ARRI to create broadcast and mixed reality facilities with ARRI Solutions Group

ARRI Solutions Group, ARRI’s latest initiative, will offer design and engineering of customized, “ultra-modern” production infrastructures.

ARRI Solutions Group will focus on “state-of-the-art” facilities, including mixed reality environments, remote productions and television studios, among other areas. Customers of the brand’s new initiative will have an international team of engineers and project managers at their service. They will, of course, rely on ARRI’s solutions as a matter of course.

Stephan Schenk, general manager of global sales and solutions at ARRI, highlights the brand’s new approach: “ARRI has long since ceased to be solely a hardware manufacturer. Whether consulting, configuration, or turnkey installation: The experts of the ARRI Solutions Group design precisely the solutions our cine and broadcast clients need. Thereby, coordination and good cooperation with companies offering other products and services are also very important to us.”

Virtual productions

One of the ARRI Group’s first mixed reality reference projects is the Dark Bay virtual production studio in Babelsberg, near Berlin. This facility dedicated to the creation of virtual cinema was planned and integrated by the ARRI Solutions Group team. For this project, all three ARRI business units – Camera Systems, Lighting and Rental – worked together.

Currently, the Netflix Und Dark Ways production 1899, the new series from Dark creators Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar, is being shot in Dark Bay. The actors are being filmed in front of a 55-meter-long, seven-meter-high LED wall, bent at 270°, with the ARRI Alexa Mini LF camera and ARRI Rental lenses, created exclusively for 1899. The LED wall is complemented by 70 ARRI SkyPanels, which combine to interactively illuminate the volume.

In June 2021, ARRI and ARRI Rental will open a mixed reality studio in London to be used for commercial and demonstration purposes.

Broadcast solutions

ARRI System Group, which until now was expected to focus on broadcast and lighting solutions, will operate under the umbrella of the ARRI Solutions Group. Among other projects, the team recently equipped two television studios for WeltN24 in the new Axel Springer building in Berlin. These sets are the first to be equipped exclusively with Ethernet/IP-based lighting technology.

Other customers who have also placed their trust in ARRI studio solutions include ARD, Al Araby TV, CBC, Epic Games, NENT, Kuwait TV, Oman TV, RTCG Montenegro, RTV Serbia, RTL Group, SBA Saudi Arabia and others.

Remote Workflows

As a result of the social distancing constraints resulting from Covid-19, ARRI has developed a number of remote workflow-ready setups. Initially designed for film productions, these systems integrate elements such as cameras, lights, remote heads and ARRI accessories networked and remotely controllabe. This set-up enables workflows with “safe distance” between actors and crew members themselves, “without compromising operational and creative control.”

“In all of these applications, there are regionally specific customer requirements; even the local partner companies are often different. At ARRI, with our Solutions Group, we strive to find the best individual solutions in the interests of our clients,” adds Stephan Schenk.