How to control virtual production volumes with your laptop

From major sports franchises to renowned networks and commercial giants like Amazon and John Deere, Vū Technologies knows a thing or two about virtual production. Discover the technology driving their productions and the seamless control achieved with ASUS laptops, including the new Zenbook Pro 14 OLED dual screen.

Behind the Scenes of Virtual Production with Vū

We first met the Vū team at NAB in 2023; you can’t miss them - they had/ have a very loud and very popular motorcycle set up in the main entrance to the Central Hall that attendees can sit on and be part of a real-life demo that shows how an LED volume can be used in a scene using a motorcycle. It was very cool. We soon came to realize that Vū wasn’t a usual studio; they had gone “all in” (excuse the terrible Vegas pun there) on virtual production with four studios in Tampa, Orlando, Nashville, and Las Vegas.

Vū Technologies on set using the ASUS hardware as part of its workflow

The clients came with them. Recent projects include work for an array of sports franchises, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and major networks, including CBS, ESPN, and The Today Show. Commercial clients also use their virtual sets to produce content for Amazon, John Deere, and others. The technology that drives these productions is complex. Or is it? We spent some time with the Vū team at their HQ in Tampa and came to realize that, yes, they have servers doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to driving the LED stages; however, in terms of controlling what is on the volumes, it can be done with a laptop!

Vū has always used ASUS laptops and recently upgraded to the new ASUS Zenbook Pro 14 OLED dual screen. The dual-screen allows CTO Alvin Reinz to visualize the actual aspect ratios of the Unreal Engine displays while having the ability to make adjustments on top of the main monitor. “Being able to control everything from that single notebook with multiple screens allows us to be ingrained and be in the actual action,” he says. Indeed, Alvin is now able to control creative projects from anywhere with a secure WiFi connection. 

Vū enjoys using the new Zenbook Pro 14 OLED and its dual-screen

Meanwhile, on set, Kevin DeLucia, Visual Effects Supervisor for Vū, has a simplified workflow built around the ASUS ProArt PA32DC OLED display used as a reference monitor thanks to its incredible color accuracy and built-in color calibration tool that gives the onset team the confidence that what they are seeing on the monitor, is a color-accurate representation of what is coming out of the camera.

ASUS ProArt PA32DC OLED is a great reference monitor due to its color-accurate display

There is also a portable display, the ASUS ProArt PA148CTV, which shines as a second on-set reference monitor. Using the ASUS Dial makes tasks like timeline scrubbing and content review incredibly efficient. They can easily examine footage, review content they've captured, and ensure that their vision aligns perfectly with the final output, “You can kind of take it anywhere and set it up. It gives you a lot of flexibility to kind of be able to work on the go,” says Kevin.

ASUS ProArt PA148CTV is a great on-the-go reference monitor

The final part of their onset setup is the ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 OLED laptop. It comes with a color-accurate display, which gives Vū a great image and excellent color fidelity and consistency equipped with the ASUS Dial.

Vu pairs the ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 OLED laptop together with the portable monitor for a complete setup

Empowering creators and transforming stories with ASUS technology

The video below, produced by ASUS, covers the points above in a lot more detail; we believe this is an excellent example of using affordable hardware to drive major industry projects and achieve an incredibly high-quality result. I’ll leave the final word to Vū’s Director of Content and Innovation, Daniel Mallek; “We envision a world where anyone can use this technology to tell their story. And that's the thing that I think is really cool about ASUS is that they are not only creating really good technology, but it's clear that they are dead set on empowering the creator to create, to tell stories, to change minds. And so we love the partnership with ASUS and are excited to continue it into the future."