FREMONT, CA – Sheridan College’s Screen Industries Research and Training (SIRT) Centre has built its new Virtual Production Innovation Hub using a range of Blackmagic Design products, including an URSA Mini Pro 12K digital film camera. As a leading research center, SIRT created the Virtual Production Innovation Hub to help the industry shift to remote virtual production as a result of the pandemic.
SIRT was established by Sheridan College in 2009 as a destination for training, collaboration and creation for the screen based industry. Based in Toronto, ON, SIRT focuses on driving innovation for digital image capture and creative processes for the film, television and gaming industries. The Virtual Production Innovation Hub is located in Pinewood Toronto Studios as part of SIRT’s state of the art production studio and lab facility.
SIRT recently selected the URSA Mini Pro 12K to be the main camera for recording talent in front of the hub’s LED wall.
Featuring a 40’ x 11’ LED wall, the virtual production pipeline relies on the URSA Mini Pro 12K and nine Micro Studio Camera 4Ks paired with Video Assist 3G monitor/recorders, which are fed into five HyperDeck Studio Pro recorders and an ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K live production switcher. The ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K’s program out is fed directly into a computer using a DeckLink Studio 4K capture and playback card, which allows SIRT to work with any live streaming platform. The team also uses a MultiView 16 monitor to view all of the HyperDeck Studio Pro feeds at once, two SmartView 4K and SmartView Duo monitors, and an assortment of Micro Converters HDMI to SDI and Mini Converters SDI Distribution 4K.
According to SIRT Production Lead Jason Hunter, “Our goal is to allow creatives to give their valuable input while still adhering to COVID-19 regulations. Our system is designed to allow people who can’t be here in person to have a direct and flexible viewing experience, as well as to allow those who are present to communicate back effectively.”
“By creating this remote virtual production workflow with Blackmagic Design cameras feeding into the HyperDeck Studio Pros and ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K, we’re able to record all of our different feeds individually to give to our clients, as well as allow for real time switching to an audience,” Hunter continued. “This is especially important for our virtual production work, as it’s all about getting as close to the final image as possible in camera.
“We currently have a personnel limit at our stage, which means creatives can't all be in our space at the same time. With our system, we’re able to stream the ATEM program feed to the video conferencing solution of the client's choice, so they can provide real time direction and feedback. It’s really cool when a key creative can see what's happening live and see how it's being processed in real time, even while not in the room.”
Along with its work with the Virtual Production Innovation Hub, SIRT uses its Blackmagic Design gear to create training and demo videos, record research sessions and more.