Live FX Powers The Omnia Immersive Art Experience

Interview By Lou Wallace

OMNIA is an 11,000 ft² immersive journey through the mind of artist Mikael B, spread across five distinct rooms. The challenge was to create a seamless transition between traditional physical art (acrylics and spray paint) and monumental, living digital environments.

I spoke with Theis Emma Berthelsen, Technical Director for the project, who was responsible for leading the teams implementation the media server architecture and digital systems. Her focus was on translating Mikael B’s artistic vision into a high-performance, stable technical solution capable of running for months. She managed system arcitecture; building the digital backbone required for the large-scale immersive room, calibration, projection mapping, and operational oversight, as well as technical content supervision. 

A “Zero-Fail” Deployment

The project reached its critical moment during the final installation phase. Following months of meticulous hardware selection and system design, the team faced a “zero-fail” timeline: they took possession of the venue just six days before the exhibition’s debut.

The challenge was to convert a vacant shell into a high-end, fully immersive art experience in record time. Because of Emma and her team’s rigorous pre-show testing and strategic planning, the installation over came external delays and transforming the space into a fully operational environment exactly on schedule.

“We used Assimilate Live FX as the media servers for the most technically demanding rooms because of its ability to handle massive resolutions with proven stability,” says Emma.

1. The Mirror Room (Infinite Awakening)

In this room, a sense of infinity is created using reflective visuals. Visitors enter a space featuring two large Dicolor AF V3 1.9mm pixel pitch LED walls, each 6×3 meters in the far end. All other surfaces are covered in mirrors, reflecting and extending the art in every direction creating an infinite calm meditative space to get lost in.

• Hardware: The Live FX media server featured an AMD Threadripper CPU with 256GB RAM and an NVIDIA RTX A6000 GPU.
• Live FX  allowed for easy mapping and playback two 4K ProRes videos with synced with an independent audio track, fed via a NovaStar MX2000 processor to the Dicolor LED walls.

2. The Immersive Room 2 (Book of Life)

As the exhibition’s centerpiece, this room makes visitors feel as if they are standing inside a canvas as it is being painted.

• The Display: A 360° projection environment using seven Panasonic RQ15 4K DLP projectors covering three walls and the floor. The fourth wall is mirrored, doubling the perceived size of the space.
• Mapping & Playback: All projectors were mapped using Visual Software Suite 2.0. Once the physical mapping was complete, a digital replica of the room—with all seven outputs—was created within Live FX as a 1:1 pixel-perfect surface. Using a sphere projection within Live FX Studio, the team could precisely adjust projection height and direction.
• The Resolution: 12K 360-degree video converted to NotchLC.
• Throughput: To handle the massive data load, the team utilized two Blackmagic DeckLink 8K Pro cards in a single Live FX Studio machine. Genlock was applied across both cards to ensure all seven projectors acted as a single, fluid canvas without “tearing” or frame-sync issues.
• Color Mastery: Having a full grading suite available within the media server allowed for real-time color tweaking during the initial setup to fine-tune the experience.

Operational Excellence & Reliability

One of the most impressive feats of the installation is its autonomy:

• Uptime: 11 hours a day, 6 days a week.
• Automation: The show is 99% automated. With “Auto-play on Load” enabled in Live FX, the team used Windows Task Scheduler to launch the software every morning. A simple script closed the application each evening, ensuring a fresh memory state for the next day’s operation.
• Stability: Despite the high resolution and multiple outputs, the system maintained peak performance with no stuttering or frame drops, even after a 72-hour constant-run stress test.

Other Elements of OMNIA

OMNIA elevates the “immersive” concept by combining textures, art forms, and mediums into a coherent universe.

• Hidden Spectrum: Features UV-reactive paintings where hidden layers are revealed via pulsating UV light.
• The Traditional Gallery: Showcasing Mikael B’s original physical works.
• Matter in Motion: A separate space using mirrors and two Panasonic RQ15 4K projectors to extend artwork into an infinite horizon. This setup is powered by Panasonic’s FMP20 Media Processor.

The technical implementation of OMNIA demonstrated the power of cooperative engineering work that utilized advanced technology solutions to connect the two art forms of fine art and cinema. FilmGEAR provided all necessary infrastructure and top-quality equipment to support the artistic vision at full breadth. The project needed close collaboration between Technical Production Manager Miki Geil who managed all physical equipment distribution and operational activities and Technical Director Theis Emma Berthelsen who built the complete digital system and media server system. The project gained strength through its core alliance with Assimilate’s Live FX for instant cinematic playback and Panasonic who delivered precise optical equipment and processing capabilities which maintained exhibition stability.

About Theis Emma Berthelsen

Emma is an Immersive Technical Director and VFX/VP Supervisor with over a decade of expertise in real-time engines and large-scale system integration. Holding an M.Sc. in Medialogy, she has established a reputation for bridging the gap between cinematic storytelling and cutting-edge technology for major studios like Amazon, NBC Universal, and Netflix. Her recent credits include The Helicopter Heist and The Secrets We Keep.

As a freelance ICVFX specialist and creative technologist, she specializes in engineering robust technical ecosystems—from LED volumes to real-time holographic showcases—dedicated to solving the intricate challenges of modern virtual production and interactive media.

About Assimilate & Live FX

Assimilate’s Live FX provides filmmakers with an all-in-one toolset for live compositing, LED-wall staging, and real-time VFX. By unifying camera tracking, projection mapping, lighting control, and recording into one platform, Live FX accelerates creative decision-making, reduces turnaround time, and enhances in-camera storytelling.

Assimilate also develops a full suite of post-production tools, including:

• Live FX Studio – live compositing, projection mapping, DMX lighting, and keying
• Live Assist – multi-cam VTR for video assist with green-screen support
• Live Looks – live grading and instant look creation with Scratch integration
• Scratch VR – advanced on-set and post tools for any camera format (2D/3D/VR)
• Play Pro Studio – professional player for VFX reviews, ProRes RAW QC, and transcoding

Assimilate tools are trusted worldwide by DITs and post artists for stability, speed, and flexibility.Learn more at www.assimilateinc.com.