- Competition Intensifies for Virtual Production Infrastructure to Seize Leadership in Metaverse Content Creation
- V Corporation, Giant Step, Dexter Studio... Large-Scale Investments in Virtual Studios
Amid the metaverse craze, demand for immersive content such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), which can more vividly realize virtual worlds, is exploding. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism forecasts that the domestic immersive content market size will grow about fivefold from 2.8 trillion KRW in 2020 to 11.7 trillion KRW in 2022.
Virtual production is a technology encompassing the planning and production of immersive content in virtual environments and real-time visual effects technology, gaining attention as the next-generation metaverse production solution. Unlike traditional green screen methods that required extensive post-production time after filming, virtual production uses LED walls to allow real-time monitoring of the entire immersive content production process. This feature enhances content quality while efficiently reducing time and costs.
Virtual content producers are competing to secure leadership in immersive content production by launching virtual production studios one after another. VA Corporation, Giantstep, and Dexter Studios are increasing investments in building virtual production infrastructure and plan to further strengthen their metaverse content production pipelines.
One-stop virtual media platform company VA Corporation unveiled Asia’s largest virtual production studio, ‘VA Studio Hanam,’ in Hanam City last June. By next year, they plan to establish a total virtual production multi-studio complex of approximately 29,000 pyeong (about 95,867 square meters) near Seoul to reinforce next-generation immersive content production infrastructure.
VA Studio Hanam, spanning a total area of 11,265㎡, is the first in Korea to house three virtual production studios of varying sizes. It offers a customized production environment specialized for planning and producing diverse metaverse content such as films, dramas, advertisements, XR performances, and live commerce.
In particular, the ‘Large Volume Studio,’ equipped with Korea’s largest oval-shaped LED wall (width 53.5m, height 8m, diameter 19m, wing 12m), covers a total floor area of 1,088㎡ and is specialized for large-scale film and drama production. It can produce lighting more natural than traditional lighting on subjects, enabling realistic direction as if on location.
VA Corporation is preparing not only films and dramas but also untact concerts and advertisements at VA Studio Hanam, leveraging the technology and know-how gained through long-term research and development (R&D) in virtual production.
Visual effects (VFX) video specialist Giantstep invested 3 billion KRW in the first half of the year and expanded its virtual production studios by adding two new studios?a LED wall studio and a motion capture studio?in June, which have now started operations. Moving beyond advertising VFX production, they plan to expand revenue opportunities from the second half of the year by enhancing studio infrastructure capable of producing immersive content such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
Previously, Giantstep only had virtual production studios using the ‘chroma wall’ method, which applies computer graphics to green backgrounds. The newly introduced LED wall virtual production studio offers the advantage of rendering backgrounds in real time on LED screens, reducing production time and costs. Additionally, by integrating Unreal Engine technology capable of real-time rendering, Giantstep plans to provide a differentiated hyper-realistic version of its virtual human solution.
Visual effects (VFX) specialist Dexter Studios will complete a virtual production studio worth approximately 4.3 billion KRW in the Paju area of Gyeonggi Province within this year, strengthening its capacity for large-scale film production.
Dexter stated that by implementing desired backgrounds on the studio LED wall and conducting graphic work simultaneously with filming, they expect to reduce production costs of blockbuster films worth about 10 billion KRW by approximately 2 to 3 billion KRW. Leveraging their expertise from handling main visual effects (VFX) for the film series ‘Along with the Gods’ and ‘Space Sweepers,’ along with new investments in virtual production studios, they plan to strengthen their VFX one-stop solution.
Comprehensive entertainment company CJ ENM is investing about 180 billion KRW in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, to complete within this year a super-large future studio complex spanning approximately 65,000 pyeong (about 214,876 square meters) across 13 buildings, including a VFX studio equipped with the largest LED wall in Korea.
Additionally, CJ ENM has signed a business agreement with ‘Epic Games,’ which possesses real-time rendering technology, and plans to accelerate the production of globally competitive, high-quality immersive content by integrating the 3D creation platform Unreal Engine technology. Utilizing the content capabilities accumulated over the past 25 years, CJ ENM intends to supply content produced at virtual production studios not only to TVING but also to global OTT platforms including Netflix.
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