Annie Shaw to head the BAFTA-nominated VFX studio’s new arm, whose new virtual production tool supports film and TV productions, production companies, and game developers.
BAFTA-nominated studio Realtime has launched a Virtual Production division, headed by Annie Shaw, former Head of Virtual Production at MPC London.
The Northwest England-based studio has a decade-long history of working within Unreal Engine and immersive technologies in the Games, Episodic and Automotive industries. This year the studio was awarded a grant from Greater Manchester’s Media City Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub to support the design and development of a proprietary Virtual Production tool. Using game engine technology, the tool supports film and TV productions, production companies, and game developers, from pre-production to post. The tool could be used across both live-action and full CG projects. It works to visualize 3D environments and capture live virtual cameras and previs for full CG scenes and support the visualization of set-extensions or CG elements on live-action sets.
“This is not about flashy tech, although we have that too,” said Shaw. “This is about making real-time technologies accessible to a wider variety of projects and having a strong internal team to assess where any of the tools in the Virtual Production toolbox can add value, visibility and control for our clients. Every project is different, and we like to really understand those differences to create bespoke solutions from a strong foundation of knowledge gained over ten years of history using real-time tools. This is not about pushing technology where it isn't needed, but supporting departments from pre-production to post and giving them opportunities to make informed decisions based on early visualization so they can maximize time and VFX budgets to achieve their creative vision.”
Realtime’s team includes BAFTA-nominated VFX supervisor James Coore, who oversaw the virtual production on the recent Doctor Who 60th anniversary episode “Wild Blue Yonder.” For the hour-long episode, Virtual Production tools were used Unreal Engine to deliver a 4K set extension of a spaceship, which was rendered in a fraction of the time of standard contemporary productions.
“We have always worked closely with our clients across the business to help them visualize their projects as easily as possible,” said Jonathan Rawlinson, Head of Film & Episodic at Realtime. “Now that we’ve bought Annie on board and have a formalized offering, we’re in a fantastic place to support our clients from earliest pre-production. This comes at a time when our industry is evolving and anything that we can do to make the filmmaking journey as smooth as possible is a huge benefit.”
Check out the ‘Virtual Production Teaser’ below:
Source: Realtime
Journalist, antique shop owner, aspiring gemologist—L'Wren brings a diverse perspective to animation, where every frame reflects her varied passions.
