Last week, Filmscape SA, based in Montague Gardens, in the Western Cape, had an open day, inviting interested industry parties to tour their virtual studio and volume, and see a demo of the facilities.
The curved volume screen boasts a 14,3m diameter, at 32m x 6m, at 240 degrees. The LED screen is 10 bit, with a resolution of 12288 x 2304, using Colorlight x 100 Pro LED processors.
Playback is at 4K, with media servers and Unreal Engine render nodes. Tracking is provided by the Mo-Sys StarTracker system. Or stored telemetry when using a TechnoCrane.
With such a setup, changing lighting and scenes takes a mere fraction of the time than moving locations or changing a lighting set on location would normally.
The use of virtual volumes is increasingly finding it’s way into film, television, and TVC shoots, allowing for faster turnaround, lower rates for locations (when a location is either too far, overseas, or too exotic). Filmscape boasts amungst it’s clients channels and streaming platforms such as ShowMAX, KykNET, Netflix, and Apple.
The below image shows a demo of a sea-side location. The TechnoCrane can be programmed for repeated movement (storing that movement to use later in post-production). Realistic reflections are present on the vehicle body. And to change lighting, one can either use normal studio lighting, or create a virtual light flag on the LED wall (altering colour, brightness, and size as needed by a DOP).
For more information, check the Filmscape SA website and SAMDB profile.
