Roe Visual and Ark Ventures collaborated to expand the NIPA KOVAC XR Stage in South Korea
CJP has also installed the Kino Flo Mimik lighting tile. As well as providing excellent, controllable, high-intensity LED coverage, this can dynamically adjust its colour temperature to provide continuity between its real and virtual elements – a useful tool. Woolford also makes the important point that students who have different interests could approach the facility from contrasting viewpoints, but still derive maximum benefit. “As there are so many aspects to virtual production, different courses have a great chance at working together. “The film production students will get to work with CGI courses in order to build environments – two groups that would not traditionally have come together. Live events could put on a show with visualisations and work with games design to make it. This cross-course collaboration is something we are really looking forward to seeing.” The new studio was completed in 2023 and will become an integral part of the teacher programme in 2024. JUST THE BEGINNING Extended reality and virtual studios are galvanising the way we perceive and interact with content. From expanding the possibilities of entertainment to revolutionising industries like gaming, education and even medicine – XR’s immersive capabilities continue to push the boundaries of technology. And it’s not yet close to its final form.
installation of a new virtual production environment at Solent University in Southampton. The project entailed the evolution of an existing studio space into a very large, high-performance, flexible environment with the purpose of serving students across a range of disciplines. The idea behind the studio’s upgrade would be to provide the sorts of facilities students will see in their working lives after graduation, meaning it has been equipped with a range of commonly used professional tools. The virtual volume consists of a 10x3m LED wall, with a 4x2m ceiling, using AOTO 2.3mm and MxH3.7mm LED panels powered by a network of Brompton video processors. “This is our biggest investment for years,” declares Christopher Woolford, technical instructor at Solent University. “Its flexibility means it can be widely utilised by our student base – not just for film production, but photography, theatre and games.” The screen displays virtual graphics generated by a multi-node Mo-Sys VP Pro XR server – making it only the third university to utilise this system. At the heart of this is the Unreal Engine, widely implemented to create photorealistic environments for final pixel virtual shoots. As Solent has a popular film course, the ability of the Mo-Sys software to pull focus between real and virtual objects is a key creative feature. “The students and lecturers alike are incredibly excited to get working with it as soon as possible,” Woolford adds.
Its flexibility means it can be widely utilised by our student base – not just film production, but photography, theatre etc”
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