Perspective Studios, a leading creator of animation and motion capture for feature film, television, commercials and video games, announced Tuesday the opening of a West Coast studio in Santa Monica, California.
In a significant expansion for the company, which also has state-of-the-art motion capture and production facilities in New York, the new facility will provide top-quality 3-D animation and motion capture on the ground in Los Angeles and support Perspective Studios' rapidly expanding portfolio of clients, production attachments and original IP.
The Santa Monica studio features full-service motion capture in a setup designed and run by veterans of the motion capture industry, including Tom Armbruster, who joins Perspective Studios from VICON Motion Systems as vice president of business development, and Matthew Bauer, formerly head of Motion Analysis Studios, who has been appointed Perspective Studios' animation VP.
"We see Perspective Studios as a new breed of animation company that will thrive on creating end-to-end animation for publishing and production partners while also developing and co-producing our own stories," said Steven Lehrhoff, CEO, Perspective Studios. "Our custom-built facility in L.A. is helping us reach this goal by augmenting our capabilities, team and geographic reach."
Aimed at in-house as well as client work, the new studio is outfitted with 50 high-speed, high-resolution VICON F40 motion capture cameras in a configurable volume for real-time, multiple performer motion capture. This ups the company's total motion capture camera count to 100 across two locations.
Several technology advances and processes engineered by Perspective Studios and implemented at the facility make motion capture more seamless, transparent and user friendly for new productions. These include the ability to supervise live motion capture sessions remotely from any location with simultaneous live data feeds, and the use of accurate virtual cameras and pre-vis environments to more effectively frame shots and actors in both marker-based and markerless motion capture scenarios. The new space also features innovative audio systems, data and reference video projection, stunt rigging capabilities and a range of creature comforts and amenities.
Tom Armbruster comes to Perspective Studios from VICON Motion Systems, where he managed feature film and television accounts from 2001 to 2007 and grew the company's entertainment business by more than 300 percent. Among many notable client collaborations, he worked closely with Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers Digital studio to develop and deliver the performance capture solution used on such ground-breaking films as THE POLAR EXPRESS, MONSTER HOUSE and BEOWULF.
Matthew Bauer brings more than nine years of experience in motion capture with companies including Motion Analysis Studios, Shanghai Film Studio and Netter Digital. Bauer helped provide motion capture production and R&D for a number of landmark motion pictures, including I ROBOT, CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK, SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW and James Cameron's AVATAR. He has been instrumental in setting up motion capture facilities at The Jim Henson Company and other studios.
Perspective Studios recently completed all motion capture for Rockstar Games' blockbuster GRAND THEFT AUTO IV video game and delivered motion capture animation for new ads from award-winning commercial clients Psyop and The Mill. Perspective Studios is currently working on several forthcoming projects through its production and publishing partnership with Virgin Comics.
