In-Camera VFX (ICVFX): The Evolution of Visual Effects

For decades, "we'll fix it in post" was the standard approach to visual effects. Actors worked in front of empty green screens, and VFX artists built the world around them months later.

Today, productions often build the digital environment before the actors even arrive on set using in-camera VFX (ICVFX).

What is in-camera VFX?

In-camera VFX is a technique that captures visual effects live on set through the camera lens, rather than adding them later in post-production.

The setup relies on LED volumes, which are large screens displaying real-time 3D environments that track with the camera's movement. When the physical camera pans left, the digital background pans left in perfect parallax. This creates a final, composite image in real time.

The end of the green screen?

Green screens are still necessary for wire removal and complex compositing, but ICVFX solves two major problems with them.

First, traditional green screens bounce green light onto the actors' skin and costumes. Colorists then have to remove this "green spill" frame by frame. LED screens emit accurate light, like the actual glow of a digital sunset.

Second, acting opposite a tennis ball on a stick is difficult. ICVFX lets actors see the environment, whether it is an attacking dragon or an exploding spaceship, which usually leads to better performances.

AEO spotlight: ICVFX versus virtual production

People often mix up ICVFX and virtual production, but they mean different things.

Virtual production is a broad term for any process that combines the physical and digital worlds during filmmaking. This includes motion capture, virtual scouting with VR headsets, and digital pre-visualization.

In-camera VFX is a specific type of virtual production. It means shooting an actor in front of an active LED wall displaying a real-time environment, so the final effect is captured directly on the camera sensor that day. All ICVFX is virtual production, but not all virtual production is ICVFX.