The vision for Studio Ulster is to become established as a ‘Tier 1’ centre of excellence in R&D and innovation in Virtual Production, a rapidly developing suite of technologies and methodologies for screen content production, where the physical and digital worlds meet. Located on the North Foreshore in Belfast, the development of Studio Ulster as a leading edge, world class centre of excellence that in conjunction with the Belfast Harbour Film Studio complex creates a unique blend of facilities, will drive collaboration in R&D on an unprecedented scale with researchers from virtual production, film, broadcast, animation, games and immersive co-locating with screen production and technology professionals. At the core of Studio Ulster is a unique facility, developed though partnership between academia and industry, and comprising production and R&D and innovation capability as follows:
- Virtual Production (VP) Facilities: including a highly specified VP stage (of a scale benchmarked against the VP stage used in the production of The Mandalorian), with supporting Motion Capture and 3-D Scanning studios and a SMART stage. The specification for these facilities has been developed to conform with the standards required by leading global players, such as Netflix and EPIC Games.
- Broadcast Studio: A commercial facility developed by Belfast Harbour, with an audience capacity of 600 integrated with, but separate from the VP facilities, to operate on a commercial basis, with BBC NI potentially as the primary tenant.
- Film Studios: co-located within the Harbour Film Studios complex at the Giant’s Park on the North Foreshore in Belfast, where Belfast Harbour is planning a major £45 million expansion to quadruple the size of the existing studio complex. The presence of Studio Ulster will enhance and diversify the offering.
