Chaos has releasedRay Tracing FTW, a short film that showcases its Project Arena virtual production toolset. Just before the film was released, we spoke with the director, writers, and producers, Chris Nichols, Daniel Thron, and Erick Schiele.As you will hear in this hilarious and yet really informative fxpodcast, the team worked with some of the most well known names in the industry and used virtual tech that allowed them to do up to 30 set-up shots during a standard 10-hour shoot day.In the film, the V-Ray environment of an Old West town was designed by Erick Schiele and built by The Scope with the help of KitBash3D and TurboSquid assets. The production used this environment for everything from all-CG establishing shots and tunnel sequences to the background for a physical train car set, which was able to be seen convincingly by using full ray tracing.The Director of Photography was Richard Crudo (Justified, American Pie), who shot nearly every shot in-camera, barring a massive VFX-driven train crash. The productions speed and flexibility were shown by the final 3D Hacienda, which the team bought online and got on-screen in under 15 minutes.Special thanks to Chris Nichols, director of special projects at the Chaos Innovation Lab and VFX supervisor/producer of Ray Tracing FTW.