Case study · Virtual production · Anaheim, CA · 2025

Four worlds in two days, on one LED stage

A ReelShort drama needed snow mountains, a burning village, a desert and a castle. Shooting any of them on location was out of the question. So all four were shot in two days on our curved LED stage in Anaheim.

On our stage, February 2025: a desert set on the floor, a burning village on the wall

In February 2025 ReelShort shot a short-form drama over two days on PixelPro Productions’ virtual production stage in Anaheim, California: a curved LED wall 10 m wide and 4.5 m high (Gloshine MV Pro 2.6), NovaStar MX40 Pro control, Mo-Sys StarTracker camera tracking, and real-time rendering in Unreal Engine and Hecoos. The script called for snow mountains, a burning village, a desert and a castle, with actors on wires. ReelShort had looked for a castle location in the US and ruled out shooting on location. ReelShort supplied the background content, its own camera and camera crew; three PixelPro technicians ran the LED wall, the lighting, and Unreal and Hecoos. It was ReelShort’s first virtual production, planned at short-drama pace: fifteen set-ups a day.

At a glance

Client: ReelShort (short-form drama)
Shot: February 2025, two days
Stage: Our virtual production stage, Anaheim, California
LED: Curved wall, 10 × 4.5 m, Gloshine MV Pro 2.6 (2.6 mm pitch)
Control and tracking: NovaStar MX40 Pro, Mo-Sys StarTracker
Rendering: Unreal Engine, Hecoos
Scenes: Snow mountains, a burning village, a desert, a castle; actors on wires
From ReelShort: Background content, camera and camera crew
Our crew on set: Three technicians: LED wall, lighting, Unreal and Hecoos

The brief

ReelShort makes short-form drama: many short scenes, shot fast. This one needed four settings, none of which could be shot for real. ReelShort had looked for a castle in the US before deciding against location shooting altogether, and chose virtual production instead: the set built on the floor, the world on the LED wall behind it.

ReelShort made the background content and brought its own camera. We supplied the stage and three technicians: one on the LED wall, one on lighting, one on Unreal and Hecoos.

Challenge 01

Fifteen set-ups a day

Short drama is shot at speed, and ReelShort planned to keep that speed on the stage: fifteen scene set-ups a day.

On an LED stage a new set-up is more than a new camera angle. The set on the floor is dressed for the scene, the lights are reset for the new world, the camera tracking is checked, and the colour of the wall is adjusted until the floor and the screen read as one picture on camera. Each of those takes time, and all of them happen again at the next set-up.

On a virtual production shoot, the time goes into the changeover.

Snow mountains on the wall, the desert set on the floor

The next scene: a burning village, the same set

Challenge 02

A first virtual production

It was ReelShort’s first shoot on an LED stage, and its camera crew had little experience of one. On a stage like ours the camera is tracked and the background moves with it, so what the monitor shows depends on the wall, the lights and the camera being set up together.

The two teams took a long time to find a working rhythm. Our three technicians stayed on the wall, the lighting and the rendering for the whole shoot, and the shoot was completed in its two days.

What got it finished was having our own technicians on set from start to end.

In the camera monitor, the set on the floor and the snow mountains on the wall are one picture

The result

Snow mountains, a burning village, a desert and a castle, shot on one stage with no location trip.
The shoot completed in two days.
ReelShort’s own content and camera, on our wall, tracking and rendering, run by our crew.

What the stage is, what comes with it and how booking works are on our virtual production stage page.

Questions production teams ask

Can a short drama be shot on an LED virtual production stage?

Yes. In February 2025 ReelShort shot a short-form drama over two days on PixelPro’s LED stage in Anaheim, California, with snow mountains, a burning village, a desert and a castle on a 10 × 4.5 m curved LED wall, and actors on wires.

How many set-ups a day can you shoot on an LED stage?

It depends on how much changes between them. Each new scene means redressing the set on the floor, relighting, checking the camera tracking and matching the colour of the LED wall to the set. ReelShort planned fifteen set-ups a day for its short drama on our Anaheim stage; the less that changes between scenes, the faster each set-up goes.

Do we need virtual production experience to shoot on your stage?

No. ReelShort’s shoot on our Anaheim stage in February 2025 was its first virtual production. Three PixelPro technicians ran the LED wall, the lighting, and Unreal Engine and Hecoos throughout, working with ReelShort’s own camera crew until the shoot was done.

Can we bring our own background content and camera?

Yes. ReelShort made its own background content and shot with its own camera on our Anaheim stage; our crew ran the content on the LED wall with Mo-Sys camera tracking and real-time rendering in Unreal Engine and Hecoos.