Commercial Integrator October 2021 - 23

COVER STORY
AUDIOVISUAL PROFESSIONALS are all
well aware of the immersive qualities of LED
technology - especially particularly large
installations.
However, they are not just being used in
commercial installations, theatres, stadiums
or homes. Now, they are being used on
the big screen. We've covered this before,
when reports began surfacing about how
fan favorites like " The Mandalorian " and
" Westworld " employ large, curved LED
screens in place of green screens.
This technology gives filmmakers the
ability to shoot on location somewhere
without having to actually travel to that
location. It also gives the on-screen talent
the ability to actually see the surrounding
environment rather than imagine the setting
on the green screen behind them.
The early adopters were the effects and
animation team at Industrial Light & Magic,
a division of production company Lucasfilm,
which was founded by " Star Wars "
creator George Lucas.
Now, more mainstream AV players are
chomping at the bit to bring the same
technology to the integration community
and other production studios.
One of the major initiatives currently
underway is Planar Studios, a new business
venture from display manufacturer Planar
that capitalizes on the growth of virtual
production and extended reality markets
by combining the advanced technologies,
industry partnerships and personnel to
create on-screen content.
The company hopes to become a partner
for the production industry be developing
advanced visual technologies like critical
LED and motion capture systems, bringing
virtual production (VP) and extended reality
(XR) to mainstream entertainment, as well
as corporate and education markets.
From Film to Traditional AV
Use Cases
Adam Schmidt, executive vice president
of sales, marketing and pro services for
Planar, said in an interview with Commercial
Integrator that the goal is to bring the
same kind of technology to traditional AV
customers - not just the film industry.
According to Schmidt, the net result of
extended reality and virtual production
commercialintegrator.com
Ian Messina of Studio Lab helps produce a talk show at the company's New Hampshire
studio.
is content that is more engaging and
captivating, which end users in corporate,
education and houses of worship have
been chasing for years.
" As these virtual production tools and
techniques get simpler and more accessible,
you'll see these markets ... utilizing virtual
production techniques and lean on the integration
community to not just design those,
but deploy those and perhaps operate
those, " Schmidt says. " It's an eventual opportunity
for the entire (pro AV) community. "
One of the main use cases of LED installations
is to create immersive experiences,
and virtual production use cases certainly
accomplish that. However, what if this same
technology was applied to an otherwise
boring investor conference?
According to Schmidt, the technology
can be applied to supplement presentations
using graphics and other imagery to
create compelling visuals that really engage
the audience.
" Why would any corporation do that
ubiquitous investor conference the same
way again? " Schmidt asked.
In a university environment, the technology
can be used to access an increasingly
global community of students or help worshippers
connect with one another without
having to physically be at church.
Despite the undeniably hype, virtual production
and extended reality technology is
currently very expensive and complicated to
master - even for the industry pioneers who
are helping to bring this to the market and
make it more accessible and affordable.
" One of the things preventing it from
more widespread adoption is that it's a little
clumsy and a little expensive, " Schmidt says.
Such is the case with most new technology.
When it first comes to the market,
it tends to be prohibitively expensive for
mass adoption and overly complex because
only a handful of engineers have had
the opportunity to improve the technology.
XR and VP Are Emerging ...
and Evolving
However, that's not stopping some in the
industry from seeing what virtual production
and extended reality technologies can
do. New Hampshire-based Events United
and sister company Studio Lab decided to
start experimenting with this technology
when business slowed down due to the
pandemic last year.
The company took the LED wall technology
from its events-based business and
merged it with its studio business to start
" trying some of the Mandalorian stuff, " says
Tim Messina, the company's owner.
Despite just beginning to offer this technology
to clients last year, the company has
emerged as an early pioneer of extended
reality and virtual production providers
OCTOBER 2021 Commercial Integrator 23
COURTESY OF STUDIO LAB
http://www.commercialintegrator.com
Commercial Integrator October 2021

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