Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1532695
24 cgw a p r i l • m ay • j u n e 2 0 2 2 8 cgw o c t o b e r • n o v e m b e r • d e c e m b e r 2 0 2 3 K raon's PUBG Studios is used to being an early adopter. The team was at the forefront of the wildly popular battle royale video game genre when they launched PUBG: Battlegrounds in 2017. Its innovative game design has resulted in one of the best-selling video games of all time. Now, the developer is at the leading edge of digital production with one of the most powerful motion capture systems in the world, having recently partnered with Vicon to install the first US-based Valkyrie-powered motion capture stage in its Madison, Wisconsin studio. PUBG Madison was in talks to buy a Vicon system while Valkyrie was approaching launch, even though at the time very little had been said about the camera pub- licly. There was a question around whether to purchase a Vantage system or be among the first customers to get the then-unknown Valkyrie cameras. "Ultimately," says Caleb Zart, Animation Director at PUBG Madison, "making it withstand the test of time and be the greatest system it could be—that was an easy decision for us to make." The company bought 26 VK26 cameras, the first Vicon prod- uct to push 26 megapixels, establishing the first Valkyrie installation in the US in a purpose-built new studio in Madison, Wisconsin. One benefit of choosing Valkyrie was apparent before a single camera had been set up. "One of the really nice things about the Valkyrie transition is we were able to get a lot of coverage with fewer cameras," says Zart. "With the previous generation we were slated for 36 or 40 units. The prospect of going through and focusing all those cameras is obviously significantly more labor-intensive than focusing a simple 26. It's just less to worry about. Especially with our studio having high ceilings—it means less time up ladders." Caitlyn Fifield, Stage Manager for PUBG Madison's motion cap- ture studio, has found establishing both the setup and her workflow to be a smooth process. "Getting the pipeline set up has been a fun and collaborative process. I worked closely with the tech support who helped with the install, and who also fielded my questions af- ter, to adapt things to our needs even more with each shoot," she says. "It was a great experience getting things rolling and starting new pipelines, without old habits that we were happy to get rid of. There's also much more documentation than I'm used to with other PUBG STUDIOS IS GETTING INCREDIBLE RESULTS WITH THEIR VICON VALKYRIE MOTION CAPTURE SYSTEM "The biggest thing that sticks out to me is the speed at which we can shoot. The system's always on, never down, there's no time wasted. It's very different from previous systems that we've worked on." - Caleb Zart, Animation Director at PUBG Studios SPONSORED CONTENT