ROE Visual Illuminates New NantStudios Stage
Featuring an in-camera VFX soundstage that integrates Roe Visual LEDs, the facility is hosting Epic Games' newest Los Angeles Lab.
NantStudios has opened a virtual-production campus in El Segundo, Calif., that features a 24,000-square-foot in-camera VFX soundstage designed in collaboration with Lux Machina. Located at 202 Nash St., the new facility also provides 25,000 square feet of set-fabrication space with a dedicated backlot, 30,000 square feet of support space, and parking for more than 500 vehicles.
The ICVFX soundstage features Roe Visual LED panels (Black Pearl BP2 panels for the volume and Carbon CB3 panels for the ceiling) and Brompton processors integrated into a modular-designed volume video system. The volume can be configured for real-time camera-tracked Unreal Engine environments, pre-rendered plate playback or a hybrid approach. Live-composite feeds and volume spy-cams can be streamed to any remote location on NantStudios' fiber-network infrastructure.
“Our new campus represents a fusion of premiere broadcast-media technology, real-time rendering software and a deeply experienced technical team,” says Gary Marshall, NantStudios’ director of virtual production. “We are proud to work with Roe Visual on bringing this next-generation of storytelling tools online.”
“NantStudios’ new campus was about six months in the making, from custom steel and safety equipment to a unique 360-degree LED design meant to improve audio, create immersive shot capabilities and provide a flexible operation space for any production type,” says Lux Machina CEO Phil Galler. “The facility is fully capable of multi-frustum, HDR, live broadcast and feature-film-level production controlled by a flexible and Covid-safe ‘brain bar’ design, allowing operators and creators to work from any position onstage.”
Based in Los Angeles with campuses in Culver City as well as El Segundo, NantStudios’ full-service production ecosystem comprises traditional, broadcast and VP stages. The company’s goal is to democratize the VP workflow and make it accessible to projects of any scale while innovating with R&D in technologies to streamline the process. Its services team, led by Marshall and Keaton Heinrichs, director of studio operations and business development, has played critical roles on such productions as The Lord of the Rings, Avatar, Gravity, The Lion King and The Mandalorian.
Epic Games has located its newest Los Angeles Lab at NantStudios. “We’re excited to expand our Los Angeles presence at the NantStudios campus,” says Marc Petit, general manager Unreal Engine, Epic Games. “This is a space where the Unreal Engine team will not only accelerate testing of new VP workflows, but also go into production on real-world projects. NantStudios shares our commitment to innovation across a diverse range of industries.”
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