Last month we launched virtual production here at Sugar Studios, in partnership with Universal Pixels, why? well, we had the chance to sit down with Sam who headed this up at the studios, to discuss all things VP, including what we plan to achieve in the future.
We decided to set up our Virtual Production Studio with two main goals. One, to make it affordable and accessible to the kind of budgets that couldn’t previously access this kind of technology and two, to provide the creative versatility of VP to as many crews as possible.
After talking at length with the team at Universal Pixels, we came up with one of the most cost effective and innovative solutions in the business.
VP can be used by any production, whether that’s commercials, music videos, Film, TV or broadcast. It allows you to shoot in any location, real or fake, and minimise travel, carbon emissions and post-production, while maximising creative control, time efficiency, cost efficiency and what’s possible in-camera.
With our VP set-up you can create entirely false environments in Unreal Engine, accurately light your subjects, use real-time rendering techniques to make creative changes mid-shoot, get real life reflections, create impossible worlds and realise creativity without limits.
VP is incredibly useful for shoots like with cars; getting real reflections on the body (cast by the volume), while being able to shoot in a studio setting with complete control of the lighting and set up. Pre-recorded video playback can be used for these kinds of simpler shoots, where the footage is shot prior to production, and then practically introduced on-set as an element. This is particularly popular in the commercial space and/or sports broadcast with heavy motion graphics.
We custom build our volumes around every individual shoot, meaning they are completely scalable to use-case and budget. Our 3600 sq ft studio means we’re not short on space to achieve anything that comes our way. Our suppliers and professionals are some of the best VFX and production minds in the industry, having worked across massive TV Shows, Movies, Music Tours and Live shows, there’s nothing at this point that they won’t be able to help with.
VP has traditionally been so expensive, and an exclusive club. We want to make these capabilities available across the industry, particularly to a commercial audience that couldn’t previously afford this tech.
Sugar Studios is young in its inception and there’s so much on the horizon, but it’s so important to us that we grow around our clients and what they need. We want to make your next shoot easy!
