Kitchener, Canada, July 7, 2020 – Monogram Creative Console announces integration with Unreal Engine, giving virtual production creators familiar, tactile control of virtual cameras, lighting, and more to bring back a hundred years of traditional filmmaking knowledge to new virtual worlds. 

Excited by the potential for Monogram’s analog tools to bridge traditional filmmakers’ skills to the vast digital worlds in the Unreal Engine, Epic Games awarded Monogram an Epic MegaGrant of $50,000 to kickstart the development of Monogram’s Unreal Engine solution. 

“Monogram’s customizable hardware controller can unlock powerful tactile experiences in virtual worlds created in Unreal Engine,” says David Morin, Epic Games Industry Management, Media & Entertainment. “Monogram's API will give creatives even greater freedom and control to deliver engaging content, interactive experiences and virtual worlds.”

Monogram worked with world class studios to deliver the best features for virtual production in filmmaking, opening the door for creative freedom and unparalleled customization for virtual production’s unique needs. 

In addition, Monogram’s new API lets Unreal Engine developers connect their own custom plug-ins to Monogram’s controllers or enable any one of Unreal Engines almost limitless controls to be assigned to one of Monogram’s tactile modules.

Matt Workman, Virtual Production Cinematographer and Developer at CineTracer adds that, “for Unreal Engine Virtual Production users and developers, the Monogram Creator app and UE4 makes integration seamless and easy through the Blueprint Scripting system.”

Magnopus, a visual development and experience company based in Los Angeles, is constantly exploring ways to connect the physical and digital world. They were tasked with creating a virtual production workflow for The Lion King—a project that was entirely unique and out-of-the-box—and needed an adaptable tool that the whole team could use to intuitively manipulate the digital world. 

“Monogram gave us just that: the ability to customize intuitive controls for a tactile experience that felt familiar to directors and cinematographers,” said AJ Sciutto, Virtual Production Producer, Magnopus / Lion King (2019) project. “It simplified the on-set experience, making it one of the crucial tools to our virtual production workflow.”

Monogram Creative Console is also compatible with industry leading photo, video, and music production applications including Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Lightroom Classic and Capture One. The addition of Unreal Engine and an open API will expand Monogram’s software ecosystem making it a truly adaptable creative tool for artists across diverse creative industries.

Monogram Creative Console is available with a pre-order promotion until July 31 at monogramcc.com.

Directors and production crew can leverage the precision of familiar filmmaking processes thanks to Monogram’s tactile tools and get “behind the camera” even in new virtual production environments. Intuitive controls allow for non-technical team collaboration so previs, tech-vis, cinematographers, directors, real-time production operators, post-production operators, and many others can collaborate easily without the need to learn new and complex software. 

Creative Console offers an operator environment designed specifically for the non-engineering user. It provides extensive ease-of-use by taking the technical complexity out of deploying and operating virtual environments. Users can easily make changes and adjustments in real time even with little to no experience with Unreal Engine with immediate feedback, which will ultimately streamline production.

Monogram’s integration gives filmmakers direct control of all virtual production parameters in Unreal Engine including Jog and Review, Virtual Camera, Virtual Lighting, and Sequencer. Users can control camera focal length, focus, zoom, aperture, and camera movements with precision with support for single or multiple operators as well as controlling intensity, pattern, and colour of virtual lights with Monogram’s control surface. 

Previs and real-time production operators can control on set recording and on-set playback, as well as the ability to control location, rotation, scale of any actor in real-time. The Sequencer controls for Creative Console are intended to provide basic transport and edit functionality, to quickly add camera cuts, shot tracks, and to toggle recording on/off.

Monogram API allows developers to build custom integrations for unique virtual production projects to meet the demands of production. The Blueprints API makes creating custom integrations with Monogram hardware simple and efficient for developers, and ultimately expanding Monogram’s software ecosystem for all creatives. 

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Monogram is a passionate team of designers and engineers who believe that creative tools should fit the way you work. The company’s first product, Palette, launched in 2015 and is now used by the best photographers, filmmakers, artists, and creators in the industry. Unlike typical controllers, Monogram’s award-winning modular design gives anyone the ability to create a purpose-built tool for their unique style and workflow. In 2019, Monogram announced its second generation product, Creative Console, along with a brand new Orbiter module for 3D content creation. Monogram collaborates with studios around the world, and is headquartered in Kitchener, Canada.

Learn More here: 

Website: https://monogramcc.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monogramcc/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monogramcc/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/monogramcc

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/c/MonogramCreativeConsole

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/monogramcc/ 

 

Media Contact: Nina Vasic 

Marketing Coordinator

nvasic@monogramcc.com 

Epic Games’ Unreal Engine is the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D platform. Creators across games, film, television, architecture, automotive and transportation, advertising, live events, and training and simulation choose Unreal to deliver cutting-edge content, interactive experiences, and immersive virtual worlds. Follow @UnrealEngine and download Unreal for free at unrealengine.com.