Korea-based company SK Telecom (SKT) announced that it opened a VFX studio named ‘TEAM’ to strengthen its content production capability and expand partnerships with global media companies. Located in the Second Techno Valley in Pangyo, TEAM provides an optimal environment for content production via two different LED wall stages – volume stage and XR stage.
The name ‘TEAM,’ which is an acronym for Tech-driven Entertainment for Asian Movement, embodies its ambition to become a global content studio via collaborative efforts. Building on its leading fixed and mobile network infrastructure, SKT plans to create a global content ecosystem by promoting collaboration between TEAM and other global studios.
“Through the application of our fixed and mobile telecommunication, AI and cloud technologies, we expect the TEAM studio to contribute to the growth of the media content industry. We will lead the global media content production paradigm by promoting collaboration between TEAM and media studios both home and abroad,” said SKT VP and global media support office head Kim Hyuk.
Nowadays, with the spread of virtual content and increasing customer expectations, the role of VFX-based virtual studios is becoming more important. In particular, virtual production utilizing LED walls is growing rapidly in the global media industry, being increasingly used in Hollywood movies. Many companies across the globe are actively investing in or opening virtual production studios.
Against this backdrop, SKT expects connectivity – which enables sharing of resources and capabilities between content production studios using ICT infrastructure like 5G, AI and cloud – to become key to success in the future global media market. For instance, two studios located far from each other can access the cloud to display the same background on their LED walls and shoot actors in each studio in real time to create scenes that look as if they are acting together in the same place.
SKT plans to promote diverse strategies aimed at creating valuable synergies by connecting TEAM with diverse studios. It will first form a consortium with major studios specialized in LED walls and suggest a new paradigm in content production through sharing of infrastructure and resources among participating studios.
The two LED wall stages of TEAM can create graphics just as realistic as the real world, thereby removing the need for location shooting. So far, the production of content with special effects was a lengthy and costly process: The actors were first shot on a green or blue chroma key screen and the needed background graphics had to be added afterwards to complete the work.
However, with LED walls, which immediately creates realistic backgrounds, actors can better concentrate on their acting and the overall work can be completed with less time and cost. To build top quality LED walls, SKT cooperated with diverse global leading companies including AOTO and Brompton.
Volume Stage, which is applied with a large LED wall, can be used for the production of entertainment content including soap operas, advertisement and music videos, while XR Stage can be used for content with indoor background such as live commerce content. Live streaming for events like web seminars and conferences can also be held here.
Going forward, SKT plans to introduce a new trend in content production by combining the TEAM studio with its advanced AI media solutions, including media upscaling service SUPERNOVA and AI Post Production Platform, which removes subtitles, music, and other embedded graphics.
The company also plans to open TEAM to not only SK affiliate companies but also diverse partners including outside production companies to help improve the media content production process in Korea.
