Not every production requires a tracked virtual set. Digital backdrops are pre-rendered animated environments - carefully designed video loops delivered to large LED screens - that create a convincing illusion of depth and space behind presenters without the requirement for tracking or real-time engine performance.

The design discipline involved is closer to Trompe L'oeil than to virtual set design. Where a tracked virtual set responds dynamically to camera movement, a digital backdrop must create the convincing illusion of three-dimensional space from a fixed two-dimensional plane. Designed well, the effect is seamless. Designed poorly, it reads immediately as flat. Lightwell is among the most experienced studios working in this area - understanding how to build environments that hold up convincingly across the full range of camera positions within a studio, without the geometry ever breaking.

Lightwell has produced digital backdrops for BBC, Bloomberg, Sky, CCTV and ABC Australia, among others.