Editing Star Wars:The Mandalorian (section)

== Almost-Holodeck Soundstage ==

So we mentioned above there is new special effects in play here.  The Mandalorian makes use of a brand new soundstage that consists of a large circle of extremely high resolution LED screens surrounding the actors on almost all sides, projecting distant scenery rendered in real time with Unreal Engine, controlled by the camera's movement.  This can be shot directly by the camera, with a computer figuring out the compositing later with a higher quality render for the final cut.

The biggest impact it has is on reflections and ambient lighting on the subjects.  Using conventional green screen tech, getting the lighting to match the setting is quite difficult, and getting reflections requires extensive post production work to the point of not being practical in most cases.  With the screen set used for Mandalorian, any reflections on metal surfaces (such as shiny, polished armor) are natural and the lighting of the final composite shot will PERFECTLY match the principal photography.