How Dell, ModTechLabs and NVIDIA are Shaping Future Cinema

A revolution is taking place in the film industry as an entirely new way of working evolves. Filmmakers have been repurposing tools designed for video games. Where FX once relied on static green screens, LED screens now immerse subjects in dynamic, hybrid environments. This transplanting is not without challenges, especially given the higher standards for movies. Previously, vast render farms could eventually render anything. Now, new real-time constraints are emerging, requiring creative optimizations and workarounds.

Photo Credit: Erik Weaver Courtesy of USC Entertainment Technology Center: Europa Production.

This world of virtual production is where Mod Tech Labs is making a name. Founded by a duo with a deep understanding of the challenges of and a long background in bridging the technical and artistic, Mod Tech Labs is driven by a deep empathy and a goal to empower the artists it serves.

Photo Credit: Alysa Marie Photography: Mod Tech Labs Founders.

Tim Porter, the company's CTO, puts it, "We really do like artists. Maybe it's because I started as an artist, or maybe it was my childhood. I was split between my mom, who worked in the arts, and my dad, who worked as an electrical engineer."

Alex Porter, the CEO, with a similarly interesting cross-disciplinary background, comes from the interior design world, with her ability to reimagine the future honed at a 3D XR studio she and Tim founded in 2016.

Together, Alex and Tim now head a tools company focused on developing automated, simplified processes and products for the media and entertainment industry. "The whole idea," as Tim says, "is how do we lighten the load, reduce the burden, and just make the industry a little bit more fun? How do we create tools so easy to use that anybody can pick them up and bring their visions to life? That's what drives us." Their goal is to make cutting-edge tech that can seem like science fiction and that's easy to use. Or, as Alex puts it, "The tools that we're building are specifically built to be production-ready, versus a lot of what's on the market right now, which may not integrate with the other systems and the other tools being used today in film."

Image Credit: Mod Tech Labs, MOD 3D Content.

Mod Tech's latest innovation, MOD Opti, helps users bring ideas to life, providing a quality assurance scene optimizer designed to address the unique challenges of virtual production. Just one year old and already boasting two major customers, MOD Opti is at the forefront of an industry learning to adapt to real time in production.

At the heart of MOD Opti's capabilities lies sophisticated AI. It can predict performance, ensuring that content will play at frame rate, starting with pre-production and translating flawlessly to the set. In an industry where time is money-where productions can lose $300,000 a day if recording stops-smooth predictability is essential. "Say you have an A-list star and the entire cast of a blockbuster film sitting and waiting. Even when something on set isn't working, you're still paying them regardless," Porter emphasizes.

Image Credit: Mod Tech Labs, MOD Opti User Interface.

MOD Opti builds a profile of how stage systems and processors perform, simulating how content will perform on the actual set. This is used to test the content and help ensure smooth playback and consistent quality. Another advanced capability is automated optimization, which targets assets that are making the scene lag and improves them, ensuring they look as intended and make the overall scene hit frame rate. A user can also selectively choose less relevant background elements, giving the ultimate creative control to the artist. This ensures that the hero objects in a scene maintain their visual fidelity while overall performance soars. It's a delicate balance between visual quality and real-time performance.

To bring this ambitious vision to life, Mod Tech worked with Dell Technologies and NVIDIA, leveraging Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA. Central to Mod Tech's on-premises solution includes the Dell Precision 7875 Tower, powered by two NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation GPUs. This powerhouse of computing helps meets the solution's demanding requirements while simplifying deployment. As Alex explains, "We have a system that we can immediately suggest to our clients to bring this on-prem. We can deck it out with our software, and we can make sure they get into production sooner than later." The company has historically leveraged private clouds for computation, but Tim points to upload times: "It can be up to three, four, five hours. So, for our clients, being able to have that locally is extremely important."

Mod Tech uses professional-grade NVIDIA RTX GPUs. Tim points out: "The major advantage of pro-level series cards, especially for us, is the high amount of VRAM. This allows us to perform far beyond what you'd expect. For instance, we've developed a tool for Unreal Engine production that creates 2.5D plates, which are crucial for certain effects. Instead of requiring a full 3D environment, we can work with high-resolution images."

Putting the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation GPUs to innovative use, Mod Tech has extensively applied computer vision (CV) as part of a sophisticated asset processing pipeline. Tim explains the significance: "Our computer vision technology is what sets us apart. It ensures every asset maintains the right look and feel throughout the production process."

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