The world’s first 3D-printed film studio is ready for its first take.
Earlier this month, Casinos Austria and the Austrian Lotteries Group, Austria’s largest casino agency, unveiled the world’s first-ever 3D-printed film studio, located at a local casino in Vienna.
The 20’-by-7’ studio features ribbed, undulating walls made up of 60 individual segments assembled together on-site horizontally, with strips of colorful LED lights embedded right into the printed walls.
Austrian product designer Philipp Aduatz, who designed the studio said he proposed the concept to the casino agencies last year.
“We made the proposal [of] doing something more sculptural, artsy. More like a design piece,” Aduatz said in an interview with EquipNex. “We didn’t think they were going to take it, but they were somehow interested in it.”
Aduatz, whose background is in design and art, said the agencies had initially approached other specialized architects for the project, but ultimately decided they wanted “something that’s different [from] the other film studios.”
Along with production set designer Dominik Freynschlag, the two came up with the finalized design of the film studio that now features one of its most unique characteristics, 14 LED light strips that run in between the wall’s ribbed pattern.
The ideas of potential ways to achieve this in the final structure were fickle at first, he said, as design limitations, safety standards, project budget and the LED lights’ viability were important factors that needed to be considered.
“We couldn’t really do a lot of testing in advance, we just had to make it happen with the first try,” Aduatz said. “[We] had a small prototype for testing, but it’s a lot of logistics.”
Aduatz and Freynschlag partnered with Innsbruk-based 3D-printing company, Incremental3D, to help bring the final design from concept to production. Engineers and designers agreed that 3D concrete printing was the most sustainable construction option for the project, because it kept materials waste – and overall costs – to a minimum, since formworks would not be needed.
But because of the typical extrusion process in concrete printing – where thin layers of concrete are piped one at a time – the team needed to ensure the ribbed texture wouldn’t interfere with filming by appearing distorted on camera (also known as a “moire effect” in film).
The overall project took four months to complete, Aduatz said. He could not disclose the total cost of the project, but said the final cost was “in the six-figure range.”
“You need all the experiences to connect the digital tools [to] the real life experience,” Aduatz said. “If you [only] have the printer and the materials, you basically have nothing because you need the experience.”
You can read more about the project on Adautz’s website here.
