CJP Broadcast has also provided and integrated Kinoflow Diva Lite 401 LED luminaires and a Zero 88 FLX S24 lighting control desk, plus high-grade green-screen walls and flooring. Installed at the university’s David Puttnam Media Centre, the new resource gives students the opportunity to gain practical experience in latest-generation virtual studio production techniques.

“This investment opens up a whole new level of creative opportunities for students from across the faculty,” comments Professor Arabella Plouviez, Academic Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Creative Industries. “The green hue of the new space can be digitally manipulated into any kind of environment – real or imagined – for film, TV, animation or photography. It will enable our students to really innovate with technology so new that the possibilities are still uncharted. This is an exciting new area for us to be leading in.”

“Chroma key has long been a core element of our training courses,” details the university’s Senior TV Technician Craig Moore. “It is a production technique which has become increasingly useful in recent years, allowing broadcasters to achieve realistic graphic effects efficiently, affordably and with precise control. High quality processing is important given the very large number of television viewers now watching on large display screens.

“We chose Mo-Sys StarTracker Studio because it gives us an all-in-one virtual production solution catering for broadcast multi camera and film-style scenarios as well as being ready for LED volume filming. Students today expect training in all those aspects. StarTracker Studio is a complete virtual production resource built around the industry-standard StarTracker camera tracking system. StarTracker Studio is capable of far more than the virtual backgrounds traditionally associated with chroma key. As well as placing static or dynamic scenes on the studio walls, it can superimpose photo-realistic 3D objects in front of presenters, allowing any type of virtual production.

“CJP also recommended and integrated a versatile and energy-efficient lighting system for use with our new background cyclorama. The cyc is constructed with a wide-radius curve at the corners and where the green-screen surface blends with the studio floor. That means we can deploy cameras from a wide range of angles.

“We wanted to be able to offer something other universities currently can’t. The success of The Mandalorian television series, and the publicity about how it was created, opened our eyes to the process of live virtual production. Our hope was to replicate a similar type of setup which would position our university at the forefront of this new production method within the higher education sector. Our chroma key and TV studios are relatively small and have little or no storage space for sets. With this new system we can create large sets at no cost and turn our studios into anything our students can think of. This investment will also help us forge new relationships with external companies, whether it be production companies, football clubs, the local council or whatever. The main aim is to give our students every advantage possible for when they graduate, and help them gain employment in their chosen field.”