First TV Show to Use 'The Volume' Virtual Set

The Mandalorian was the first TV show to use a full-scale LED Volume as its primary filming environment, developed in 2018 by ILM. Over 50% of Season One was filmed using this groundbreaking technology, eliminating traditional green screens entirely. Instead of fake backdrops, actors interacted with photorealistic 3D environments displayed on 200 LED panels in real-time. It revolutionized how productions approach visual effects on set, and there's plenty more to uncover about how it all works.

Key Takeaways

• The Mandalorian was the first TV show to use the Volume, a revolutionary LED-based virtual production system developed in 2018.
• No prior TV show had ever built a full-scale LED Volume for primary filming before The Mandalorian.
• Over 50% of The Mandalorian's Season One was filmed using the Volume, eliminating traditional location shoots entirely.
• ILM's previous LED work before The Mandalorian was limited to smaller-scale film productions, not full TV series.
• The Volume combined real-time rendering with LED walls, allowing actors to interact authentically with digital 3D backgrounds.

What Is the Volume and How Does It Work?

The Volume is a specialized filmmaking facility that combines physical sets, towering 20-foot-high LED panels, and digital elements to create an immersive, controlled 3D environment.

Large, curved LED walls display high-resolution virtual backgrounds, completely replacing traditional physical sets. Real-time rendering engines like Unreal Engine generate CGI directly onto the panels, while camera calibration systems track every pan, tilt, zoom, and dolly movement.

As you move the camera, the engine instantly adjusts perspective, lighting setup, and visual elements on the panels, creating natural depth and seamless immersion.

High-performance computing, including Nvidia RTX A6000 GPUs and 64-core Threadrippers, drives four GPU nodes across a 40GB network. The result is immediate composite shots, realistic on-set lighting, and a production environment that eliminates the need for location travel or extensive set construction. Actors can interact with the 3D modeled backgrounds, enabling more authentic performances that would be difficult to achieve on a traditional soundstage. Around half of The Mandalorian was shot using this groundbreaking technology.

How the Volume's Real-Time CGI Eliminated the Green Screen?

The interactive lighting benefits are equally transformative. Unlike green screen setups requiring separate lighting passes, The Volume's dynamic walls simultaneously illuminate actors and serve as photographable backgrounds.

Professional luminaires complement the screen-generated light, while ARRI SkyPanel technology produces superior skin tone replication. Actors can also point at digital elements and genuinely see what they're referencing, generating authentic performances impossible in traditional chromakey environments. The production of 1899 notably achieved over 50% in-camera recording without requiring extensive post-treatment.

The Volume was developed through a collaboration between Disney and Industrial Light & Magic to bring photorealistic environments to life in real-time, fundamentally changing how productions approach on-set visual effects.

LED Panels, Turntables, and the Hardware Inside the Volume

Powering The Volume requires an intricate web of hardware that most filmmakers never see. The walls use 200 ROE LED BP2v2 panels at 2.8mm pixel pitch, each containing 192x192 pixels. With 86 panels, you'd reach 30 megapixels of resolution, and four swappable modules per panel make damaged pixel replacement fast.

Turntables like the X1.9 Mark II support dynamic camera movements inside the volume, integrating with tracking systems for precise positioning. They handle strong PF lenses without heavy distortion.

The network infrastructure relies on four nodes running Nvidia RTX A6000 GPUs and 64-core Threadrippers, with a fifth master node handling ceiling content over a 40GB network. Energy consumption ranges from 25,000W at its lowest to 80,000W at full brightness, demanding fiber optic connections for stable power distribution. Real-time rendering engines continuously update the three-dimensional environment on the fly, ensuring the digital backdrop remains perfectly synchronized with every camera move and lighting adjustment on set.

The facility's LED volume spans an impressive stage floor of 68 x 52 feet, giving productions ample room to execute complex scenes while taking full advantage of the surrounding digital environment.

Why the Mandalorian Was the First TV Show to Use the Volume?

1. No prior TV show had built a full-scale LED Volume for primary filming.
2. ILM's previous LED work stayed smaller-scale, limited to film productions.
3. Real-time rendering combined with LED walls eliminated traditional location shoots entirely.
4. Over 50 percent of Season One filmed using this groundbreaking methodology.

Developed in 2018, this system became the largest virtual filmmaking environment ever built, setting a standard that subsequent shows like The Book of Boba Fett later refined. The virtual production workflow relied on Unreal Game Engine from Epic Games to drive the interactive digital environments displayed across the LED walls.

Why Actors Felt Seasick Filming Inside the Volume?

These actor performance challenges directly disrupted filming consistency. Khan's motion sickness mitigation attempts included closing his eyes between takes, while Emmanuel pushed through repeated driving sequences despite severe nausea.

Crew adjusted screen content, but the core visual conflict remained unavoidable. Ultimately, the technology's in-camera lighting benefits kept production moving despite the physiological toll on performers. The Volume's photorealistic 3D backgrounds adjusted in real-time to match camera movements, which likely intensified the sensory conflict experienced by actors during takes. Army of Thieves received a glowing 4.5 out of 5 stars from ComicBook.com, which praised both the performances and the film's visual effects as a key component of its success.

Which Other Shows Have Used the Volume Since the Mandalorian?

Since The Mandalorian proved the technology's worth, several other productions have adopted ILM's StageCraft Volume for their own ambitious projects. These virtual production techniques have reshaped how filmmakers build worlds:

1. 1899 – Netflix's German sci-fi series used the immersive filmmaking process to craft tense ocean liner atmospheres with real-time LED visuals.
2. The Batman – Matt Reeves built Gotham's rainy noir exteriors using reactive Volume projections alongside practical sets.
3. Black Adam – Dwayne Johnson's DC film leveraged StageCraft for desert landscapes and real-time destruction sequences.
4. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – Marvel used The Volume to control quantum domain environments, reducing post-production workload.

You can see how each production expanded the technology's reach beyond Star Wars entirely. Red Notice, a globe-trotting action comedy starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot, was filmed entirely in Atlanta using virtual production technology influenced by The Mandalorian, allowing the production to simulate locations across Italy, Bali, Spain, Argentina, and Egypt without requiring cast and crew to travel — particularly valuable given the challenges of the pandemic.