S4 Studios syncs its virtual production with AJA Gen10

The AJA Gen10 sync generator helps coordinate the LED panels, cameras, computers and HTC Vive Mars CamTrack tracking system that shape S4 Studios’ virtual production workflow.

S4 Studios, a Los Angeles-based virtual production company, squeezes its 5,000-square-foot stage daily into all types of advertising, music video, film and television projects. Led by Geoffrey Kater, owner and creative director, the company’s philosophy is to offer a cost-effective solution to low-budget productions: “Virtual production doesn’t have to cost $50K a day, and we want people to understand that. Our stage is designed to let clients come in and shoot two or three locations in the same day without having to go anywhere.”

In the studio, the computers are equipped with Nvidia Quadro cards with sync options. The next step is to feed the footage into the LED processors and project it onto the wall, as well as coordinate the data with the HTC Vive Mars CamTrack tracking system. The workflow, despite its simplicity, initially yielded synchronization problems. In Kater’s words, “The whole genlock thing is kind of new to me, coming from visual effects, so as I was experiencing sync challenges, I took to the Mars Facebook Group where I found it was a fairly common issue, and that’s where someone suggested the AJA Gen10 sync generator as a solution.”

“We got the AJA Gen10, configured the little dip switches on the back, plugged everything in, and all of a sudden there was no more tearing, no more lines, everything was synced. The walls, the camera, the computers, and the Mars tracking system all synced at 24. And it was beautiful, amazing. We had finally figured it out with this magic box that we could plug in and forget,” Kater explains.

Today, AJA Gen10 is part of all S4 productions and ensures the smooth performance of the virtual production workflow. Kater says: “With the AJA Gen10 sync generator and HTC Vive Mars CamTrack, I know that we are covered and all of our computer equipment, walls and everything are in sync. That’s the most important aspect of it for me.”