Garden Studios’ motorized LED ceiling turns car shoots into quick turns
London-based Garden Studios has unveiled a new virtual production stage featuring a fully motorised LED ceiling using 2.6mm pixel pitch panels from Absen, designed to enable a configurable 360-degree LED volume. The stage is built to support vehicle-based process work, with the company claiming reduced repositioning and faster turnaround through a layout enabling most angles via a single 180-degree rotation. It includes rail- and motor-mounted lighting trusses with pre-wired power/data and supports Unreal Engine-based real-time workflows.
Key Takeaways
- Motorised LED ceiling (Absen 2.6mm) tilts up to 90° and travels 18m for rapid stage reconfiguration
- Designed for driving process work, accommodating vehicles from motorcycles to buses and stunt rigs
- Garden claims ~90% of camera angles achievable with a single 180° vehicle rotation, reducing repositioning time
- Independently controlled lighting trusses on rails/motors, pre-wired for power/data to speed rigging and changes
- Supports Unreal Engine-based real-time workflows and image-based lighting integration with existing control desks
Why It Matters
Virtual production is shifting from “cool LED volume” to “factory throughput,” and Garden’s design is explicitly about time saved per setup—especially for car work where resets burn budgets. A ceiling that becomes a wall, moves 18 meters, and pairs with pre-wired, motorised lighting is less a feature list than a bid to standardize fast-turn, repeatable shooting. For streamers and studios under cost pressure, the competitive edge is fewer shoot days and more predictable schedules. The emerging meme: VP stages are becoming configurable machines, not bespoke playgrounds.
Read full article at tvbeurope.com