In 2024, Side and Imaginarium Studios unveiled a continuation of our partnership to bring together award-winning skillsets under one roof and provide game developers with a premium service: simultaneous performance capture and dialogue recording.
Our audio team at Side has been providing cutting-edge services to the global entertainment market for nearly 30 years. Originally founded in the UK and now with six dedicated audio locations across the globe, our team still holds the same collective intention: to develop the truest interpretation of each client’s vision, for audiences of every genre, on any platform, in all languages.
From casting, directing, and recording, to audio localization and post-production, Side has contributed its services to many recent award-winning titles – including Still Wakes The Deep (2024), Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (2023), Alan Wake II (2023), Final Fantasy XVI (2023), Disney Illusion Island (2023), Horizon Forbidden West (2022), and Returnal (2021).
Quotes
“With nearly 30 years of developing our own in-house recording technologies, we’ve always aimed to capture the most authentic performances for our partners, allowing their visions to come to fruition and even exceed their wildest dreams. By combining our expertise in dialogue recording with Imaginarium’s cutting-edge performance capture tech, we’ll provide what we believe is a match made in heaven for the game developer: a convenient method for them to have end-to-end creativity on a project, all housed in one location.”
T-Pose, Imaginarium Studios volume at Side London
Imaginarium Studios, founded in 2012 by legendary actor and director Andy Serkis, has been pioneering performance-led capture services for the film and interactive industries for over a decade. Imaginarium provides full mo-cap services including body, hands, props and facial capture, while also being able to provide pre- and post-visualization services with custom virtual production toolkits.
Andy Serkis
Imaginarium Studios has partnered with many gaming clients, each project requiring different pipelines and services. A clear area of opportunity with future clients is how to optimise ADR (automated dialogue replacement) sessions with performers and combine that with facial and body capture. Working on such titles as Until Dawn (2024 remaster), Unknown 9 – Awakening (2024), Alan Wake II (2023), and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (2023), plus several unannounced AAA titles, has given Imaginarium Studios very broad gaming industry insights. Imaginarium utilizes its experience to help each of its clients achieve their creative goals as effectively and to the highest possible quality level.
“From the outset, The Imaginarium Studios has always been about leading creatively, specifically concerned with the future of storytelling... delivering solutions for whatever a project demands.”
Andy Serkis
Actor, Director, and Founder of Imaginarium Studios
Above all, creativity is the name of the game for both Side and Imaginarium, always informing the bespoke solutions we provide to our clients. While films and games continue to be created with the latest technological advancements, ever-more engaging and believable characters are a must. This was the impetus that led Side and Imaginarium to partner up: to enable game studios to craft believable characters more easily than ever before, by using a singular motion capture volume outfitted with best-in-class technology for recording both dialogue and full body performance capture.
Abubakar Salim
With the creation of this facility at our Side London studio, the goal envisioned by our teams is that game developers will benefit from streamlined processes and enhanced creative control throughout the entire production cycle.
The Imaginarium volume at our studio goes beyond ADR capabilities, and allows for full performance capture of the face, body, and fingers for up to two characters, suited to more narrative-driven game scenes.
David Menkin and Laura Doddington
"Opening a brand-new performance capture volume in central London, in partnership with Side London, is optimal for our gaming clients. This additional capacity, combined with the ability to simultaneously record an ADR session with HMC and body motion, gives us a high quality and cost-effective turnkey service."
Alex Hill
Business Development Manager, Imaginarium Studios
Together, we are all thrilled to be at the forefront of enabling our clients’ innovations and creative expressions. Check out the full behind-the-scenes clip of our motion capture volume below, featuring the talented actors Abubakar Salim, Laura Doddington, and David Menkin:
https://youtu.be/hdZzV8AcIEA
Looking to find the right team to help bring your game’s performances to life? Contact us today.