The Evolution of SBL in Virtual Reality

KOCHI, India - April 28, 2017 - PRLog -- 2016 was a landmark year for SBL Knowledge Services Ltd, CEO Mr Gopakumar Pillai came up with the idea to expand the existing post production VFX wing into the rapidly advancing world of  Virtual Reality. The rest as they say, is "history".

Gopa says "SBL VR was envisioned from our very successful VFX model for post production services to keep up with modern times and technology. Our endeavor was to setup the first outsourcing hub in India for VR stitch, stabilization and paint. Almost six months down the line with a great team of industry veterans, talented artists and the most advanced software to boot we are almost there but the journey continues. The next giant leap will be towards an end to end pipeline for immersive and augmented experiences in partnership with leading international VR companies and studios worldwide. Quality, excellence, value and innovation will take precedence in positioning SBL VR & VFX as No 1 in the domain for customers and partners alike"

The beginning was no cake walk. To be the best you needed the best artists in this highly creative world and then there was the challenge of getting together a good pipeline to ensure quality delivery. SBL has always prided itself at being the best in whatever we undertake.

Enter Tom Sinnott, VFX & VR veteran for over 3 decades of experience who joined hands with Griboshin Vellanthrov whose wide ranging experience was gained at the grassroots with Technicolor, PSYOP, Legend3D, Digital Art Media, Famous Studios, Prime Focus Ltd etc. As Tom put it "I wanted a team behind the scenes, in response to Hollywood's expanding need for VR and VFX services, who combined their artistic skills with the finest software available and then innovate to get the best output in the still emerging industry where the leading companies were looking for ways to manage the footage and get the best 360 immersive experience." and that is exactly what SBL VR has managed to achieve in the past twelve months.

An excited Grib said "The SBL VFX/VR facility was started with a vision to create a strong empowered team with a good pipeline and high compliance standards. As easy as it may look to put a team together the dynamics involved in aligning teamwork and productivity is quite another.

After a lot of R&D on the pipeline we partnered with the The Foundry to use Nuke/CaraVR as our primary tool for all VFX prep and VR related services we provide. The Nuke/Cara VR pipeline has enabled us to uniquely position ourselves to do a wide range of activities  (stabilizing/stitching/color/comp/prep etc) using one toolset, simplifying our work-flow and making it more efficient to maintain the highest quality standards . Our clients play a big role in this endeavor, affirming the need for the highest security and compliance standards.     This has been an exciting start to a well thought out execution plan, having delivered some of the most challenging VR work in the industry to our clients while constantly improving on our working model and delivery standards . I look forward to some exciting times ahead with our new facility at Cochin. Kudos to team SBL…."

The 300+ seat ultra modern, state of the art facility in the beautiful coastal city of Kochi in India houses the production house of SBL VR where projects are turned out 24/7 by teams (Stitch, Roto, Paint, Compositing, Supervisors and Managers) working in shifts - creativity flows, ideas are born and the camaraderie is special.

But it was not all smooth sailing when we started a year back. As Abhilash Pillai, Manager (Marketing and Business Development) recounts : "VR provides huge opportunities in terms of business potential but being in the emerging stages the challenges are many. When SBL VR went live a big question mark was "how" to market and more importantly "whom", identifying the niche audience & clientele we wanted to work with and whom we could support and vice-versa. With the gamut of services and talent available in our setup, the response was overwhelming and it has been a wonderful experience talking to industry experts and newbies alike, understanding their business and explaining ours. Information Security, high-end quality and ultra quick turnarounds were high on our customers priority lists and we are happy to have exceeded expectations on all fronts. The next move is to the big league where we match steps with the leaders in the exciting VR world - customers, partners and the fantastic team that we have will play a pivotal role in SBL reaching the pinnacle and staying there."

We have contributed "behind the scenes" with JAUNT VR in the making of the highly acclaimed "Invisible" Stereo VR series and many other prestigious projects, raising the bar high. Infosec adhered and enforced with ISO 27001 certification and fully compliant to MPAA regulations, we look to expand our client base across geographies. In addition to the high quality of our work, the pricing is affordable which we achieve by passing on benefits through process engineering, location and workflow efficiencies.

For more details, visit - http://vr.sblcorp.com/