Pixotope Technologies AS, the leader in live augmented reality and virtual production solutions, announced the acquisition of Cologne, Germany-based TrackMen Gmbh, the expert one-stop-shop for real-time 3D camera and talent tracking in the media industry for 25 years.
The acquisition is a major step forward for the media industry, bringing together a complete Virtual Production platform, including graphics, camera tracking and talent tracking into a single product. This will make it easier than ever for artists to successfully match the virtual camera to the real camera in virtual production scenarios – absolutely critical for achieving the hyper-realistic visuals audiences demand.
“We’re incredibly proud to announce the integration of TrackMen solutions into the Pixotope product portfolio,” says Marcus Brodersen, Pixotope CEO. “Camera tracking is reported as one of the major barriers to the adoption of virtual production. The native integration of TrackMen’s powerful tracking into Pixotope’s end-to-end VP solution will make Virtual Production accessible to more users by leveraging the technical expertise of TrackMen alongside the usability for which Pixotope is known to create a true turnkey solution for virtual production. By integrating camera tracking into our graphic tools, we are taking a quantum leap forward in making Virtual Production more accessible to media creators.”
Founded by Thorsten Mika and Hendrik Fehlis, TrackMen has carved out a unique position in the market as the only vendor that offers a range of real-time 3D camera and talent tracking solutions that covers all types of production based on a common software platform. Through the global Pixotope sales, support and customer success teams, existing Pixotope customers around the world will be able to easily incorporate these industry-leading tracking solutions into their workflow.
“At TrackMen our passion has always been innovating and engineering the best possible tracking solutions,” comments Thorsten Mika, Managing Partner of TrackMen Gmbh. “In joining the Pixotope team, we’re able to devote our collective resources and areas of expertise to the continued evolution of Virtual Production tools with educational programs and services that enable media professionals to successfully embrace the enormous creative opportunities this technology has to offer.”
As part of the acquisition, TrackMen solutions will be rebranded over the next several months to become Pixotope Tracking. In addition, the whole TrackMen team will be integrated into the global Pixotope organization with Thorsten Mika and Hendrik Fehlis leading the team in Cologne. This move will enable the TrackMen team to continue to develop and support the existing portfolio while also building the next generation of Pixotope tracking solutions.
Pixotope customers will continue to have the flexibility to choose the tracking solutions that make the most sense for their workflows. As an open Virtual Production platform, Pixotope will continue to integrate and support tracking and graphics solutions from other vendors as they do today.
Members of the press who are attending the 2022 NAB Show in Las Vegas are invited to schedule time to meet with a Pixotope representative to learn more about this acquisition.
