Project Type
Corporate Event
An immersive corporate launch event held on 16 January 2025 in Fót, Hungary. It introduced the newly completed United Illusions Virtual Production Studio and Visual Europe Group’s new headquarters to more than 350 guests, including film and production clients, event professionals, tourism partners and business guests.
Project Name
United Illusions Studio Grand Opening
The event combined participatory virtual-production experiences, interactive installations and live performances into a connected journey through the facility, demonstrating its capabilities as both a working production studio and a corporate event venue.
Visual Europe Group was the commissioning company and developed and delivered the event through its in-house creative and technical teams, with United Illusions providing the studio, permanent infrastructure and studio operations.
Design Criteria
The United Illusions Studio Grand Opening introduced a newly completed virtual production facility and the new headquarters of Visual Europe Group. The stakes went beyond unveiling a building. Visual Europe Group already had a reputation as a high-quality technical production partner; the opening had to demonstrate that standard in operation while presenting a new space to film and production clients, event professionals, tourism partners and other business guests. Each audience needed to discover something relevant, enjoy the evening and see how the team actually worked.
The creative principle was to show the venue's capabilities through use. Guests would encounter lighting, LED, virtual production, live camera workflows and interactive media as parts of a connected journey. The studio had to function simultaneously as a working film environment, a participatory demonstration space and a venue for a large-scale corporate celebration. The concept and technical direction were developed by Visual Europe Group's in-house teams so that the story, infrastructure and live operation could be planned together.
Project Description
The experience began outside. More than 100 lighting fixtures mounted on custom-built gate structures formed illuminated portals leading guests to the building. An LED tunnel with a black-hole animation marked the transition into the interior. Instead of ending at an arrival spectacle, the visual journey continued through multiple spaces in which guests could explore the facility's different uses.
In two virtual-production experiences, visitors became participants in short cinematic scenes. One took them to Mars; the other placed them inside an Aston Martin in front of the LED volume. For the car sequence, camera tracking connected the physical camera to the virtual environment on the wall, maintaining the correct perspective as the shot changed. Material captured during the experiences was processed during the event and shared with participants as personal content. Guests could see the workflow from set to finished result, gaining a direct understanding of what the studio could offer a production.
The live program gave the evening a second dramatic center. On a striking stage, dancers performed a sequence combined with holographic projection that traced the company's story to its new headquarters and the opening day. A live DJ played from an elevated platform. These performances brought the technical systems into an entertainment setting, making the event enjoyable for guests whose primary interest was not virtual production while demonstrating another way the space could be used.
Other interactive experiences, including AR, holographic and AI-based elements, gave visitors further opportunities to take part. The installations were integrated into the route rather than treated as a catalog of stand-alone devices. Together with the filming scenarios and stage show, they allowed different guest groups to move between discovery, participation and entertainment at their own pace.
The technical scale supported that variety of use. Across permanent and event-specific installations, the production used 1,100 lighting fixtures, 593 sqm of LED surface, 917 m of truss and 35 km of cabling. Three separate audio systems served the different event areas; 83 motors controlled 542 m of indoor truss, while exterior structures required 24.3 metric tons of concrete ballast. Lighting, media servers, live camera feeds and real-time content cues were coordinated through a central control environment so that the zones could operate as one event while supporting different activities.
Challenges and Solutions
Delivering the opening was unusually complex because installation ran alongside the final construction phase of the building. AV teams and construction crews shared the site as rigging, cabling, system installation and commissioning progressed. The venue had never hosted an event, and the building itself was completed on the day of the opening. Exterior work continued in temperatures as low as –6°C, with night work and shifts of 11 to 17 hours. Approximately 140 technical specialists worked on the event delivery, excluding the crews assigned to film sets and permanent studio installations.
The response was detailed coordination across construction, permanent infrastructure and event-specific systems, supported by rehearsed transitions, technical monitoring and procedures for resolving faults. This was particularly important with live performances, virtual-production activities and interactive zones operating during the same guest journey. The team had to present a polished, uninterrupted experience while bringing a new facility into operation for the first time.
More than 350 guests attended. The project's defining achievement was to make the venue itself the demonstration: film and production clients could experience a working virtual-production workflow, while event and tourism partners could see a flexible gala and entertainment space in action. The opening made the studio's versatility visible through the experience guests had, from their first steps through the light portals to the final stage performance.
Equipment
Lighting / control: 1,100 fixtures across permanent and event-specific installations; more than 100 fixtures on the exterior arrival gates. Models and control systems to be confirmed.
LED / processing: 593 sqm of LED surface, including the studio volume and arrival tunnel. Panel types and processing systems to be confirmed.
Media / virtual production: media servers, live camera feeds and real-time triggering; tracked camera workflow for the Aston Martin scene. Server and tracking models to be confirmed.
Audio: three separate systems serving event areas; live DJ setup. Models to be confirmed.
Interactive and stage systems: AR, holographic and AI experiences; holographic projection for the dance performance. System details to be confirmed.
Rigging / automation: 917 m of truss, including 542 m of indoor truss controlled by 83 motors; 24.3 metric tons of exterior concrete ballast.
Crew Members
Visual Europe Group’s in-house creative and production teams – Creative concept and direction, event design, production planning and live event delivery.
Visual Europe Group’s technical teams – Technical design, audiovisual integration, lighting, LED, audio, rigging and central control coordination.
United Illusions studio team – Virtual-production environments, permanent studio infrastructure and studio operations, including the participatory filming experiences.
Approximately 140 technical specialists – Event installation and technical delivery, excluding crews assigned to film sets and permanent studio installations.
Stage and interactive contributors – Dance performance, choreography, holographic content, live DJ entertainment, and AR and AI-based experiences. Named contributors and their exact responsibilities are to be confirmed before submission.