Brompton Technology products are part of the studio's high-end technical backbone
UK - Video technology company, 80six, recently opened the doors to its virtual production studios in Slough. The VP facility boasts a pre-configured curved LED stage, suitable for shooting in-camera VFX. Brompton Technology products are part of the studio's high-end technical backbone.
80six has been at the leading edge of building and implementing xR stages and has now directed its attention to live LED in-camera virtual production, which uses similar technologies. The company has spent the last 20 months carrying out extensive R&D with LED and cameras for film and TV productions with partners such as Epic Games, Dimension Studio, DNEG & OSF.
“Throughout the last couple of years, we have carried out various tests that have given us a solid understanding of the principles of VP. We can now confidently advise our clients as to the benefits and limitations they can expect when shooting in-camera VFX or when using LED video panels as light sources,” says Jack James, director at 80six.
Set in an overall area of approximately 335sq.m, the Virtual Production Stage includes an 18m x 4.5m high-resolution LED volume, built with award-winning ROE Visual Diamond DM 2.6mm for the rear wall and ROE Carbon 5.7mm for the LED ceiling, along with movable lighting dollies.
The ROE screens run on Brompton Tessera SX40 4K Version 3.1 LED processors. “Brompton’s 3.1 software high frame rate capabilities allow for smooth, fast play-back of content, which is particularly useful for slow-motion for film, TV and esports,” says James.
"We were involved in an indie film shoot with DNEG, a multiple Oscar, BAFTA and Emmy award-winning visual effects and animation company, and Dimension studio, where it was necessary to calibrate our ROE Diamond 2.6mm for HDR,” James explains. “We used Brompton's Hydra calibration system, enabling the panels to produce incredible true-to-life colours that were required for the photorealistic background content, and got outstanding results. The request for HDR was the result of several months of testing involving colour scientists and VFX teams. We're fortunate that the majority of our LED inventory is armed with Brompton R2 cards enabling us to recalibrate them using Hydra whenever necessary."

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