Vicon motion capture solution chosen for France’s first virtual production studio

Vicon, a world leader in motion measurement, has won a contract with Dark Matters, a full-service studio for high-end filmmaking, specialising in virtual and real-time production. The partnership will see Vicon deploy its high-end motion capture systems in the first dedicated virtual production facility to be built in France.

Based in Greater Paris, Dark Matters opened the 180,000 square-foot studio in April 2022, offering an impressive five soundstages equipped for both traditional production and LED wall virtual production sets. The virtual production stage will house 60 Vicon Vero cameras plus Shōgun software, enabling performance capture and live camera tracking for in-camera visual effects (ICVFX).

Virtual production techniques, including camera tracking for in-camera visual effects, enable directors, production designers, VFX supervisors and actors to view projects live on-set, with near-final quality shots, allowing them to quickly react and make changes as needed, rather than having to wait until post-production.

Isaac Partouche, VP, virtual production at Dark Matters, said: “With a Vicon solution you get best-in-class tracking across the entire stage, not only can you track the performance of your actors, but you can also track props. Most importantly for the team at Dark Matters, you can track the film camera, enabling the virtual environment on the LED walls to be synced to sub-pixel accuracy from the camera’s perspective, delivering the highest quality ICVFX result.”

Imogen Moorhouse, CEO of Vicon said: “Dark Matters has created a ground-breaking facility in Paris – as part of the continuing increase in global demand for virtual production. The fact that we have been selected to provide the motion capture systems for France’s first virtual production studio is a fantastic endorsement of both our fundamental technology and our team’s ability to smooth the transition to virtual production for studios around the world.

“Our partnership with Dark Matters is an exciting new collaboration for Vicon, and we look forward to working closely with their team of industry veterans and experts on their future productions.”