Virtual Production & Prelights: What's Your Strategy Now?

Hey everyone, Lucas Andersson here, Gaffer by trade. I'm genuinely curious about how advancements in virtual production, real-time rendering, and pre-visualization are impacting our approach to pre-lights. I just wrapped a commercial where we used previs extensively with an ALEXA Mini and a bunch of SkyPanel X units. It felt like we had a solid plan going in, but I'm still trying to figure out if that changed the core 'prelight' itself.

Are these tools just making pre-lights more efficient, helping us nail the positions for a Forza 500 II or an M18 quicker? Or are they actually making traditional pre-lights less necessary, because so much is worked out in the digital space beforehand? And beyond that, is what we even consider a 'prelight' as Gaffers fundamentally changing because of this technology? I often work with an AMIRA or a VENICE 2, and the demands are always evolving. What are your experiences?