Sandbox Update 30/07/25
Sandbox Chroma Stage with Trussing
Work is still well underway on bringing together the new immersive and experiential production studio, aka the Sandbox / Future Technologies Lab, and this week marks a landmark update. In this update, we will discuss what work has been done over the past few weeks alongside work still to be done as we near the end of stage 1.5 in studio development and preparing the space for teaching in the new semester.
One of the issues we still face with the room is sound dampening which is tricky given it has a metal roof and is located not too far away from recording studios so whilst at this stage the room is not soundproof I have been working on how to dampen noise bleed and ensure the space does not create too much noise to impede or impact other spaces, to this end the filming area has been located as far away from critical listening space as possible and not against any walls as to reduce direct sound fire where we can.
The Virtual and Immersive Production Studio has to be a multi-functional space as such some key room use cases have been collated and considered within the space configuration and design using equipment and the limited space available to try and create a space that is fit for purpose and easy to configure whilst leaving select setups in situe.
Early on in room development and design, I had a list of what equipment and sessions people would like to run in such a studio space and had to balance this with what we have and what would synergise well with each other, as space is limited and some options would conflict with each other. I mocked up the space in Unreal and balanced this against equipment, budget and amount of expected use to prioritise how the space is configured as it needs to be left set up and calibrated when complete, i.e. not re-shuffled and reset between each use case for a quick turnaround and near seamless plug and play experience. Whilst I believe its current config should allow for this, only time will tell.
The room needs to be able to run and offer: [This post will focus on those in Bold]
Greenscreen workshops and filming
Virtual Production sessions
Motion capture
Projection Mapping sessions
Demonstrations and Presentations
XR (VR/AR) Space
Lighting workshops
Camera Tutorials
Photogrammetry space
Whilst not all of these use cases can be run in the space at the same time, these all have to be considered, and this is not by far an extensive list as new technology and processes develop, so will the use and configuration of the space. This also requires storage and instructions to be created for quick deployment and tidy up between sessions. These past few weeks I have been focusing on how some of these sessions will be delivered whilst still building up the VP/Chroma stage area so lets discuss these other areas in this post.
Projection Mapping Workshops
As the room has no windows and is entirely light controllable it serves as a perfect space for projection mapping workshops and lighting tutorials but space is a premium as mentioned previously so I wanted to find a projectable surface with a variety of shapes and patterns that can be affixed to the walls without protruding too much and ideally serve multiple functions and I think I have found it. I have affixed a number of white acoustic panels across the room walls to a) act as decoration b) help a tiny bit with sound reverb and c) be a projectable surface for workshops and experiments, these are across three of the walls in a variety of patterns each breaking up the wall surfaces and allowing space for multiple projection workshops to take place within.
Whilst in an ideal setup projectors would be pernamentaly affixed to ceiling the fact these are flat against the walls with enough configurable space allows for any projector to be brought in and used on a table for sessions with the hexagon patterns providing a breakup in shapes and a chance to trial out some interesting Pro-Map and VJing workshops whilst reducing reverb slightly against these surfaces.
Lighting for greenscreen, VP and lighting workshops
It is key to have suitable and controllable lighting within the studio as such a number of different lighting solutions have been purchased and have made their home within the studio space all of which are LED and remote controllabe with the majoirty of which being controllable from the central VP PC itself. There are also a number of bower light diffusion options stored within the studio all of which are not to leave the studio space and can not be currently booked. These lights have been chosen for a variety of reasons namely to give even, controlalble and customisable lighting options in the space whilst being semi-portable and industry standard. Five of the nine lights stored in this space are also full RGB and effect controllable capable of between 2500-10000K. New truss lights have also arrived but not yet installed for lighting angles higher than subject and to reduce shadows.
Presentation and Demonstration
Half of the room houses a large rear projection screen and ultra short throw projector with stackable chairs which has been setup as a demonstration space for tutorials, presentations and large scale playback / large group sessions whereby multiple people need to see what is happening within VP / Greenscreen space but without impeding the activity itself. The projector is hooked up to a 4K multi-switch with a super long HDMI cable feed across the back of the room which can be toggled from the VP PC, Storage PC or a demonstration laptop without having to touch the projector itself. Projection screens and projectors not in use are also stored within this area but can not be taken outside of the building.
Other Updates to Space
As you may have seen earlier in this post we now have a goalpost truss gantry setup where sensors, overhead lights and possibly down the line small monitors may be mounted for monitoring and as a teleprompter however this has not yet been decided or accounted for. There is also a photography table with a variety of backdrops stored within this space for product photoshoots, stop motion or photogrammetry on a small scale.
All equipment is space critical and can NOT be booked out or taken out of the studio space as such equipment housed in this studio has to be booked with the room itself and be approved via technical team via MS Form which will be available via a link posted within and outside the space itself once complete.