Located just outside London, Cube Studio’s 7,500 sq. ft. full-service virtual production studio in the UK opened in Spring 2023. It incorporates the latest VP technology, including Brompton Technology LED processing.
Investing in the latest technology was a commitment both James Hakesley, co-founder & CEO, and Roy Kimani, co-founder and director of innovation, felt strongly about, “As a business, we've consistently embraced innovation and that’s what attracted us to virtual production. After witnessing the potential of the technology when it was used on Mandalorian, we wholeheartedly immersed ourselves in it,” says Kimani.
“Virtual production is revolutionising the creative and storytelling landscape, and we consider ourselves fortunate to be among its pioneers,” adds Hakesley. “We work extensively in the commercial advertising market, where we’ve achieved success by collaborating with clients and bringing their visions to life, we have also ventured into feature films. Currently, we are eagerly anticipating the launch of our latest project, which is a sci-fi short.”
The studio comprises a 10.5m by 5.5m LED volume made up of Unilumin LED panels, powered by one 4K Tessera SX40 LED processor, and supported by three Tessera 10G data distribution units. Other technologies include Mo-Sys camera tracking. The team also utilises Unreal Engine to assist in creating photo-realistic virtual environments.
“Every time you’re in the volume, you’re going to learn something new – the rules are still being written. Some of the most exciting productions we had last year involved marrying physical and virtual sets. Once you nail the set design element to the virtual environment, all of a sudden, you’ve got this amazing set that would be unaffordable to build if all the elements were real,” explains Kimani.
Apart from shooting at their permanently installed Cube Studio facility in Maidenhead, the team has also undertaken mobile work, deploying the VP setup on the road, with a recent example including action-thriller feature film, Cleaner, starring Daisy Ridley directed by James Bond director, Martin Campbell, which is scheduled for release early 2025.
all photos: Cube Studio