International production services company Plate Pros is releasing its one-of-a-kind stock library of 12,000 pre-stitched 360 degree driving process plates featuring hundreds of in-demand locations around the country. Previews of the plates are available now, and the company will begin taking orders on 1 July.
Creating VFX elements for film, television, and commercial projects, the company offers expertise in producing photographic virtual environments utilising 360-degree array photography and other techniques to create a 2D or 2.5-D digital twin of a location. The company has contributed to hundreds of productions, and its union and non-union team members are the globe’s most experienced photographic virtual environment specialists.
Plate Pros stock library features over 280 locations, with more being filmed every day. Libraries elsewhere are struggling to keep up with the needs of LED technology used by world-class stages; for producers and directors, this requires either time-consuming and expensive stitching fees or not being able to provide enough resolution and field of view to satisfy LED vendors’ needs. Plate Pros, however, creates stunning images with full 360 degree seamless coverage including the entire sky for complete and accurate reflections.
The Plate Pros library has been captured from a street legal, purpose-built, 3-wheel autocycle with a custom shock and vibration absorbing mount supporting a 3-axis actively stabilized head. The remarkably low height of the array car allows for a continuous 360 degree view from the correct height for the driver’s eyeline in a sedan or SUV.
“Our library can be a game-changer for filmmakers,” noted Plate Pros founder and CEO David C. Smith. “With the expansion of virtual production, it’s clear that the industry needs a new source of moving environments that addresses the unique requirements of filming car process scenes on LED volumes. Access to high quality stock assets at an affordable price point is crucial to the wide adoption of these techniques.”
