BTS of Linkin Park’s “Up From the Bottom” – A Virtual Production Journey

Written By Alex Pearce

I had the incredible privilege of serving as the Virtual Production Supervisor for Linkin Park’s music video, Up From the Bottom.

If you told 16-year-old me (skateboarding to LP tracks on repeat) that one day I’d help bring one of their music videos to life, I wouldn’t have believed you.

The shoot was fast-paced, collaborative, and a lot of fun. The band was a joy to be around—you could really tell they love what they do.

I’m a huge fan of Emily and new direction of the band.

Media Server & Color

We used Assimilate Live FX as our media server for playback, live color grading, and image-based lighting. It was also used to do a lot of asset prep, like using the Neat Video plug-in, directly in the media server. 

It’s the only media server with the depth of tools needed to tackle complex lighting and color workflows in real time.

The content was mostly 9k-12k resolution 360 video (pre-rendered).

Image-Based Lighting

This project pushed the envelope with image-based lighting—every light on set was run through Live FX, allowing us to instantly adapt lighting setups between scenes and stay ahead of our ambitious schedule.

Lighting gear included:

  • 5x Creamsource Vortex (overhead/backlights + fill)

  • 2x Kino Flo Mimik (for dynamic lighting)

  • 12x Astera Tubes (interactive overheads)

  • Nanlux 2400B (large soft fill)

We also occasionally used light cards to our advantage, which are very easy to set up in Live FX.

Huge thanks to Rune Sorgard for stepping in at the last minute to help me program the Astera tubes!

Creative + Finishing

Much of the content was created by LAUNDRY, with Creative Director PJ Richardson.

The vignette scenes and asset prep was by Leo Marini at Feather and Cap.

The look of the video was finessed using live grading and tools like Luma Keying, allowing us to isolate and affect only the overhead lighting elements in real time.

At Sim-Plates, we’re more than just content creators—we’re technologists, collaborators, and problem-solvers. These types of projects continually improve our internal workflows and sharpen the tools we use every day.

Watch the full video above and BTS below!

Tags

Virtual Production, Virtual Production Supervisor, Linkin Park, Music Video, Image-Based Lighting, LED Stage, Assimilate Live FX, Sim-Plates, Media Server, Color Grading, Los Angeles Filmmaking, VFX, Real-Time Lighting, Creamsource Vortex, Kino Flo Mimik, Astera Tubes, Nanlux

Alex Pearce
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