Yuri Kostenko is the head of Kyiv-based creative studio Front Pictures that is focused on delivering immersive multimedia solutions for marketing and show business around the globe. These guys are all about innovations and aren’t interested in ideas that have been already realized. Keep reading for useful and interesting insights!
Lumen: How did Front Pictures evolve over 15 years of development?
Yuri: Front Pictures was founded in 2003 as a 3D graphics and visualization studio with just five people on board.
In 2005, we got our first project in show business. The task was to create content for a record breaking 60x8m screen at Djuice Nokia Video Drive party. That project was a turning point for us. When we saw our visuals on such a huge screen, we realized that there was no way back. No small screens anymore! We focused on production of video graphics for concerts, parties, and corporate events. At that time, Ukraine was a perfect market. The event business was booming. Clients were looking for new forms of entertainment and were eager to experiment with new visual and interactive technologies.
Quite soon we realized that if we wanted to create graphics for unconventional screens, we needed to become experts in video hardware and software. After exploring solutions available on the market at that time, we understood that none of them was providing us with enough creative freedom. And we started to develop our own media server. In 2007, we did our first event with the help of our Screenberry media server.
We also started to experiment with interactive solutions. In 2009, the experiments in this area led us to the creation of the multimedia music instrument with tangible interface i.m. table, interactive video wall Motion-e-motion and big touch walls and touch bars. The i.m.table operated by Ukrainian musician Eugene Filatov (aka The Maneken) got wide recognition at the time. A video of his performance scored 2.4 million views on YouTube.
In 2010, we also started to work with dome projection. We created a small revolution on this market with our single server & auto-calibration approach. We have already installed more than 150 dome systems across the world.
In 2014, we started to manufacture domes for simulators and planetariums.
In 2017, we launched Screenberry Media Server as a stand-alone product.
Our team includes 45 people. It consists of video designers, software developers, engineers, fabricators, and managers. The people are our most precious asset.
Lumen: I know you have 3 offices in Kiev! Why? And who’s your team?
Yuri: Сreating complex intellectual products needs fast cooperation among all of the team members. So, ideally, everything needs to be concentrated under one roof. But some processes cannot coexist, for instance dome fabrication and video content development. Our solution was to have separate buildings for different offices and production shops which are located within a minute walk from each other.
We have an administrative & development office, a creative and video studio, and a manufacturing facility that includes an engineering office and a warehouse.
Lumen: As a CEO, how do you choose people to work with? Describe your criteria!
Yuri: Aggressive head hunting is not our method. People find us in different ways. Sometimes they approach me after my speaches or write to me on Facebook. Quite often we receive resumes through our corporate email. It seems that Front Pictures has become a dream workplace for a lot of people! 🙂 I do my best to meet personally with everyone who is interested. I am looking for people who have not only high professional skills but also passion about what he or she is doing and a desire to tackle challenges and explore new frontiers.
Lumen: You said you’re interested only in ideas that haven’t been implemented before. What are the 3 innovative solutions you’re especially proud of?
Yuri: It may seem that everything has already been invented. But in my opinion, the things which are waiting to be invented outnumber those which people have already discovered.
Nowadays, the AV industry provides one of the most fertile soils for innovations. It’s been booming for the past two decades. New software and hardware is constantly emerging allowing you to do something that seemed impossible a day before.
Front Pictures was among the first in the world to make touch tables and walls years before touchscreen phones and tablets emerged. We also did motion controllers before IT-giants got interested in this technology.
In Ukraine, we were among the first who started to do architectural mapping, create stage graphics for performances and concerts. With every next project, we strived to push the boundaries, make something unique, and explore new territories.
Among the three projects we are most proud of, I would mention:
Multimedia A-gallery at Kyiv’s Art Mall which we engineered and installed in 2014. It features a record number of 52 projectors connected to a single computer. The system plays back a seamless 47,344 x 800 px video. The project was recognized as a significant achievement by the AV industry media and its leaders.
Freckled Sky on America’s Got Talent 2015 Premiere. In 2015, we collaborated with Freckled Sky to create a unique Rain Dance performance that combined projection on a water screen and dancing. It received a golden buzzer treatment at America’s Got Talent and collected millions of views and thousands of “wow” comments on YouTube and Facebook.
Space 360 – Spherical Projection Theater. In 2017, we engineered and installed a projection system at the full spherical theater Space 360. This project is a significant step towards the future of cinematography. More than 50 media outlets published news about the theater. A video posted by Tech Insider scored 6 million views.
Lumen: What is the worst job you have done?
Yuri: We treat every project as a very important event for our clients. And we do our best to make it creatively and technically superior. We have a plan A, plan B, and sometimes plan C to make the show happen in any circumstances. We know that failure is not an option.
Lumen: After watching breathtaking videos from the spherical projection theater that you’ve created in South Korea, I can’t stop fantasizing about the future of cinematic experience. Steven Spielberg said: ‘We’re never going to be totally immersive as long as we’re looking at a square’. What are your predictions about fulldome cinema and immersive storytelling in general?
Yuri: I completely agree with Mr Spielberg. The world has already entered the era of frameless formats. Modern digital video technology is erasing this technical limitation which we call a frame.
Today, anything can be your screen: a sphere, dome, building, or water. This process is unstoppable and we will soon see more spectacular examples of new “frameless” formats. The era of immersive storytelling has just begun.
We are proud to be on the cutting edge of this trend with Space 360 theater which can be considered as a prototype of 360 theaters of the future. At this place you can immersed into the virtual world without any VR headsets.
Lumen: You already sell relatively cheap ($11,000) yet high-quality turnkey dome solutions. How did you manage to decrease the price so dramatically, while competitors offer similar technologies for $250,000?
Yuri: Our journey into the fulldome industry started in 2010 when we got several event projects where we needed to deliver a dome projection. In the beginning, we considered that spherical screen was just another peculiar surface for projection mapping. But when we explored the subject we found out that fulldome is actually an established industry.
We understood that majority of planetariums use cluster (multi-computer) systems which are expensive, bulky, and energy consuming. They were also utilizing costly simulation grade projectors in order to achieve a precise image alignment. But despite all these costly technologies, the image on the dome was not actually so great because it’s almost impossible to align projectors perfectly using manual calibration (stitching projectors together).
Our solution was a single server multi-projector system which ran on commodity computer hardware and could achieve superior picture quality even with consumer grade projectors thanks to fully automatic calibration.
In 2012-2014, we started to offer clients affordable projection systems for fixed and mobile planetariums. We developed a whole ecosystem with content rights management and a range of applications for astronomy, sonic visualizations, presentations, and gaming under the dome.
Our next step is to propose to the industry an open platform where not only Front Pictures but also developers from across the world can adapt existing apps or develop new applications for fulldome format.
Lumen: Let’s talk a bit about your personality. You seem to be an iron man who flies all over the world and always does his best. Are you a perfectionist?
Yuri: Yes, I am a perfectionist. I think, it’s impossible reach an outstanding result if you do not have this personality trait.
Some people say that perfectionism is a negative feature because it reduces productivity. But I have learned to dose my strive for excellence. I delegate my work to other people if I see that they can do it better than me. This helps me focus on more important tasks where my perfectionism is really needed.
Lumen: How do you measure success?
Yuri: In my opinion, professional success comes when you can convert your hobby into a business. In other words, you do what you love and you love what you do.
Lumen: I’m sure that after your loud show with ‘Freckled Sky on America’s Got Talent’ you have a lot of new clients and projects. You must be a guru of time-management! What does your normal day look like? Guide me through your schedule.
Yuri: I usually work 12-15 hours a day / six days a week. I do not consider myself a guru of time management. If I were one, I would definitely work less. I often get so carried away by some idea or project that I cannot stop working on it until deep into the night.
After Freckled Sky’s performance on America’s Got Talent, there were hundreds of requests from across the world. Most of the requests were directly addressed to our partner Val Syganevich who produced this act. At Front Pictures, there is a client service team which handles requests, so I was not alone.
Lumen: Which new media-related books can you recommend?
Yuri: I would not recommend studying media from books. I mostly consume information from the Internet and professional conferences. The multimedia business is developing so fast that when someone writes a book it is going to get outdated by the time of its publication. I think it’s better to track the works of leading creative studios and communicate with the professional community.
Lumen: It’s always important to know the field you’re working within. How much time do you spend scrolling through news about what your colleagues are doing all over the world?
Yuri: I spend around two hours a day scrolling through the news and studying the trends. My Facebook feed is the key source of information for me. I really love Facebook. It makes it easy to follow the right people and companies, immediately watch case studies, and save interesting links for the future.
Lumen: What inspires you?
Yuri: I am inspired by people who do things which seemed impossible. Another source of inspiration is working with people who sincerely love what they do.
Lumen: Share the most exciting Front Pictures’ plans!
Yuri: We have just completed a very exciting performance project in the US. But I can’t say anything about it now. It’ll be public at the end of May. So stay tuned!
