At first look, Lightcraft Jetset looks like only one extra gadget crowding the discount finish of digital manufacturing: it runs on an iPhone somewhat than bespoke monitoring {hardware}, provides a fullyfeatured free tier, and its paid “Jetset Pro” improve prices barely twenty {dollars} a month. But that notion changers as you begin wanting on the pedigree of the corporate: Lightcraft’s chairman and lead investor is Bill Warner, the identical Bill Warner who based Avid and upended nonlinear enhancing three a long time in the past.
Dig just a little deeper and also you uncover that the app’s realtime monitoring and compositing are already powering shoots overseen by veteran VFX supervisors, proving their mettle far past the indie sandbox. And if the $20 tier doesn’t trace at greater ambitions, the $80permonth “Jetset Cine” license—full with genlock, cinelens calibration, and hardsync to ARRI, RED, or Sony our bodies—actually does. (Although, as you’ll see, $80 a month continues to be a steal for what it does.)
Let’s dive in and take a look at precisely what Jetset is, and what it delivers.
From Forklifts to Phones — A Brief Backstory
Lightcraft has really been round since 2004 and their first main virtualproduction system—Previzion—price roughly $180,000 and arrived on set by forklift. Today, that very same core tech weighs about 180 grams as a result of it runs on an iPhone.
The firm tender launched Jetset at NAB 2024, drawing crowds exactly as a result of it doesn’t require an LED quantity. You level your telephone, body the shot, and see a dwell composite of actors inside a CG set—even handheld and outside.
What Jetset Actually Does
RealTime 6DoF Camera Tracking
Jetset exploits Apple’s ARKit to generate subpixel, sixdegreeoffreedom monitoring knowledge at as much as 120 Hz—no bodily markers, no reflective tape. It fortunately rides on gimbals like DJI RS 3 or Steadicam rigs.
Live Compositing & “Infinite Greenscreen”
The app pumps a keyable background plate, foreground video, depth map, and a completed composite out of the telephone’s USBC port (or wirelessly through Accsoon SeeMo). Blue/inexperienced display screen, AI matte era, and even 3D “infinite greenscreen” extensions render in actual time, so expertise and director see finalpixel framing on set.
Scene Locators & DepthAware Anchors
Taptoplace locators allow you to pin CG props or complete environments to realworld coordinates. Because Jetset writes LiDAR depth per body, parallax sticks—even once you whippan.
Autoshot & DCC RoundTrip
Every take bundles the uncooked plate, ProRes or H.264 composite, USDformatted digicam path, LiDAR mesh, and onset notes. Autoshot pushes that bundle straight into Blender, Unreal, Nuke, SynthEyes, or Resolve/Fusion.
| Tier | Monthly | Key Limits | Who It’s For |
| Jetset (Free) | $0 | 1080 p, H.264, watermark | Students, previs, TikTok |
| Jetset Pro | $20 | 4 Okay UHD, ProRes 422, automation | Indie movies, XR shoots |
| Jetset Cine | $80 | ProRes 4444 XQ, genlock, cinelens calibration, RED/ALEXA/FX9 metadata, 23.98/24/25 fps sync | Features, streaming sequence |
Under the Hood—Five Features That Matter
MarkerFree SubPixel Refinement
Optional LiDAR scans refine ARKit solves all the way down to <0.5 px in Syntheyes or PFTrack.
Gaussian Splat Backdrops
Feed Jetset a NeRF or Gaussian Splat of your location; the telephone renders parallaxcorrect 3D surroundings in actual time.
Tentacle Timecode & GenLock
Cine tier syncs audio TC and sends a pulse to digicam, so your onset composite strains up frameaccurately in put up.
Digital Slate & Metadata
Every take contains focal size, focus distance, Tstop, ISO, and a safe hash so VFX plates will be QCverified later.
Autoshot Scripts for Blender/Unreal/Nuke
One click on rebuilds the shot in 3D with nulls, picture planes, and synced dailies—no listing spelunking required. This along with dwell streaming immediately into Unreal and Blender.
Where Jetset Fits within the VP Landscape
LED volumes excel at complicated interactive lighting however stay impractical for indie crews or midtier episodic budgets. Pure plateshooting, alternatively, lacks director suggestions and piles hours onto the monitoring division. Jetset provides the right resolution for this: realtime context with out the wall. Even in LED wall settings, Jetset’s Live Link feed can delivers lenscalibrated monitoring to Unreal or Disguise.
Final Thoughts
Lightcraft Jetset isn’t a novelty telephone app; it’s a distillation of highend virtualproduction workflows into one thing each filmmaker already owns (and the fashionable iPhone is full of a ridiculous quantity of filmmaking sensors which can be, frankly, wasted on the common client). The free tier removes any barrier to entry, whereas the Pro and Cine tiers scale options predictably with funds.
If your present wants tracked, greenscreen composites with out the fee or footprint of an LED quantity, Jetset deserves a spot in your equipment—and probably in your iPhone’s dwelling display screen.
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