Volucap, Germany’s first volumetric video capture studio, has partnered with Microsoft and use their Mixed Reality Capture Studios Azure processing pipeline for scalable cloud computing.
Founded in 2018 by shareholders ARRI Cine Technik and Co. KG, Interlake System GmbH, Studio Babelsberg AG and Fraunhofer HHI, Volucap combines cutting-edge technology with traditional film production. Located within the facilities of Studio Babelsberg in Berlin—the world’s oldest large-scale film studio— Volucap is an innovation cluster that combines volumetric capture services for a variety of industries while delivering custom solutions.
Volucap’s ultra-high resolution imagery and massive amounts of data produced per project (2TB per minute) initially created new challenges. During a standard capture session, Volucap can record over 60 minutes per day, but previously had to wait 24 hours to process one minute of output material on their local cloud system.
Using Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing capabilities to create faster volumetric capture workflows, Volucap can now process more than 20 minutes of volumetric content per day. Volucap uses a different camera and capture system than Microsoft’s other studio partners in Los Angeles, London and Seoul. But they found that using the Mixed Reality Capture Studios’ pipeline and compression tools provided faster turnaround times of volumetric captures, cloud access for preview and review for clients and improved user experience by streaming directly to end devices.
“Microsoft is advancing mixed reality solutions and cloud services with extreme speed, stability and security, providing the framework necessary to experience the power of Volucaps’s spatial capture solutions,” says Volucap´s CEO, Sven Bliedung. “The potential is gigantic; to be able to revolutionize cinema and subsequently the entire media production in a few years.”
Volucap’s Studio is located on 1830 square feet (170 sq meters) in the FX Center within Studio Babelsberg. The almost 13 feet (4 meter) high light rotunda is equipped with a minimum of 32 cameras that capture every movement and facial expression from a 360° perspective. Inside the room, people and objects can be scanned three-dimensionally and lifelike. Recordings are later transformed into structured and animated 3D surfaces by intelligent software algorithms. Eventually, filmed subjects can be placed into any AR, MR, VR, 360, or 2D video/web application on a variety of devices— such as phones, holographic headsets, and Windows Mixed Reality Immersive Headsets.
The Berlin-based Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institute (HHI), has developed the basic technology consisting of a unique 360° dynamic stage exposure system, a custom audio surround system and the installed software “3D Human Body Reconstruction”. ARRI has developed a custom light system for Volucap to provide maximum natural and authentic color representation for skin and cloth rendering.
Volucap’s clients range from the cinematic industry to professionally commissioned productions in areas including health, automotive, and the gaming industry. Their portfolio includes recordings for high-end feature film productions like “Matrix Resurrections” and experiences including musicians like “Die Fantastischen Vier” and “The BossHoss“, fashion designer Lana Müller and basketball sports legend and team captain of the Bonner Baskets, Josh Mayo. It also includes the tagesschau 2025 experience which shows the future of news as well as important contemporary witnesses for preserving history for future generations and more.
The Volucap Studio enables the beginning of a new era, in which content can leave the screen, digital people become reality and viewers are no longer passive but actively interact with and witness the portrayed worlds. Much like a walk-in movie. The discovery of the infinite cosmos “virtual reality” is now within reach and even better to explore.
Potsdam now holds “a piece of the future,” says Carl L. Woebecken, CEO, Studio Babelsberg AG.
“We are absolutely delighted with our partnership with Volucap,” says Microsoft’s General Manager, Steve Sullivan. “They are doing important work in the volumetric video ecosystem, and they exemplify how our pipeline, tools and technology can empower volumetric studios like theirs across the globe.”
