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The Garage Studio Tour with Steve Giralt
The Garage, led by Steve Giralt, has transformed commercial production by combining robotics, virtual production, and practical effects in a single facility. Their innovative approach is changing how brands showcase their products, particularly in food and beverage advertising.
We took an in-depth look at their high-tech, innovative movie studio.
Industry City
Located in Brooklyn's Industry City, The Garage has evolved from a Manhattan studio into a comprehensive production facility featuring seven cinema robots, an LED wall optimized for high-speed photography, and an in-house fabrication workshop. This integration of technologies allows them to create shots that were previously impossible or prohibitively expensive.
Virtual Production Setup
Their LED wall setup includes ROE Black Onyx 2 panels with 2.8mm pixel pitch
Ceiling-mounted ROE CB5 tiles with 5mm pixel pitch
Moveable floater panels for reflection control
Brompton SX40 processing optimized for high-speed shooting
Behind The Technology
At the heart of The Garage's operation is precision and repeatability. Their robotic camera systems are synchronized with practical effects and virtual production elements, all controlled by a master clock system.
The funny thing is the heart of this whole place is like the master clock that ties all the stuff together is super boring. But it honestly empowers us to do so much stuff.
Innovation Through Necessity
The studio has developed numerous custom solutions to meet unique production challenges:
Custom-built liquid-cooled LED lights that are flicker-free up to 100,000 frames per second
In-house fabrication of specialized rigs for specific shots
Integration of virtual production with robotic camera movements
Full-Service Kitchen
The studio features a professional-grade kitchen with restaurant-quality equipment, including a commercial gas range
Professional ventilation system
Commercial dishwasher
Modular setup allowing for brand-specific equipment integration
Fabrication Workshop
Their in-house workshop includes a CNC mill for custom metal fabrication
Electronic development facilities
Dedicated technical staff for creating custom rigs
Organized ticketing system for managing technical requests
Having an on-site workshop has proven crucial for maintaining production efficiency.
It's super useful having everything here in house because oftentimes the clients don't decide on what they want until the last second. To be able to do things on the fly and make adjustments by having a shop in house is super useful."
Virtual Production Evolution
The Garage has adapted virtual production technology for commercial workflows, using smaller LED walls optimized for product shots.
For us, like this scale is pretty great and the need to basically try to control the scenario because we're doing a lot of food and food could really melt in the sunshine. To bring the location in here is awesome.
Client Collaboration
The studio has built strong relationships with major brands like Pepsi, Jack Daniel's, and Victoria's Secret, who trust them to push creative boundaries.
They'll actually have us do R&D in house as part of the project. How do we push those further? They get to see things that they'd never imagined their product could do.
In July, we had a one-on-one with Steve, where we dove deeper into The Garage.
What's Next
The studio continues to explore new frontiers in virtual production, including:
High-speed still photography synchronized with LED walls
Advanced networking technologies like SMPTE 2110
New workflows optimized for commercial production timelines
The Bottom Line
By combining robotics, virtual production, and practical effects under one roof, The Garage has created a unique pipeline for producing high-end commercials that push creative boundaries while maintaining efficiency.
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