The time of the accessible film is rung in by the VoluCap GmbH
On June 12, 2018 the volumetric studio opens on the premises of Studio Babelsberg. This marks the start of the commercial production of 3-D recordings and heralds a new stage in the history of the film. This is made possible by VoluCap GmbH – founded by ARRI Cine Technik GmbH & Co. Betriebs KG, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Interlake System GmbH, Studio Babelsberg AG and UFA GmbH.
Persons become holograms
The first volumetric studio on the European mainland opens under the flag of VoluCap GmbH. The special thing about the images taken there is that they are three-dimensional or volumetric. Once captured, objects and people can be projected as holograms and viewed from all sides. VoluCap GmbH makes this technology commercially accessible and thus heralds the stage of walk-in film at the Babelsberg location. Sven Slazenger, CEO of Interlake, describes it as follows: „We are delighted to be able to make history again in the world’s oldest film studio and produce high-quality walk-in films for the first time on the European continent. Computers and entertainment are increasingly moving away from screens and screens. We now bring the technology to create content that digitally enriches our reality.“
36 cameras cover all sides
Modern film productions can hardly be imagined without 3-D animations. 3-D filming of real objects and people is the next step on the way to a walk-through film. On the 170 sqm of the VoluCap Studio this vision of the future becomes reality. People and objects are placed in the middle of a rotunda and captured from all sides by 36 high-resolution cameras. The rotunda is reminiscent of the interior of a spaceship and looks as if you could beam people to the next planet. VoluCap GmbH is located on the Studio Babelsberg site, where film history has already been written several times.
New studio in the middle of the MediaTech Hub
Just one year ago, the Babelsberg location – today MediaTech Hub – with more than 30 companies and institutions received the de:hub award from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy as the innovation space of digital transformation. „Especially here in Babelsberg we have an incredibly good combination of more than 100 companies on one square kilometer, which provide a wonderful combination of all disciplines for the new and the old media, including the good universities in the neighborhood,“ Sven Slazenger describes the advantage of the location. This mixture of companies, start-ups and institutions from the fields of media technology, film, science and research offers this unique diversity.
Experience live at the medientreff 2018
The volumetric studio will open on time on 12.06.2018 for the media meeting 2018 at the Studio Babelsberg site. Then the media industry meets in Potsdam and uses the annual summer party to get into conversation in a relaxed atmosphere. In addition, all those interested in technology and media have the opportunity to view the modern recording technology of the volumetric studio and talk to the actors about the future of the media.
New media will be the key to knowledge
Many applications of volumetric recording technology are conceivable in the future. For example, a database of extras that are placed as 3D objects in the background of film recording. With a few mouse clicks you can, for example, fill the Olympic Stadium with extras. The application in other industries such as automotive engineering, medical technology, computer games and e-learning is obvious. The basis for this is the further development of information technologies. Interlake actively supports this development both technically as a Microsoft Gold Partner and in an advisory capacity in the field of e-learning, in that the use of new media becomes the key to imparting knowledge. „We are trying to find out what technologies and knowledge are needed to operate a world in which computers are increasingly leaving the display and digitally enriching our reality,“ Sven Slazenger sums up.
Foto: © Fraunhofer HHI