Brompton makes possible Turkey's first virtual production studio

Turkey's first virtual production studio, MGX Studio, owned by MGX Film, is a revolutionary virtual production facility based in Istanbul.

Bringing together both conventional and pioneering technologies used by cinematographers around the world, MGX offers a state-of-the-art LED stage with the latest technology processing. Brompton Technology, advanced camera tracking solutions, in-camera VFX, plus a host of pre- and post-production tools, enabling directors and filmmakers to create rich, interactive environments.

The story of MGX Studio began during the pandemic. “We decided to use the time we were confined to our homes wisely, researching and looking for the latest technologies in VP,” he says. Halit Gülmez, technical director of MGX. "MGX Film owner Müşvik Guluzade was a great inspiration to us all, as he was the first to recognize the power of virtual production and its influence on the global film industry. He was the first to fully embrace the technology and bring it to Turkey, establishing the country's first virtual production facility, MGX Studio."

With Guluzade at the helm, the MGX team took its first steps to not only gain the know-how of the new technology, but also to be a VP facility that guides the technology rather than following it.

A project in record time

The team completed the studio setup in five months, y Fatih Eke, technical and studio director at MGX, was instrumental in choosing the right equipment. “After spending three months researching and examining other installations, such as the ILM StageCraft virtual production, we build our own powerful LED display installation Ledeca with processing Brompton Tessera SX40 high-end. By using such cutting-edge equipment, our VP studio managed to generate industry interest even before we started actively promoting it,” explains Eke.

The Ledeca team actively participated in the installation process and offered all their support during the construction of the studio. “It was great to have the Ledeca team on site. They did a temporary installation of the LED display and processor so we could see the complete system and have the opportunity to test it before it was installed permanently,” adds Eke.

The study setup includes 100 m² of curved LED wall, 15.92 meters wide by 4 meters high, composed of paneles LED Ledeca LDSISP02.6XR. In addition, 125 m² of Ledeca LED panels make up the ceiling, which is used for lighting and reflections. "Our high-tech LED display has a resolution of 9600x1536 pixels and consists of 50x8 LED panels. We also use three Brompton Tessera SX40 processors and five Tessera XD 10G data distribution units to provide an image with a 10-bit color depth," he explains. Mete Mümtaz, MGX virtual production specialist.

In Mümtaz's opinion, the use of Tessera SX40 has offered the equipment reliability, as well as exceptional performance in terms of image quality and color. “In a dynamic set environment, there are many things that change quickly in terms of light and color, including lighting setups, camera settings, white balance… With the SX40 we can apply these changes very quickly and smoothly,” he says.

PureTone y Dark Magic are just two of the Tessera features that the MGX team constantly uses in their daily workflows. Genlock is another must-have feature according to its two virtual production specialists, Ali Koç and Halil Yağlı, and it helps that Brompton's processing is fully compatible with different genlock signals.

"Thanks to Tessera's ultra-low latency feature, the cameras and LED wall are in perfect synchronization at all times. This allows us to create more reactive and truly realistic backgrounds. The SX40 works perfectly with the Disguise media servers that we use. We are also continuing to work on integrating the latest features of Brompton's Tessera v3.2 software, such as Frame Remapping, into our workflow in the studio," says Koç.

First projects

Opened in January, MGX Studio's production calendar is already packed with projects from Turkish and international production companies. The studio's first project was the creation of car driving scenes for the feature film Forced Guest. The next project was an eight-episode medieval drama, Prens (Prince), whose production was 80% carried out in the MGX studio.

"We believe that the new film culture is currently growing following the rapid evolution of technology, pandemic restrictions and the way Gen Z consumes content. Virtual production plays an important role in the formation of this new culture. Our goal is for Turkey to be part of this important change, with MGX Studio fully supporting the maturity of virtual production. Brompton Tessera processing is an important element for us in this journey, as it, together with other cutting-edge technology partners, takes us to the future of film. VP and film production,” Gülmez concludes.