Sony Pictures Entertainment is set to announce its latest advanced visualization facility, Torchlight, at CES this evening.
Located at Sony’s Culver City studios, Torchlight is already operational and being used by filmmakers.
The facility will allow filmmakers to create digital scenes as part of their pre-visualization process. The facility uses Unreal Engine and virtual cameras, including the Virtual Production Tool Set, which will link virtual environments with on-set production using Sony’s digital cinema VENICE camera.
“Sony values creators and we are always searching for ways to make the most of their time. Torchlight empowers filmmakers with real-time creation to help turn creative sparks to stories,” says Kenichiro Yoshida, chairman and CEO of Sony Group Corporation.
The facility also gives filmmakers the flexibility to communicate to stakeholders in real-time and with unique specificity in film production, providing services that can help serve as a roadmap for visual effects, art department assets, principal photography, set design, gaming assets and marketing assets.
Additionally, the space comes equipped with Sony technologies including the mobile motion capture system Mocopi, which provides full-body motion tracking with lightweight sensors, and Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking system SkeleTRACK, which is used by major sports leagues around the world for real-time player, object and ball tracking.
Torchlight will continue to be updated, as the Sony Group companies work together to continue to develop and test new technologies.
Alex LoCasale, senior vice president of visualization, and Alex Cannon, creative director of visualization, will oversee Torchlight. They will report to Andy Davis, president of production administration at Columbia Pictures, and Sanford Panitch, president of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group.
“For my entire career, I always dreamed about a state-of-the-art facility where we could give filmmakers, creators and storytellers a way to experiment with the highest quality pre-visualization and give them the ability to play with ideas and sequences – and even entire films,” says Panitch. “Sony’s extraordinary technology and its investment in Epic Games along with the brilliant leadership at Torchlight have made this dream come true.”
Adds Cannon, “Coming from a traditional VFX background, I’ve experienced the challenges that come with developing a filmmaker’s vision and the pressures that build when a project ramps up. Torchlight offers filmmakers the ability to express their ideas in real-time, using tools designed for their unique sensibilities. We can invite creative partners into our space and within moments produce memorable images that would normally take weeks or months.”
The formal announcement will be made at 5 p.m. PT.