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Lights up Kino Flo’s MIMIK LED panel ensures colour accuracy, boasting bright-as-the-sun illumination while seamlessly fitting into any virtual production environment A few years ago, when virtual production (VP) was in its infancy, LED volumes generated enough light to illuminate foreground subjects. However, due to limited
PANEL SHOW Kino Flo’s MIMIK extends spectral bandwidth and provides precise colour accuracy for lighting in LED volume set-ups
spectrums, the colours often proved inaccurate. To address this issue, DMX lighting was introduced, synchronising the LED walls with additional fixtures. But engineers and light designers searched for a more efficient method: “Instead of DMX, what about direct control from the video processor?” raises Frieder Hochheim, Kino Flo’s founder. Consequently, Kino Flo’s MIMIK – a 2x4ft image-based lighting tile – was born. The panel mirrors video content while applying an extended spectral bandwidth, offering RGBWW rather than the traditional RGB to ensure the utmost colour accuracy. With 7200 pixels, the MIMIK can also produce 10,000 nits of illumination at 400W. Though the MIMIK itself is supported by Megapixel VR’s HELIOS processor, it’s ‘designed to be agnostic’, according to Hochheim, working alongside any LED volume’s video processor.
Despite its increasing popularity, VP is still in its early days, with the related technology evolving on a regular basis. “The MIMIK fixture takes advantage of these developments,” shares Hochheim. One example is subframes, or frame remapping, “a technology from Megapixel in which a frame at 30fps can be sliced into as many as 30 subframes,” adds Hochheim. ”Each subframe can be assigned an image or colour, or left blank.” The MIMIK, he claims, is the only fixture that can sync to a subframe. “It also finds a place in blue- and green-screen compositing,” Hochheim states. “If the content is ready at the time of production, MIMIKs can be mapped accordingly – the composite result viewed on the previs monitors. This process is increasingly being used as a cost-saving approach to VP.” The MIMIKs have been used on a variety of recent projects, including a music video shot by Rob McLachlan, ASC, CSC ( Game of Thrones , Westworld ) at Fuse Technical Group in Glendale, California. “A wall of eight MIMIKs
was created as a soft key light, while additional MIMIKs surrounded the stage area,” recalls Hochheim. The dynamic environment reflected off the main character’s wardrobe and heightened the sense of movement.” Sam Nicholson, ASC (VP supervisor on The Idol and The Lincoln Lawyer ) also used the MIMIKs on a shoot which combined LED walls with green screens. “The shots called for many stunts and pyrotechnics,” says Hochheim. “Not wanting to damage the LED walls with flying debris, he combined the MIMIKs with both; explosions all appeared in front of green screens, and other action within the same shot in front of the LED wall. “Lighting beyond DMX is the next phase of motion-picture lighting,” he argues. In the future, Hochheim expects video tech to become the origin source, either replacing or working alongside traditional control desks. “It requires a willingness to embrace new ways of thinking about what motivates a light and how to control it. The future looks bright and inviting.”
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