One of the more interesting panel sessions on offer at IBC in Amsterdam last weekend took place on the ETC stage on the Z by HP stand in Hall 7. The session covered “how the shape of the VP industry is changing, and how the development of smaller Virtual Production Studios are opening the technology up to filmmakers outside of the major studio model. Panellists [discussed] the challenges facing boutique VP studios, as well as the opportunities for a new kind of content”
It featured, from left to right, Nils Pauwels, partner and director at Amsterdam virtual production facility ReadySet Studios, VAD, VFX and VP coordinator Rachel Wood, Lux Machina Consulting MD David Gray and Christina Caspers-Römer, MD of Trixter in Berlin. The session chair (far right) was Film Soho Project Manager Elliot Ancona.
The session was recorded by the ETC crew. This post will be updated as soon as it has been added to the ETC video archive.
It is perhaps significant and a sign of the times that one of the most talked-about products at the show was the Blackmagic Camera app for iPhone, which is free and excellent, a sure-fire winner for anybody looking to get into high-end cinematography and a ‘gateway drug’ to the rest of the Blackmagic Design product range. A fantastic bit of marketing, as you come to expect from these industry renegades.
The Samsung Wall For Virtual Production was bright and vibrant and never failed to attract a decent crowd during presentations
Pixotope‘s focus was very much on the company’s graphics software, a derivative of Epic’s Unreal Engine real-time 3D creation tool designed specifically for virtual set and LED stage background origination.
MoveAI were in residence at the White Light stand in Hall 3 with a disguise-powered demo of their new real-time markerless performance system, Invisible.
Brompton’s Truelight technology, which made its debut at NAB in Las Vegas in April, was also on show. The company describes it as “a game-changing technology, delivering high-quality lighting from LED panels with extra emitters – offering accurate, calibrated colours. It provides unprecedented improvement and control to the limited spectral output from RGB panels that can create unnatural skin tones”. We’re looking forward to find out more and putting it through its paces on some forthcoming projects.
Best Demo award might possibly go to Canon for their dancers and DJs.
Back in the virtual production space, the team at stYpe probably get the Snappiest Dressers award. Ice white trainers, ice white t-shirt with company logo, indigo suit. It’s a look that says “I’m in control of my tracking system”.
But the standout feature of this IBC was the importance of relationships being formed and reactivated after a difficult few years against a backdrop of technology rather than in the midst of it. At least in the sectors we operate, there wasn’t really much that was startling or new or a must-see.
It felt like business as usual on the technology front, but on an interpersonal level, I imagine most people would say they had a great time and walked away all the better for the experience of being there.
If you got interested in something at the show where you think we might be able to help, do get in touch – contact@mondatum.com.