The space is built around 343 sq m of LED wall and is one of the biggest mixed reality studios in Europe
Arri has opened a large-scale mixed reality studio that’s available for hire to productions in the UK. It offers 343 sq m of LED wall and has been installed in partnership with NEP Live Events Production and technical specialist Creative Technology.
The 7,621 sq ft studio, which Arri believes is one of the biggest permanent mixed reality production spaces in Europe, is based at its UK HQ in Uxbridge.
The studio has an ‘in vision’ curve that’s 98.4 ft x 16.4 ft; two moveable and tiltable side screens, each 9.8 ft x 13.8 ft; and a height-adjustable ceiling of 31.5 ft x 31.5 ft.
A back curve of 59.1 ft x 13.8 ft can be programmed to display 360-degree imagery that even when not in frame, casts dynamic, fully integrated lighting effects onto the performers and the scene being shot.
As well as renting out the space, Arri offers clients pre-production advice and creative production services. For productions new to mixed reality, technical support can extend to a full script-to-screen service.
Creative Technology designed and installed the video walls, playback systems, and a number of control solutions; Mo-Sys supplied a StarTracker camera tracking system; Epic Games provided Unreal Engine; and Nvidia’s RTX A6000 GPUs power the image processing.
Jannie van Wyk, managing director of ARRI Rental, said: “Collaborating with best-for-purpose suppliers of all the varied required technologies has enabled Arri to deliver a full solution for mixed reality in our Uxbridge studio. These industry-leading hardware and software tools could not be better complemented than with ARRI cameras, lenses, stabilisers, lights, and workflow support, which can be provided to productions as a package deal on site.”
Markus Zeiler, Arri executive board member, adds: “Arri has made a global commitment to be at the forefront of the exciting possibilities opened up by mixed reality shooting. In addition to this commercially available studio in the UK, we have also built LED volume stages at our facilities in Burbank, California and Munich, Germany.”
Tom Burford, head of technical services at Creative Technology, says: “We have designed and built this volume specifically for mixed reality productions. The shape, rigging solutions, choice of hardware, and signal distribution have all been very carefully considered to produce the most flexible shooting environment possible. The sense of being fully surrounded within a virtual environment really does need to be felt first-hand.”
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