Building Calgary’s Virtual Production Future: Inside Bow Valley College’s Virtual Production Hub
- Lynden Kidd
- 6 days ago
- 8 min read
Building a new space for the future of production
When Bow Valley College set out to create a virtual production studio, the goal was bigger than installing an LED wall.
The College wanted to create a space where students could learn on the technologies shaping the future of film, animation and digital media, while giving Calgary’s creative community access to a professional virtual production environment.
There was a vision for what the space could become. Turning that vision into a working studio meant figuring out what the technology needed to do, how the systems would work together and how to deliver it within the realities of the space, budget and timeline.
For more than a year, Sapphire Sales & Design lead Jason Cohoe worked alongside Bow Valley College to help bring that vision into focus, leading the technical design and working through the technology, integration and delivery of the system.
The result is the Virtual Production Hub, a flexible production environment designed to give creators more control over where and how they tell their stories.
From vision to reality
For Bow Valley College, the project began with an idea. Ray Macdonald, Senior Project Manager at Bow Valley College, had spent time looking at other studios, imagining what the College could build and thinking about what a space like this could mean for students and Calgary’s creative community.
“I started off with dreams. I had hopes and visions. I looked at different studios and different spaces and there’s things I wanted to emulate and things I wanted to pursue.”
But every project has constraints.
Space. Time. Budget. Technology. Construction.
The challenge was finding a way to preserve the ambition while making it work in the real world.
“Working with Sapphire, I was able to temper my vision to reality. But also, push the boundaries of things that I hadn’t experienced and been exposed to.”
That balance became central to the project.
Bow Valley College brought the vision and an understanding of what it wanted the space to become. Sapphire brought the technical expertise to determine how to make it possible.
Designing around the workflow
Virtual production is still a relatively new field. When Bow Valley College began planning the Hub, there was no simple formula for deciding which LED volume, cameras, lighting, tracking and processing systems would create the right environment.
Sapphire started with the workflow.
Jason Cohoe worked with Bow Valley College to understand how students, educators and professional productions would use the facility, then worked backwards to determine the technology required to support it.
“The approach really started by working with Bow Valley College to identify the ideal workflow and then working backwards from there to find the best technology.”
That meant research, system design and close collaboration with technology partners across the project. Every component needed to contribute to one cohesive production workflow.
The goal was to create a space that could feel familiar to an experienced filmmaker while remaining accessible to someone walking onto a virtual production stage for the first time.
The studio needed to be powerful.
It also needed to be flexible.
Inside the Virtual Production Hub
At the centre of the studio is an LG LBAG015-G3 Micro LED volume measuring approximately 30 feet wide by 11 feet tall.
Designed specifically for virtual production, broadcast and immersive studio environments, the LG Micro LED system uses a 1.56 mm pixel pitch and delivers up to 1,500 nits of brightness. Its HDR support, Full Black Coating technology and wide colour viewing angles are designed to produce detailed, consistent imagery in demanding production environments.
The LED volume is powered by the Megapixel HELIOS LED Processing Platform, giving the system advanced processing, control and diagnostics. The panels also support curved installations and flexible stacking or hanging configurations, allowing the volume to be designed around the requirements of the studio.
For virtual production, those technical details matter because the LED wall becomes part of the camera.
The environment has to look convincing from the lens, maintain consistent colour and brightness across the volume, and respond quickly enough to keep the physical and digital elements working together.
The LG Micro LED system forms the visual foundation of the studio. Around it, Sapphire integrated Megapixel HELIOS processing, ARRI cameras and lighting, Vicon motion capture and camera tracking, image-based lighting and Unreal Engine workflows.
Together, these systems create a complete virtual production environment rather than a collection of individual technologies.
A giant Lego set
One of the defining ideas behind the studio was flexibility. The goal was to create something tangible and approachable for students while giving experienced filmmakers the freedom to experiment.
Clause describes the LED wall as “a giant Lego set.”
That is a surprisingly good description.
The panels can change.
The production can change.
The camera can move.
The creative approach can change.
The studio was designed as a sandbox where students and filmmakers can explore what virtual production makes possible.
That flexibility is important because virtual production itself continues to evolve.
The studio is not built around a single type of production. It gives users room to discover new workflows and applications as the technology develops.
Bringing the world onto the stage
The real power of virtual production becomes apparent when the systems start working together.
An environment built in Unreal Engine can appear on the LED volume while the camera tracks through the scene. Lighting can respond to the digital environment. Actors can see the world around them. Filmmakers can make creative decisions while they are shooting and capture the environment in-camera.
Instead of waiting until post-production to discover what the finished world might look like, much more of the creative process happens on set.
Jason describes the potential simply:
“They’re able to create any world that you can imagine and really bring you into that.”
That could mean a realistic location, a completely digital environment or somewhere that exists only inside the production.
For students, it creates a way to learn the entire process by actually doing it.
Build the environment.
Put it on the volume.
Track the camera.
Light the scene.
Shoot it.
Review it.
Then do it again.
You can’t go to space. Our students can.
There is perhaps no better way to explain the educational value of the studio than Jeff Clemens’ description of what it makes possible.
“You can’t go to space. Our students can shoot in space.”
Jeff Clemens, Associate Dean of the Centre of Entertainment Arts at Bow Valley College, sees the Hub as a way for students to work with the technologies shaping the industry and develop practical experience while they are still in school.
The possibilities extend far beyond space.
Students can move from a river on the Alberta prairie to a mountain environment and then into a jungle, all within the same studio and the same day.
That changes the learning experience.
Students are not simply studying virtual production as an emerging discipline.
They are working inside it.
They can build environments in Unreal Engine, work with camera tracking and motion capture, operate professional production equipment and see how the entire workflow comes together.
And when industry enters the studio, students have the opportunity to learn alongside the people already working in the field.
[PHOTO: Student / filmmaker inside volume]
From blueprint to functional studio
Designing a system this complex is one challenge.
Delivering it on a tight timeline is another.
Jason describes the timeline as one of the project's biggest challenges. Sapphire had a narrow window between being awarded the project, beginning the design and getting the system operational. Technology lead times and availability added another layer of complexity.
The solution required careful coordination across the entire technology stack.
Sapphire worked with its vendor partners to identify the right components for each part of the system, balancing performance, availability and the needs of the overall workflow.
Jason describes it as finding the right piece of the puzzle for every part of a very complex system.
“Everything from the LG MAGNIT LED to the ARRI lights and cameras, Vicon motion capture. Really just making sure we had the latest and greatest, the best in the industry for all pieces of this very complex puzzle and workflow.”
The project also required the physical installation and testing of the system before it could become a working production environment.
Bow Valley College credits Sapphire with bringing the technical expertise needed to select, install, test and get the equipment running.
The value of asking the right questions
Technology integration is often described in terms of equipment.
For this project, the relationship was just as important.
Bow Valley College was entering a relatively new area of production technology.
The team knew what they wanted the studio to achieve, but there were still important decisions to make around the technology itself.
That is where Sapphire’s experience became valuable.
Ray explains:
“I think the best part is that they ask questions. It’s the questioning. ‘Is this what you need?’ Rather than just ‘what we ask for?’ Because we’re not always right.”
That approach turned the project into a genuine collaboration.
Sapphire wasn’t simply responding to a specification.
The teams were working together to figure out what the specification should be.
And despite the constraints, the project was delivered on time and within the required budget.
“Working with Sapphire on this project was pretty much a collaboration. We met a very tight budget and very tight timeline. And Sapphire delivered. I’m very happy with what we ended up with.”
A new production resource for Calgary
For Bow Valley College, the Hub represents an important addition to Calgary’s creative infrastructure.
The city already attracts film and television productions for its landscapes, locations and creative talent. What was missing was another option for controlled, technology-driven production.
The Hub fills part of that gap.
Its sound-isolated stage gives productions a controlled environment. Its LED volume provides digital locations without the need to travel. Its production and post-production capabilities allow projects to move through multiple stages within the same facility. And its student talent creates opportunities for industry to connect with the next generation of creators.
For filmmakers and production teams, that flexibility can be valuable.
Weather does not dictate the shoot.
A location does not have to be physically accessible.
The environment can be changed digitally.
And the production can move from pre-production through capture and review within one connected facility.
For students, it creates something equally important: proximity to the industry they are preparing to enter.
A place for what comes next
The finished Virtual Production Hub is the result of a shared vision.
Bow Valley College wanted to create a space that could serve students, industry and Calgary’s creative community.
Sapphire helped translate that vision into a working technical system, from the initial workflow and technology research through design, integration, testing and delivery.
Today, the Hub gives creators a place to experiment with virtual production and gives students a place to learn the tools shaping the industry.
The technology will continue to evolve.
The people using it will find new ways to work with it.
And the worlds created inside the studio will be limited largely by what those creators can imagine.
That is what makes the project exciting.
The studio is finished.
The possibilities are just getting started.
Explore the Virtual Production Hub
Whether you’re producing a film, commercial, television project, game, music video or something completely new, Bow Valley College’s Virtual Production Hub provides a professional environment for bringing digital and physical production together.
Explore the facility, learn more about its capabilities and connect with Bow Valley College about booking the space for your next production.
Building technology around your vision
The Bow Valley College Virtual Production Hub is one example of what is possible when technology integration begins with the desired outcome.
Sapphire works with organizations to understand their workflows, goals and constraints, then designs and integrates the technology needed to bring those ideas to life.
From virtual production studios and LED environments to immersive spaces, collaboration systems and complex AV infrastructure, our team brings together the design, technology and integration required to take a project from concept to reality.
If you’re exploring virtual production, planning a new technology environment or working through a complex AV project, talk to Sapphire.
Project Details
Client: Bow Valley College
Project: Virtual Production Hub
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Sapphire Role: Technical Design & Technology Integration
Lead Technical Design: Jason Cohoe, Sales & Design, Sapphire
Featured Voices
Ray Macdonald, Senior Project Manager, Bow Valley College
Jeff Clemens, Associate Dean, Centre of Entertainment Arts, Bow Valley College
Jay Questa, Studio Technician, Bow Valley College
Claus Jonsson, Audio Visual Technician, Bow Valley College
Key Technologies
LG MAGNIT Micro LED
Megapixel HELIOS
ARRI cameras and lighting
Vicon motion capture and camera tracking
Unreal Engine
Image-based lighting
Pre-production and post-production systems
Dailies review environment
Film & Creative
Film by Lynden Kidd
Directed, Shot & Edited by Lynden Kidd
Marketing & Creative, Sapphire
