Motion Impossible’s virtual production suite awarded Epic Games Mega Grant

Motion Impossible has been awarded an Epic Mega Grant to help in the further development of its innovative new virtual production suite (VPS), which is being developed to help camera operators and DPs around the world simulate scenes with the AGITO radio-controlled camera platform as part of pre-viz or tech-viz production processes. 

The Epic Mega Grants are part of a $100 million fund developed to drive 3D graphics innovation and were set up by Epic Games, developer of the Unreal Engine realtime 3D software that lies behind many of today’s leaving games and an increasing amount of VFX, virtual sets, VR, AR, and other high-profile CG work. 

Based on the Unreal Engine, the MI VPS will enable producers, production managers, DPs, grips, and camera operators to visualise scenes and build sets via a tool that allows them to control a digital twin of an AGITO platform using the real world AGITO Master Controller interface. Once on set, the choreography developed within the VPS can then be replayed as many times as required. 

“Productions want to make the most efficient use of their time on set as they can, and by being able to pre-viz all their AGITO camera moves beforehand they can achieve much more in less time,” commented Rob Drewett, Motion Impossible CEO and co-founder. “The VPS will also be able to capture data about the AGITO’s performance and that of the cameras mounted on it which will be invaluable for VFX teams working on complex shots.” 

The MI VPS can also be used for remote training and familiarisation of the control surface, allowing the company to build a training platform that accurately simulates the dynamics and ballistics of the AGITO platform in the virtual world and widening the user base of skilled operators trained on the platform. 

“We are delighted to have been awarded this grant by Epic Games,” added Drewett. “Unreal Engine is an extremely powerful tool and by being able to simulate the real world AGITO’s performance in the virtual one we hope to be able to introduce more people to its capabilities and help them understand just what degree of versatility, flexibility, and speed it can bring to dolly work and more on set.”