MSG Sphere Plans Unwrapped as Studio explores collaboration with Hollywood –

Delegates gathered this week for the first NAB show in Las Vegas since 2019 will notice a new addition looming on the famous skyline: the MSG Sphere in Venice, which can create new screens for filmmakers and all manner of incredible entertainment. Open next year. In a session on NAB’s opening day, the team at MSG Sphere Studios, the producer of the venture, confirmed that they are talking to everyone from Hollywood directors to musicians, as well as revealing new details about their creative content plans.

Upon completion, the massive sphere will likely be the largest spherical structure in the world (336 feet high and 516 feet wide) and will be a radical new entertainment venue that can accommodate up to 20,000 spectators. (Construction costs are estimated at $1,826 million, respectively. Las Vegas Review Magazine).

The interior is expected to feature a 160,000-square-foot LED screen, while the exterior will be covered by a 580,000-square-foot outdoor LED screen “visible from space,” said Andrew Schulkind, director of the department. Filming for MSG Sphere Studios, a Burbank facility located for major production and post-production work content created for Sphere. The LED screen can accommodate an image resolution from 16K to 16K. In collaboration with Berlin-based audio company Holoplot, Sphere will also implement a custom spatial audio system and additional plans include wind-to-smell 4D capabilities as well as connectivity for all guests.

Panelists declined to share details of creative partners or planned content, but suggested that the venue’s “all-in-one” content could include stunning visuals, live events including concerts, games, and what they hoped would be an entirely new type of entertainment. training. . Schulkind confirmed that the narrative content is “absolutely in the script”.

“We are looking for offenders,” said Natalie van Sase van Iselt, creative director. “We have an active creative development department. We run VIP tours in Burbank and test these creative tools so we can open up ideas for creativity.”

Chris Dim, the studio’s senior director of production and technology, said the studio was “primarily focused on live action”. To that end, the team confirmed that it has already deployed camera systems – newly developed systems that look like 3D devices on steroids – in Antarctica and, through a NASA grant, on the International Space Station.

Although it was designed for immersive entertainment, Schulkind was asked if part of the LED field could be used to display a more traditional proportion of content, such as Hollywood marquees or live events including the Super Bowl, and replied, “Can you? ? Yes we? “It’s possible.”

On the technical side of the equation, executives talked about the need for innovation in all areas of production, post-production and exhibitions: tools and workflows, while dealing with massive amounts of data. “We are building tools and language,” Dim said. Panelists confirmed that they are developing real-time virtual production techniques as part of the equation.

In the future, he plans to build a second area in London and later in other cities. “We want to expand it globally,” Schulkind said at a meeting hosted by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.