Studio Ulster launches $96.5M virtual production facility

The Northern Ireland studio Ulster is launching its virtual production plant which represents more than $ 96.5 million (72 million pounds Sterling) in investment.

The studio based in Belfast Ulster said that it celebrated its launch today as the most advanced virtual production in the world covering 75,000 square feet.

Studio Ulster is designed to support productions on each scale, successful films and high -end television to the development of AAA games and world class animation. The installation incorporates motors in real time, visual effects in the camera, volumetric capture and movement monitoring in a durable and transparent pipeline which redefines the way the stories are created, rendered and delivered.

Studio Ulster is the result of an investment of 72 million pounds Sterling, funded by the Belfast Region City agreement. Developed by the University of Ulster in partnership with Belfast Harbor and supported by the Northern Ireland Screen, the installation offers large -scale virtual production stages which establish new global standards for cinema in real time.

It is designed to raise the capacity of the United Kingdom and Ireland for the production of commercial studios using advanced visual effects on camera, establishing a world class reference for industry. Studio Ulster also houses the Costar Screen Lab, one of the five national research laboratories created within the framework of the Costar initiative on the level of the United Kingdom. This program, supported by 75.6 million pounds sterling of financing the arts and humanities Research Council (AHRC) and 63 million pounds of industry investment, positions the ULSTER studio at the forefront of world R&D in screen and creation technologies.

“From the quays that built the Titanic at the LED stages which now build whole universes, Belfast has always struck its weight. The launch of Studio Ulster marks a new chapter, the one where advanced virtual production, motion capture and convergent digital scann to converge for filmmakers, game developers and creatives of the power of Worlds, an element of declaration, a teacher. “We have taken the minds of the Belfast shipyards, the precision, the ambition and the pride of what we build and applied it in the future of narration. It is not only a studio. It is a global platform of imagination, fueled by some of the most advanced creative technologies in the world.”

Northern Ireland continues to position itself as a high-end production destination, reinforced by the generous tax reliefs of the UK screen sector for television, film, animation and high-end video productions. Combined with world-class infrastructure and a qualified local workforce, the region quickly becomes a Go to Hub for world content creators.

Studio Ulster is the only specially designed virtual production campus on the island of Ireland. Its integrated ecosystem includes everything, 3D / 4D digitization and motion capture at LED volume stages on a large-scale and post-production suites in the same roof.

“Virtual production has really become major at the Ulster studio,” said Richard Williams, CEO of Northern Ireland Screen, in a press release. “While many filmmakers are aware of the basics, little understand the way technology has evolved.

Virtual production technologies reshape the way stories are told, allowing filmmakers to create unlimited worlds on a single site. Beyond freedom of creation, these tools offer significant costs of costs and time by reducing the need for physical sets and location travel, while supporting much more sustainable production practices.

“Studio Ulster is a transformer investment investment for the screen industries of the United Kingdom and Ireland,” said Professor Paul Bartholomew, vice-chancellor of Ulster University, in a statement. “This incredible installation is more than an important step, it is an launch of the next generation of creators and storytellers. By providing advanced virtual production capacities in Belfast, we improve the global competitiveness of the region and the creative potential, creating in turn jobs and an economic impact. As university, we are immensely proud to have developed and delivered this new ambitious business Creator of Northern Ireland. “

Laura Livingstone, director of VFX at Netflix, said in a press release: “It is a pivotal moment for our industry, where innovation is not only accelerated, but it is fundamentally reshaping the way we create and experience stories. During a recent visit to Netflix Eyline at La, I saw the first hand of how advances from a global studio to inform the techniques we adopt in visual effects and life.

Kyle Olson, responsible for virtual production at Studio Ulster, said in a press release: “Having worked on virtual production stages around the world, I can say with confidence in the Ulster studio is a world class team and space sophistication is remarkable, but what distinguishes it really is a collaborative spirit that does not do technology, and a collaborative spirit that is not. As a world competitor. »»