Digital Catapult has partnered with Target3D to launch the UK's first network of Advanced Media Production studios.
The initiative will boost the media and entertainment industries by opening up access to cutting-edge screen production technologies.
Drawing on Digital Catapult’s experience of supporting the creative industries, and Target3D’s expertise in motion capture for music videos, video games, cinematics and immersive experiences, the collaboration will mean that media content can be produced at scale. Motion capture, virtual production, 5G private networks, XR equipment and photogrammetry (the creation of 3D models based on photographs) are some of the new technologies that the studio network will leverage to meet global demand for content.
The new studio network, linking London and the North East, will offer opportunities across various media formats, including music videos, video games, films, TV shows and immersive content.
“With access to LED screens, graphics processing (GPU) and rendering compute power, 360 live-action filming facilities, photogrammetry, and 4D videogrammetry stages, the launch of the Advanced Media Production studios marks a new era of entertainment and media production in the UK,” said a statement.
Digital Catapult and Target3D’s collaboration has already established partnerships with educational institutions such as ScreenSkills, Goldsmiths University of London, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Gateshead College, to support local talent, as well as accelerating research and innovation.
Utilising a sophisticated private 5G network, the UK’s first interconnected 5G-enabled studio provides a permanent facility that will enable different types of media content to be created at the same time, empowering remote content direction, fostering national and international collaboration, and improving efficiencies during the production process.
The Dock Street studio in East London allows motion capture of up to 10 performers at a time. AMP at Proto in Gateshead features a curved LED screen, which is accessible to North East businesses. The network of studios adds to the 20 facilities that Digital Catapult already has across the UK, leveraging emerging technologies to drive economic growth and solve industrial challenges.
The Target3D team has already worked on productions featuring world famous artists in the production of cutting-edge media content
Allan Rankin
Jeremy Silver, CEO of Digital Catapult, said: "For the last decade, Digital Catapult has been a pioneer of investment in digital entertainment, concentrating our efforts on the UK’s creative industries, and strengthening the relationship between technology and the arts. We are thrilled to unveil the UK's first network of Advanced Media Production studios in collaboration with Target3D.
“Through our concerted efforts including years of direct industry engagement and the support of InnovateUK, Digital Catapult has built the case for new public investments such as the AHRC’s CoSTAR programme to secure funding, to further advance the success of the UK’s creative industries at scale. Our vision is to continue to push at the boundaries, ahead of mainstream adoption and thus ensure that UK expertise leads the world in a new era of entertainment that combines sustainability and creativity, and redefines how media is produced, shared, and experienced."
Allan Rankin, MD of Target3D, said: “A new dawn in Advanced Media Production, where the ever closer merger of the digital and the real world, means new exciting outputs, from new techniques and skills, for ever expanding mediums and discerning consumers of content. How to make better, make faster, make smarter, make with lower impact is a continuous puzzle to be solved.
“The Target3D team, operating out of the AMP Dock Street studio, has already worked on productions featuring world famous artists in the production of cutting-edge media content, as well as playing a pivotal role in video game development, cinematics and immersive experiences for the likes of Sky Sports. By leveraging the latest in Advanced Media Production technologies we can go some way to answering these difficult questions through the ability to apply ourselves in the AMP facilities. From real world work to research & development, we are able to offer the UK the very best in class in workflows and hardware.”
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