Painting Practice, creators of Plan V, talk about their Clwstwr experience at two tech festivals

This month, Clwstwr cohort member Painting Practice – a Cardiff-based creative studio named in Createch’s 100 Ones to Watch 2020 – spoke at two tech industry festivals.

Both discussions focused on Plan V, their free-to-download desktop app that can be used by hobbyists and production professionals. It lets you visualise virtually-created sets, scenes and worlds, combining VR and AR to plunge the user into deep levels of immersion to provide a realistic sense of scale and fine detail. There’s also a plug-in available that allows Unreal users to connect their iPad to use it as a video camera within the engine.

The idea for Plan V was conceived while working on a series of Black Mirror for Channel 4. Through the support and funding of Clwstwr it became a reality, making its debut during the production of His Dark Materials (BBC/HBO).

Yassmine Najime, Painting Practice’s studio manager, spoke over videophone at the first ever Wales Tech Week. She discussed how Plan V is an opportunity for a better future for virtual filming, one where pipelines and processes are more efficient, the overall productions are greener and the quality of pre-visualisation is vastly improved.

In the same week, Dan May, co-founder of Painting Practice, gave an online talk at Unreal Fest 2020. He went into detail about how Plan V, which was made to work with Unreal engine, came into its own during the production of His Dark Materials. He also spoke about how the creation of the production tool was incredibly timely; as it allows users to explore 3D environments and previsualization materials remotely, many of Painting Practice’s production staff could continue to work during the COVID-19 lockdown.

You can also watch Unreal Engine’s spotlight on Painting Practice here and find out more about their Clwstwr project here.