadcast - The Book 2026
Once logged in you can set content preferences to let us know what you are interested in and whether you want to receive email from us.
Already Registered? Login
Our appetite for stories is insatiable, and these days we can alter our realities to tell whatever story we like. It’s as easy as pressing a button and virtual production is the key.
A lot has changed since we last approached this subject three years ago. Virtual Production techniques have graduated from delivering creative backdrops to cinematic and episodic TV workflows to become a go-to option for live sports, news and magazine presentations. Meanwhile, new innovations like subframe technologies are encouraging even more creativity. This fully revised and updated guide marks these shifts with brand new articles that keep pace with this changing tech.
It not only covers the science and practical applications of virtual production in 2026, but serves as a reference resource for broadcast technologists looking to create more compelling, more efficient and more emotive television.
In other words, to tell better stories.
This eBook is a free PDF download which contains 16 original articles.
1: After The Gold Rush: VP Gets Sensible
After years of enthusiastic adoption, virtual production is finally delivering on its promise. Not through spectacle, but through pragmatism.
2: Principles, Terminology & Technology
A look at the technology and techniques of virtual production, from the camera through to video walls, processors, and rendering servers.
3: Camera Setup, Tracking & Lens Data
Camera and lens combinations are more flexible than ever, but each adaptation needs to be carefully considered.
4: Video Wall Configuration
We discuss the fundamentals of video wall technology as well as techniques to ensure proper color rendering and avoid flicker.
5: The Magic Of Subframe Technology
Subframe technology solves a fundamental challenge in virtual production, enabling video walls to display different images at the same time.
6: Project Planning For Virtual Production
Introducing virtual techniques and environments to a production also introduces greater potential for failure.
7: Designing The Virtual World
Virtual production tools are well-established for computer entertainment, but the design constraints for broadcast are very different.
8: Virtual Lighting Fundamentals
Why a director of photography might want to have some pre-production involvement in the development of a virtual world.
9: Shooting Locations For Virtual Production
Capturing real-world environments can be more straightforward than creating virtual ones, but there are specific considerations to work in.
10: Capturing Objects In 3D
Simple objects could be built; more complex ones might be better scanned as a 3D object. Why some studios have begun to consider this as a service to offer.
11: Motion Capture
How new technologies are transforming the creative freedom for performers to see the virtual environment in which they are performing.
12: Image Based Lighting
Seamless blending demands matched lighting, and basing the lighting directly on images in the virtual world can automate that process.
13: RGBW LED Wall Technology
Emerging RGBW technology in the manufacture of LED video wall panels can expand the creative options available within virtual production.
14: Comparing OLED and microLED fixtures
In the search for a display combining perfect blacks, peak brightness and practical economics, MicroLED may be the best technology yet.
15: Finishing
The goal of wall-based virtual production is to achieve a finished result in-camera. In drama, this is desirable; in live work, it is essential.
16: New Adventures In Fantasy Worlds With SWR
How public broadcaster SWR built an entirely new broadcast format with subframe technology.
You might also like...
Standards: Audio - MPEG Layer 3 Audio Coding (MP3)
Launched in 1995, MP3 remains one of the most ubiquitous audio formats in the world. This guide explains how psychoacoustic compression works, explains the differences between MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 implementations, and finds out where MP3 works – and where it doesn’t.
Production–Delivery Convergence: Part 8 - Why Informed Creativity Is A Competitive Advantage
Every creative decision in the streaming economy has a direct impact on multiple parts of the production and delivery chain. It means media organizations can no longer work in silos, and in this final part we examine how understanding the…
The Struggle With Generated Content
Like every other industry on the planet, broadcasting is struggling to strike its own balance over AI generated content. In the first of two articles we discuss the challenges facing broadcasters and how digital forensics, online services, and the big…
Standards: Audio - Standards For Audio Coding
Audio coding demands very different tools and workflows to video, but the same fundamental principles around quality apply to both. This guide surveys the standards, codecs and container formats you need to navigate modern audio workflows.
Broadcast Standards – The Science Of AI
Artificial Intelligence is already an integral part of our everyday lives and it is already making our lives more productive. But it is far from risk-free.