Opening Event at Take 2 Studios
By Take 2 Studios
Salzburg, Austria – 16 Oct 2023
Take 2 Studios, Austria's first fixed virtual production studio, officially opened its doors on the 12th of October, celebrating its grand opening with guests from both the Austrian and German film and advertisement industries, including film institutes, educational institutions, creative agencies, film production companies, as well as independent producers and filmmakers. Take 2 Studios' partners and suppliers, both local and international, were also present to celebrate the occasion.
The opening event, hosted by Take 2 Studios' co-founder Viktoria Brandstetter, started with an introduction to the company and to virtual production (VP), followed by a short explanation detailing the three different categories of VP content.
Types of Content:
2D Content
A simple image or video.
2.5D Content
Consists of multiple stacked layers of images or videos that move in relation to each other.
3D Content
A photorealistic virtual 3D environment that moves in parallax just like in real life.
Live Virtual Production Showcase
The main part of the event was a live virtual production showcase. This section was led by co-founder Felix Brandstetter, who guided the audience through the different technical aspects, features and limitations of each content workflow. The protagonist was played by Brazilian actress Luiza Maddalozzo, who completes the core team behind Take 2 Studios.
The showcase took the form of a live film production, with guests getting to experience the behind the scenes of a shoot while simultaneously getting the camera's perspective. As you can see below, two screens were placed right and left of the stage displaying the in-camera view so that the audience could follow what the DOP was trying to achieve.
The showcase lasted a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes including turnover time with set and prop changes, and it consisted of three different scenes, with each scene utilizing a different type of content.
It was set in a post-apocalyptical world designed by FH-graduate Marco Mittendorfer, who created all three scenes specifically for the event. The virtual set was complemented by physical props such as the LiveWire One motorcycle, the concrete barriers and balcony railing (built by our team), the VidMill (simply put, a turntable with a treadmill on it, which can be synchronized with our virtual environment), a ventilator as well as the use of external lighting.
Lighting was shown to be a crucial factor during the showcase, with the crew working together with every new scene set-up to blend the real with the virtual, ultimately creating the perfect illusion that makes virtual production so realistic.
Image-based lighting (IBL) was also demonstrated, particularly in the final scene. For this setup, we sampled a specific area from our 3D environment and used DMX-controlled fixtures to dynamically drive a physical light source. This allowed the real-world lights to synchronize in real time with changes in the virtual scene.
In this third scene, rather than rotating the camera, we kept it static while both the virtual environment and the physical lighting rotated in sync with the protagonist, who was turned by the VidMill. As the VidMill rotated, the lighting adjusted dynamically, ensuring that the sun’s direction remained consistent with the virtual environment, maintaining realistic illumination at all angles.
This was just one of the many behind-the-scene aspects that the audience was introduced to and was able to experience first-hand. To see the full breakdown of the three content categories, as well as the final short film, head to our YouTube Channel to watch the video, or click the link at the end of this post.
Panel Discussion
After the showcase Viktoria Brandstetter moderated a Q&A session, which touched on the topics of virtual production, funding in Austria, sustainability, AI and content creation. The panelists included Markus Deutsch (Director of the Association for the Film and Music Industry), Adrian Weber, Felix Brandstetter, Jakob Neuhauser, Josef Schinwald (Head of Animation at FH Salzburg Creative Technologies) and Luiza Maddalozzo (Sustainability at Take 2 Studios).
Opening Event Crew
The crew for the opening event consisted of a young, interdisciplinary team: artists Martha Stützle and Leonhard Kotschy, lighting technician Ben Költringer, 3D artist and stage operator Marco Mittendorfer, directors of photography Jakob Neuhauser and Oliver König and VP supervisor Adrian Weber.
The event was also strongly supported by 7Hills Motion Picture Service, who provided Take 2 Studios with key equipment so that the live film shoot could take place flawlessly.
Cyberith provided a prototype of their brand-new VidMill: a 360° turntable with an integrated treadmill, the ultimate programmable, rotating platform for film studios. Their team worked over hours to deliver the VidMill in time and personally supported Take 2 Studios with its Unreal integration.
LiveWire provided Take 2 Studios with their latest LiveWire One in liquid black, which fit perfectly with the world and mood of the shoot.
WABE Salzburg provided the second-hand clothes that were turned into the protagonist's costume.
The evening came to a close with specialties of the Austrian cuisine prepared by Harry Ankershofen while the audience was able to continue to network and take a closer look at the studios.
Shoutouts
Crew and Panelists
Adrian Weber http://www.adrianweber.com
Ben Költringer http://www.kobelight.at
Jakob Neuhauser https://www.jakobneuhauser.com/
Josef Schinwald https://www.fh-salzburg.ac.at/en/study/ct
Leonhard Kotschy https://www.e-y-s.at/
Marco Mittendorfer https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-mittendorfer/
Markus Deutsch https://www.wko.at/
Martha Stützle http://marthastuetzle.com | http://tues-handbedruckt.at
Oliver König https://mbience.de/
Supporting Companies
7 Hills https://www.7hills.at/home
Cyberith https://www.cyberith.com/ ➞ VidMill https://www.cyberith.com/vidmill-video-production-treadmill/ LiveWire https://www.livewire.com/ ➞ LiveWire One https://www.livewire.com/livewire-one-electric-motorcycle#livewire-pdp-overview
WABE https://www.wabe-salzburg.at/
Partners & Suppliers
Mo-Sys https://www.mo-sys.com/ ➞ StarTracker Max https://www.mo-sys.com/product/startracker-max/
ROE https://www.roevisual.com/en/ ➞ Black Pearl 2V2 https://www.roevisual.com/en/products/black-pearl-2v2 StageSmarts https://www.stagesmarts.com/