Vū & Motion Impossible announce US launch of AGITO MAGTRAX at NAB Show

Vū, North America’s fastest growing virtual studio network for the film, video and advertising industries, is joining Motion Impossible, the manufacturer of modular remote dolly systems and camera stabilisers, to announce the United States launch of AGITO MAGTRAX, a brand new magnetic strip-guided system for discreet tracked applications, offering more flexibility and fast set-up for laid or set-embedded dolly tracks. 

The official U.S. launch of the state-of-the-art technology will take place at the 2022 NAB Show, where attendees will have the opportunity to experience MAGTRAX’s solution-oriented and easy-to-use system at the Vū Booth, and at several strategic events at Vū Vegas, the latest studio addition to the Vū Virtual Studio Network. MAGTRAX and other AGITO solutions are available through AbelCine, Motion Impossible’s exclusive North American partner for sales, training, and technical support. AbelCine’s booth, #C6749 in Central Hall, is located across from Vū and the Create Inspiration Zone, where the AGITO MAGTRAX will be displayed. 

“Vū is thrilled to partner with Motion Impossible on the U.S. launch of AGITO MAGTRAX,” said Tim Moore, CEO of Vū. “The use of Motion Impossible’s innovative camera motion technology allows for complete control, precision and ease of use within a virtual production environment.”

As part of the MAGTRAX U.S. launch, Vū and Motion Impossible, two disruptors in the film industry, are partnering to create film production tools that blend physical and virtual elements using Motion Impossible’s advanced camera motion technology and Vū’s unparalleled virtual production capabilities. 

MAGTRAX enhances the existing drive-ends by enabling customers to follow a magnetic strip laid on a surface, underneath a carpet or embedded within a set. The strip can be arranged in various creative ways beyond what can be done with a regular track, including curves and the ability to move seamlessly from one strip to another. The AGITO will autonomously follow each path while freeing up the control for camera movement. 

Rob Drewett, CEO of Motion Impossible, said, “The development of MAGTRAX marks a key milestone for the operability of the AGITO and brings the dolly to a whole new level. Our R&D team has taken on board the feedback from our users to put together a revolutionary solution that will transform productions, from broadcast to live events to film.”

MAGTRAX allows the same manoeuvrability as free roaming, with guaranteed repeatable movement and automatic speed control concerning straight or curved tracks. Speed is automatically adjusted depending on the arc of the magnetic strip, and magnetic markers and offers collision detection and automatic e-stop. In addition, MAGTRAX offers a configurable front and rear lighting system for pre-production and production state awareness. The system is quick and easy for a single person to set up and modify, providing a perfect solution across a wide range of productions including on-set or location filming for film and TV productions, sports broadcasts and other outside broadcast events, live events and rapid turn-around productions. 

Vū owns and operates advanced virtual production soundstages utilising proprietary, patent-pending technologies that empower directors to shoot their talent in photorealistic LED volumes. Vū has quickly become the largest and quickest growing network of virtual studios in North America, with studios opening in Orlando and Las Vegas, in addition to its Tampa and Nashville studios. 

Vū has substantially invested in Motion Impossible’s R&D, integrating camera tracking and real-time rendering applications to create immersive virtual environments for actors to perform in geographically diverse studios in real time. Vū’s deep integration of Mo-Sys camera tracking technology, Mark Roberts Motion Control, Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, NVIDIA GPUs and other integration partners’ systems allow effectively realistic backgrounds to be generated in real-time, rendered from the point of view of the moving camera with perfect parallax.