Year of production
2023
Category
Immersive & VP
Spice Vision developed Asian Alley, a richly detailed real-time virtual production environment created for our partners at Scarab Digital. Built in Unreal Engine 5 and rendered with Lumen, the scene combines high-quality Megascans assets with custom-modeled props, signage, and architectural elements to deliver authentic set dressing and texture variety.
Designed as a versatile urban backdrop, the alley features dynamic lighting, realistic reflections, and atmospheric depth—ideal for achieving in-camera VFX on an LED stage. From layout blocking to final polish, our team focused on creating an environment that feels immersive, flexible for multiple camera angles, and performant in a real-time production pipeline.
The visual concept for Asian Alley was heavily inspired by authentic night photography of Seoul’s narrow side streets, including the hero reference image we used to define the mood and structure of the scene. Our goal was to recreate the layered complexity, gritty textures, and colorful glow of neon signs that bring these urban spaces to life after dark.
To achieve this, we blended Megascans assets for realistic base materials with an extensive library of custom-modeled props—ranging from signage in multiple languages, hanging lanterns, and utility boxes to scattered market crates, bicycles, and environmental grime. Every detail was placed with the goal of making the environment feel functional and believable from every camera angle.
Built entirely in Unreal Engine 5 and rendered with the Lumen global illumination system, the environment features dynamic, physically accurate lighting and reflections. Wet ground surfaces were a key focus, designed to capture light bounces from neon signs and ambient glow, adding depth and atmosphere that shift naturally with camera movement.
The alley’s layout was optimized for real-time performance and flexibility: it supports multiple lensing options, varied lighting moods, and quick re-dressing to match different storytelling needs on an LED stage. This allowed production teams to get in-camera final shots with minimal post clean-up, while maintaining the immersive, cinematic feel that the project demanded.
