THE
VOID

The Void is a multipurpose production stage housed in Flinders University’s acclaimed Drama Centre. Incorporating motion capture and virtual production capability with Unreal Engine as unifying technology, The Void is a platform for creating screen experience of any kind.

The Void is a cutting-edge experimentation space for content creators, performers and any visual artist wishing to experiment with technology that transports their work onto digital platforms. The Void is also a place for learning. Students and industry have worked side-by-side to test the technology and refine the output. That knowledge is made available for you to transform your idea into digital reality.

Why is it important?

Screens are everywhere. From cinemas to mobile phones, virtual reality headsets and wearable mixed-reality eyewear, a computer device with a screen is the content platform of choice for billions of users around the world.

Fact: Over 500 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube every minute.

This is the global audience, and they are hungry for content.

The barrier for South Australian storytellers is practical knowledge of the methods for creating digital content. Video game engines and visual effects shot pipelines are complex and technical to artists not native to this method of production. The Void is the answer for artists seeking to overcome these barriers and connect with their waiting global audience.

In simple terms…

The Void is a sandbox of motion capture, virtual and optical screen production technology. It was purpose built for experimentation and learning.

What is it?

The Void is housed within a shooting stage that includes control rooms, rigged walls and ceiling for lights, and 3 phase power.
It operates on a dedicated production stage with a 8D X 9W X 3H Meter (26 X 29 X 10 Feet) capture volume.
Motion Capture system is 20 Vicon Vantage V8 cameras that can operate at up to 260fps (frames per second) at a full resolution of 3328 X 2432 pixels.
Facial Motion capture is delivered via Mark III wireless helmets ( two available ) with Faceware Analyzer and Shephard for capture and session management.
Stage is currently fitted with a 8 X 3 Meter LED wall with 1.9mm pitch LED’s to support a virtual production stage with simultaneous motion capture synchronisation. The walls are managed by a NovaStar Processor, and the entire system managed through Unreal Engine to synchronise motion capture data with camera and visual assets in real time.

Data is captured into Shogun, and currently runs a real-time link to Unreal to preview capture and save sessions to disk.
Facility is in an agreement with Epic Games and Vicon to ensure we have up-to-date Unreal and Shogun software in place to support productions.
Exporting to Maya and Motionbuilder is in place.
Clean up and edits of data can be batch processed and scripted as required.
System has been tested with up to four performers (human), and facility has a green screen rigged in place that can be used with the system running motion capture.

For the non-technical, the above is a toybox of industry-grade technology to support your vision. We welcome any director or producer from stage or screen with a vision to integrate performance and story with virtual characters and worlds.

Case Studies

Explore virtual and screen productions hosted in The Void.

Eschatech by Assemblage Artist in Residence Liam Somerville

Coffee & Quasars by We Made A Thing Studios

Happy Anniversary by Never Too Late Productions

Time Writers by Imaginary Fields Productions

There is always something new in The Void.

Sally Coleman explores the metaverse

Former Triple J breakfast host Sally Coleman is making her dreams a reality and using The Void's Unreal Engine to bring her music project 'Big Sand' to life. 'Big Sand' is a fully virtual band in a 3D animated landscape created with the help of CDW Studios.