
--
Sh gun Software; Nearly 60 Percent of the Film Featured Performance Capture
Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One features two separate worlds; both featuring very different realities and each requiring a different approach to filming. One depicts a fractured, dystopian future, while the other is filled with infinite possibilities. Behind the scenes, the production was no less ambitious, requiring stages that could adapt and reform on the fly while maintaining high fidelity and precision performance capture for multiple characters. To help create this, Audiomotion, in collaboration with Digital Domain, relied on Vicon's optical systems.
Adapted from Ernest Cline's book of the same name, Ready Player One takes place in the year 2045, when overpopulation has led to dwindling resources and harsh living conditions. As things in the real world grow increasingly hasher, the people turn to the OASIS, a virtual universe where anything is possible. To create this unique film with two very different settings, Spielberg and company headed to Warner Bros.'s famed Leavesden studio complex in Hertfordshire, England. While the complex has seen many productions, it has never seen one with this scope. In fact, very few studios around the world have seen as demanding of a production.
Ready Player One relied on multiple stages, including one dedicated to performance capture and another for stunts and wire work. The film contains roughly 30 animated actors, with some scenes featuring as many as 10 at a time. Further complicating it, several scenes feature a mixture of digital and real characters, sometimes with one turning into the other on the fly. To continuously provide the precision data needed for motion capture work while also being adaptable and scalable, the stage itself needed to be flexible. However, the studio complex sees countless productions year-round, which prevented any permanent alterations. To work around this this, Audiomotion attached several Vicon cameras to movable towers, allowing the filmmakers to adjust the capture volume as necessary.
Creating large scale setups for films that heavily rely on performance capture is something that only a handful of companies in the world have experience with, said Brian Mitchell, Audiomotion Managing Director. With so much of Ready Player One' taking place in the OASIS, it was a complicated shoot that required the best, most sophisticated equipment around.
In total, Audiomotion brought in 204 Vicon Vantage V16 cameras and 30 T-Series cameras. During performance capture, the footage was run through several pieces of software, including a game engine and an early, pre-release version of Vicon's Sh gun software. The filmmakers were then able to preview the complex virtual scenes. Audiomotion created a dedicated VR volume that allowed Spielberg to review his preferred takes at the end of the day and to make adjustments to his camera setups or angles. He could also use a VR pen to make notes within the animated scene.
Throughout the eight-week shoot, Audiomotion worked across the entire pipeline, beginning with capturing and retargeting data on set for daily review. Once principle photography was complete, the Audiomotion team was able to quickly and efficiently break down the entire optical system without leaving a trace. The film then entered its lengthy post-production phase, allowing Spielberg the time to sort through the various takes and fine tune the blockbuster film.
Ready Player One debuts in theaters on March 29, 2018.
# # #
About Vicon
Academy Award -winning Vicon is the world's largest supplier of precision motion capture and tracking systems. It serves customers in the CG animation, object-tracking, virtual and augmented realities, engineering, broadcast, biomechanics, sports and clinical sciences arenas. Vicon is a subsidiary of Oxford Metrics (LSE: OMG), the international software company servicing government, life sciences, entertainment and engineering markets. Other holdings include Yotta, a provider of software and services for infrastructure asset management. Amongst many others, Vicon global clients include: Entertainment: Framestore, Audiomotion, The Imaginarium, Quantic Dream, Ninja Theory, Konami, Activision, Sony, Dreamworks, ILM, USC, EA, Capture Lab, 2K Games, CD Projekt, Digic Pictures, IO Interactive, Creative Assembly, Plarium Games, Mocap Lab, Seasun VR: Artanim, VR Tech, Dreamscape VR, Canon, Samsung Broadcast: Vizrt, hunan TV. For more information about Oxford Metrics and its subsidiaries, visit: www.oxfordmetrics.com, www.vicon.com or www.yotta.co.uk.
About Audiomotion
Audiomotion Studios is a multi-award winning VFX facility specializing in performance capture, character animation and production services for film, TV and video games. The 20,000 square-feet facility is equipped with 180 Vicon cameras, creating one of the largest in-house capture areas in Europe. Established in 1997, Audiomotion has worked on a wide range of projects from AAA video games, smartphone apps, 1st and 2nd unit film productions, commercials, music videos, broadcast TV and VR projects. Audiomotion's client list includes: SCEE, Guerrilla Games, Microsoft, Remedy Entertainment, SEGA, Creative Assembly, KONAMI, EA, Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, 20th Century Fox and many more. For more information about Audiomotion visit www.audiomotion.com, phone +44 (0) 870 1600 504 or email info@audiomotion.com.
###
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
21/10/2025
Globecast, the leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, has announced the appointment of G Morgan as Executive Vice President of...
21/10/2025
Visual Data announces the appointment of Maz Al-Jumaili as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Localization, to advance client engagement, strategic partnerships, ...
21/10/2025
As Amazon's Prime Video prepares to launch its coverage of NBA basketball under a major new deal, Grup Mediapro has announced that it is working with the st...
21/10/2025
ATLANTA Good news for consumers using an Atlanta DTH receiver to watch ATSC 3.0: with a new software update, they will be able to blanket their homes with Wi-Fi...
21/10/2025
While recent news has been heavily focused on Hispanic migration into the U.S., The 2025 Hispanic Market Report from Claritas highlights the fact that this gr...
21/10/2025
MAIDENHEAD, UK RWS has hired Michael Wayne as its head of media and entertainment in Los Angeles where he will lead the company's media localization busines...
21/10/2025
Imagine Communications and Rohde & Schwarz today announced a definitive agreement under which Imagine will acquire Pixel Power Limited, a wholly owned subsidiar...
21/10/2025
Atlanta DTH (ADTH) today announced a major update that will expand the functionality of its NEXTGEN TV receiver by enabling gateway capabilities allowing viewer...
21/10/2025
Heartland Video Systems, Inc. (HVS), a premier video systems integration, consulting, and expert ATSC 3.0 implementation firm announces that it has partnered wi...
21/10/2025
QuickLink, the leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest integration solutions, today announced the appointment of Austin Hinton as it...
21/10/2025
nternet connectivity startup Miri Technologies Inc. will use this week's NAB Show New York as the launch pad for its latest ground-breaking innovation, the ...
20/10/2025
Inside TAMS: How Time-Addressable Media Stores could redefine sports workflows By Paul Markham
Friday, October 17, 2025 - 08:57
Print This Story
A penalty...
20/10/2025
Transformational production: Inside TVN's remote production push for the DFL...
20/10/2025
How NBC Sports Transitioned Stamford Facility to One Format: 1080p HDRMulti-year plan harmonizes workflows, simplifies operationsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial ...
20/10/2025
NBA on NBC' Studio Production Team Is Ready for Tip-Off With Coast-to-Coast...
20/10/2025
Under pressure: TVN CEO Markus Osthaus considers the German sports broadcasting ...
20/10/2025
(L-R) Maria Dizzia, Carmen Emmi, and Russell Tovey attend the Plainclothes pre...
20/10/2025
In March, we launched Concerts Near You to help listeners find concerts from their favorite artists. Since then, more than 3 million people have used it to disc...
20/10/2025
Em diversas cidades do Brasil, um movimento tem se fortalecido para celebrar o poder, a beleza e a profundidade da criatividade negra. O Dia AMPLIFIKA, agora em...
20/10/2025
In cities across Brazil, a movement is growing that celebrates the power, beauty, and depth of Black creativity. AMPLIFIKA Day, now in its fifth edition, return...
20/10/2025
Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft rendering...
20/10/2025
DENVER and MUNICH Imagine Communications today announced its plans to acquire Pixel Power Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rohde & Schwarz. Financial terms of...
20/10/2025
LOS ANGELES G Morgan has joined Globecast, a provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, as executive vice president of sales, Globecast Am...
20/10/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wisc. Heartland Video Systems and Zixi have partnered to enable broadcast-quality live video delivery over any IP network....
20/10/2025
A. R. Rahman on Facing Fear and Finding the Divine In an interview with Berklee President Jim Lucchese, the Oscar-winning composer reflects on how courage and...
20/10/2025
Monday 20 October 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. ...
20/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz transfers Pixel Power to Imagine Communications Companies work collaboratively to ensure continuity and ongoing support for existing customers...
20/10/2025
RT 's Prime Time is set to host the final Presidential Election Debate this Tuesday night, October 21, providing an opportunity to hear directly from Irelan...
20/10/2025
NVIDIA and Google Cloud are expanding access to accelerated computing to transform the full spectrum of enterprise workloads, from visual computing to agentic a...
19/10/2025
Back to All News
Sins of Kujo' Comes to Life in New Live-Action Series Set for Spring 2026
Entertainment
19 October 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to cl...
18/10/2025
New England Sports Network (NESN) has chosen Harmonic, working with Astound Business Solutions, as its enterprise technology partner to transform primary distri...
18/10/2025
NEW ORLEANS, La. In the run-up to the start of the NBA season, WVUE-TV and Gray Local Media have announced a deal with DirecTV that will greatly expand access t...
18/10/2025
Berklee Celebrates 40 Years of the Fall Together Concert Faculty composers Bob Pilkington and Greg Hopkins are among the featured artists for this year's ...
17/10/2025
NEP Group Receives New Equity Investment From 26North Partners LP, Co-InvestorsCarlyle remains the largest shareholder as the company prepares for the futureBy ...
17/10/2025
Apple Lands Five-Year Deal for F1 Distribution in the U.S.Besides airing on Apple TV, the sport will be amplified on other Apple servicesBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Ed...
17/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Marshall Electronics' Bernie Keach on the Future of PTZ Camera...
17/10/2025
L2 Productions' REMI Facility in Austin Can Produce Content From AnywhereMusic festivals, sports events are produced via flypacks and remote control roomsBy...
17/10/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
17/10/2025
(L-R) Christopher Meyer, Addison Timlin, Cooper Raiff, Lili Reinhart, Alyah Chan...
17/10/2025
M sica e arte se uniram em uma noite especial na semana passada na ZIV Gallery, ...
17/10/2025
Music and art came together for one special night last week at ZIV Gallery, an i...
17/10/2025
Spotify and FC Barcelona are extending our partnership through 2030, continuing a collaboration that's redefining how fans, players, and artists connect. Th...
17/10/2025
MURRIETA, Calif. The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC) has deployed DigitalGlue's creative.space storage platform to streamline video production by centrali...
17/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. Football continued to cement its reputation as a bulwark of TV advertising in Q3 2025 with new data from iSpot that showed both the NFL and coll...
17/10/2025
The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC), the premier competitive saltwater fishing series, has transformed its production workflow by adopting creative.space, the...
17/10/2025
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning multi-camera video productions and remote contribution solutions, announces the release of StudioPro Version 4, ...
17/10/2025
Although the annual Grammy Awards celebration is best known for recognizing achievements in the recording industry, the show often proves a visual spectacle as ...
17/10/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leading provider of software-defined data storage and data services, has promoted Alex Dunfey to Chief Technology Officer (CTO) from his for...