Wire & Rig Removal Services
Stunt wires, safety rigs and cranes painted out, with the background rebuilt behind them.
Shoot safely and fix it in post. Our paint artists remove the equipment and reconstruct what it was hiding, frame by frame.
Request a VFX Quote
The Rig Keeps Them Safe. We Make It Disappear.
Wire and rig removal is the paint work that erases the equipment used to make a shot possible — stunt wires, harnesses, safety lines, cranes, stands and supports — and rebuilds the image behind it.
Removing a thin wire against a clear sky can be quick. Removing a harness under a moving costume, or a crane arm crossing a detailed set while the camera moves, is a different job. The area behind the rig has to be reconstructed so that texture, grain, lighting, perspective and motion blur all match the surrounding frame, and the fix has to hold steady across every frame of the shot.
RotoEdge is a women-led VFX studio in India. Our paint artists choose the reconstruction method shot by shot: painting from neighbouring frames, projecting a clean plate, rebuilding the area by hand, or a combination, often with roto to protect the performer and tracking to hold patches on a moving camera.
From Thin Wires to Full Rigs.
The difficulty is rarely the rig itself. It is what lies behind it and how much the camera and performer move.
- 01
Stunt & flying wires
Wires on jumps, falls and flying work, removed across moving backgrounds, hair and costume, including where the wire crosses the performer.
- 02
Harnesses & safety rigs
Harness points, safety lines and attachment hardware visible on the body, with the costume or skin rebuilt underneath.
- 03
Cranes, stands & supports
Camera cranes, light stands, C-stands, rigging arms and supports that drift into frame, removed from the set or landscape.
- 04
Clean plates & reconstruction
Large rigs that need a clean plate or a hand-built reconstruction of the background, kept stable through camera moves.
Wire & Rig Removal Deliverables.
Every shot is scoped with you before work starts. Deliveries are usually agreed as image sequences matching your plate, and the exact format is agreed per project.
- Wire & safety line removal
- Harness & attachment cleanup
- Crane, stand & support removal
- Background & clean plate rebuilds
- Grain & motion blur matched to the plate
- Frame-by-frame consistency checks
- VFX studios
- Post houses
- Streaming series
- Commercials
- Independent films
How Wire Removal Pricing Works.
We quote each shot after reviewing the plates, because the effort is set by what sits behind the rig, not by the rig alone.
A wire against an even sky and a wire crossing a face, a patterned costume and a moving crowd can run for the same number of frames and need very different work. Marked-up frames help us quote accurately. For the bigger picture, see how VFX outsourcing pricing works.
- Frame count and the number of shots
- Plate resolution and grain or noise level
- Camera movement, motion blur and depth of field
- How much detail sits behind the rig: sky, set, crowd or the performer
- Number of wires or rig elements, and whether they cross the performer
- Whether a clean pass exists, and the number of revision rounds
From Rigged Plate to Clean Shot.
Every project follows the same five-stage pipeline, with quality control before anything leaves the studio.
To quote accurately, send- Plates or a sample of the footage, and the frame ranges
- Marked-up frames showing every wire and rig element to remove
- Any clean passes, empty plates or set photography
- Notes on anything that must stay, such as shadows or reflections
- Your required delivery format and deadline
- 01Discovery & planning
Map every rig
What has to go, what must stay untouched, and when you need the shots back.
- 02Shot preparation
Choose the method
Plates and clean passes are reviewed to pick frame painting, clean plate projection or a hand rebuild.
- 03Production
Remove and rebuild
Artists paint out the rig and reconstruct the background, matching grain, light and motion blur.
- 04Quality assurance
Check in motion
Shots are reviewed at speed and frame by frame for boiling, ghosting or leftover edges.
- 05Final delivery
Deliver securely
Clean shots are delivered securely, ready for compositing or conform.
Wire & Rig Removal Questions.
Do we need a clean plate for wire removal?
Not always. Thin wires can often be painted out using neighbouring frames. Larger rigs, or rigs on a moving camera, are much easier with a clean pass, so if one was shot, please send it. If not, we can rebuild the background by hand.
Can you remove a wire where it crosses the actor?
Yes. Where a wire passes over hair, costume or skin, we rebuild that detail and use roto to keep the performer’s edges intact.
What about the rig’s shadow or reflection?
Shadows and reflections cast by a rig are part of the cleanup when they give the rig away. Mark them on your frames, or tell us if a shadow should stay.
Can you also remove other objects in the same shots?
Yes. Wire work is often combined with object, logo and tracking marker removal as part of our wider paint & cleanup service.
How should we prepare footage for you?
Send plates at full resolution, frame ranges and marked-up frames. Our guide on preparing plates for a VFX vendor covers the details.
How do you keep client footage confidential?
We work under Non-Disclosure Agreements, with secure workflows and controlled access to client plates at every stage.