With CoSTAR standing for “Convergent Screen Technologies and performance in Realtime”, having an acronym to remember helps. What the technology can produce will be more memorable and seen by many of us.
Scenarios for films, or TV shows often require building physical sets, or using the green screen technique, to add in background. No longer, with the cutting edge technology CoSTAR offers.
Computer generated imagery, augmented reality and motion capture can come together to create virtual sets, in real time. Performers are able to interact with the environment, in a quicker, less expensive and more natural way.
The technology has already been used for concerts, video games and major films, with levels of success which bode well for the future.
The Core Rationale
There will be satellite units in other parts of the UK, along with incubator space and a studio at Royal Holloway University, who are leading the project. A production lab will be built at Pinewood Studios.
Both are a significant part of the team, which includes Vodafone, BT, Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership, the University of Surrey, the National Film and Television School and Surrey County Council.
The Council have contributed £3 million to a total budget in excess of £50 million. They expect the project to directly create 350 jobs in Surrey and in time, add £35 million per year to the county’s economy.
A thriving enterprise of this nature also tends to bring income for local business and attract others from the media, or tech sectors.
Supporting Creative Effort
The creative sector in the UK has long been seen as a world leader, contributing over £100 billion to the economy in 2021. The combined effects of a Covid pandemic and Brexit did not treat them well.
Spin off work from the new facilities is bound to arise, from session musicians, to video editors and more. A welcome addition to a recovery the sector is working on, looking to maximise the potential the UK still holds.
At a local level, having a newly built, globally competitive facility based in Surrey is welcome and fits with much else in the county.
An All Round Boost
Bringing opportunities for businesses to thrive in Surrey encourages skilled people to stay and attracts new residents. Local shops see fresh custom, property is needed and a removals company to move people there.
We offer creative solutions for that task, including an IT removals unit which may help but are not literally creative. Neither are a wide range of tradespeople, or service providers in the county.
They will still benefit, because economic success comes from sowing seeds which grow into the right type of environment. The CoSTAR facilities have a good chance of doing this and we hope to see other, similar initiatives in Surrey.
