Flipside Studio is a new virtual production studio tool that allows actors and directors to capture and create animated content entirely in VR. The tool is leaving Early Access today, after a testing period where several notable companies and platforms made use of the technology.
The software allows users to embody avatars and models within VR and set up virtual cameras to film content from within the virtual studio. This allows actors to act out and perform scenes using motion capture, which is then recorded using virtual cameras and can be edited into a video or broadcast as live animation content.
The tool has been used by some companies while in Early Access, with content made in Flipside Studio now available on some streaming platforms like Amazon Prime, YouTube, Twitch and Caffeine. For example, Flipside Studio was used to prototype Detective Fips, a German kids show on the Toggo platform, which is jointly owned by Walt Disney Direct and RTL Group. Likewise, Caffeine — a live streaming competitor to Twitch with investment from Fox — also used Flipside Studios to film a live animated show with chat interaction, all created from home during the COVID-19 lockdown. It has also been used for music videos by DEL Records and for interstitial content in the Amazon Prime series Spooky Movie Time.
All in all, Flipside Studio looks look a robust tool and has a large number of features to suit different sorts of production. There’s an auto-scroll teleprompter, implementable body physics for realistic interactions, OBS and Twitch integration, custom sets (which can be built out of VR, as pictured above), live drawing capability, and collaboration support for multi-user sessions.
With the disappearance of Mindshow from Steam, Flipside Studio looks like a strong contender for similar sorts of made-in-VR videos. It will be free for non-commercial use, with a $25/month price tier for indie studios, a $200/month for companies with revenue over $200,000, and negotiable enterprise pricing options.
It is available for PC VR on Steam. A standalone version for Oculus Quest is planned for the the future, with an alpha build coming soon.
