TV Set Design – Physical and Virtual Set Design

At TV Pro Gear, we understand that there is no "one size fits all" approach to television production. Sometimes, a modest physical set will be more than enough to bring your vision to life. In other situations, what you can't create in reality must then be built virtually. That's why TV set design is so essential. It's intricate in a wide range of different ways, all of which are more than worth exploring.

Physical TV Sets - Pros & Cons

Physical TV sets are great because they are, in a word, "real." There's a legitimate physical element to them that you can feel as a viewer that adds authenticity to the entire presentation.

The obvious disadvantage of that is that physical sets must be built. That costs money in terms of materials, resources, employee effort, and time.

Virtual TV Sets - Pros & Cons

Virtual TV sets have emerged in recent years as a viable alternative to physical ones. Think of a green screen as the primary example of this. Actors stand in front of a green screen and the background of the shot can be replaced with virtually anything you want, putting them in nearly any location. These days, many companies have started using massive LED walls for largely the same effect. They have incredibly high resolutions and are more "immersive," allowing actors to blend more naturally into the background.

At TV Pro Gear, we use a technology called Unreal Engine and a keying software called Ultimatte 12 (Black Magic Design) to help make virtual TV sets that look and feel like the set itself is really there. 

The major advantage of this is that it is far less expensive than building a physical set. It also expands the possibilities of what you're able to accomplish with the resources you have. If you were trying to make a science fiction movie and could only use physical sets, your lack of resources might hurt the viewer's experience in terms of believability. If you had a virtual set, however, there's no limit to what you could design - anything you can create in a computer can be recreated in reality.

Hybrid TV Sets - Pros & Cons

Obviously, hybrid TV sets offer a sort of "best of both worlds" scenario. You get the authenticity of having physical sets for actors and actresses to interact with, while also getting the potentially limitless possibilities that can only be created virtually.

The disadvantage to this approach is that it is likely the most expensive - especially for organizations like educational institutions, legislative bodies, churches, and others of that nature. But in terms of the quality of the finished product, it still has a significant amount to offer.

At TV Pro Gear, we have the skills and the talent to handle all of your set design needs - both virtual and physical in nature. Regardless of what your vision is, we have the equipment and the resources necessary to make it a reality - precisely the way it should be.

If you'd like to find out more information about the intricacies of TV set design, or if you have a project coming up that you'd like to talk to someone about in a bit more detail, please don't hesitate to contact TV Pro Gear today.