S4 Studios synchronizes its virtual production with AJA's Gen10

Gen10 Timing Generator AJA Helps coordinate LED panels, cameras, computers and tracking system HTC Vive Mars CamTrack that shape S4 Studios' virtual production workflow.

S4 Studios, a virtual production company established in Los Angeles, uses its 1,500 square meter stage daily on all types of advertising, video clips, film and television projects. Led by Geoffrey Kater, owner and creative director, the company's philosophy is to offer a profitable solution to low-budget productions: "Virtual production does not have to cost $50,000 a day, and we want people to understand that. Our set is designed so that clients can come and shoot in two or three locations in the same day without having to travel."

In the studio, the computers are equipped with Quadro cards of Nvidia with synchronization options. The next step is to introduce the material into the LED processors and project it on the wall, as well as coordinate the data with the tracking system. HTC Vive Mars CamTrack. The workflow, despite its simplicity, initially yielded synchronization problems. In Kater's words: "The whole genlock thing is new to me, coming from a visual effects background, so as I was experiencing sync issues, I went to the Mars Facebook group, where I discovered it was a fairly common problem. It was there that someone suggested the AJA Gen10 sync generator as a solution."

"We got the AJA Gen10, set the little DIP switches on the back, plugged everything in, and suddenly there were no tears, no lines, everything was synchronized. The walls, the camera, the computers, and the Mars tracking system were synchronized at 24. And it was beautiful, incredible. We had finally done it with this magic box that we could plug in and forget about," explains Kater.

Currently, Gen10 of AJA is part of all S4 productions and ensures the correct performance of the virtual production workflow. Kater says: "With the AJA Gen10 sync generator and HTC Vive Mars CamTrack, I know we are covered and that all our IT equipment, walls and so on are synchronized. That is the most important aspect for me."