Category: Penrose Studios

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The VR Job Hub: Unity, Penrose Studios & Sanzaru Games

The virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) industries are wonderfully diverse when it comes to the job roles available, always looking to hire the best talent to work on exciting projects. Whether you’ve been an avid fan of the tech for a while or are already involved in some way, today’s VR Job Hub has plenty of new roles which can help you become more involved and shape VR/AR’s future.

Location Company Role Link
Bellevue, WA Unity Software Engineer, XR Click Here to Apply
Bellevue, WA Unity XR Interaction Developer Click Here to Apply
San Francisco, CA Unity Lead, AR/VR Partners Click Here to Apply
San Francisco, CA Penrose Studios Mobile VFX Artist Click Here to Apply
San Francisco, CA Penrose Studios Mobile Shader Writer Click Here to Apply
San Francisco, CA Penrose Studios Software Engineer Click Here to Apply
San Francisco, CA Penrose Studios Tech Program Manager Click Here to Apply
San Francisco, CA Penrose Studios Dev Ops Engineer Click Here to Apply
San Francisco, CA Penrose Studios Director of Marketing Click Here to Apply
San Francisco, CA Penrose Studios Network Engineer Click Here to Apply
San Francisco, CA Penrose Studios CG Modeler Click Here to Apply
Dublin, CA Sanzaru Games Rendering Core Technology Engineer Click Here to Apply
Dublin, CA Sanzaru Games Junior Gameplay Engineer Click Here to Apply
Dublin, CA Sanzaru Games Producer Click Here to Apply
Dublin, CA Sanzaru Games Level Designer Click Here to Apply
Dublin, CA Sanzaru Games Systems Designer Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).

We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.

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Penrose Studios Raises Another $10 Million for VR Animation and Storytelling

Having announced an $8.5 million seed investment back in March 2016, VR animation firm Penrose Studios is adding another $10 million to the pile for its Series A investment.

Led by TransLink Capital, the round also saw participation by SalesForce founder and CEO Marc Benioff, artist will.i.am, Korea Telecom, Co-Made, Sway Ventures, 8VC, and Suffolk Equity. The investment brings the company’s total fundraising to some $18.5 million.

Penrose says the investment will be used to grow the company and continue production of VR content and specialized tools for building VR films better and faster. While Penrose hasn’t yet revealed any AR content, the investment announcement hints that the studio is also looking in that direction.

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The studio’s debut film was The Rose and I (April 2016), which was quickly followed up by Allumette (October 2016); both of which have received generally good marks from reviewers on Steam and Oculus.

The studio’s latest work is Arden’s Wake. Though not yet available to the public, two chapters have already been shown: The Prologue and Tide’s Fall.

The post Penrose Studios Raises Another $10 Million for VR Animation and Storytelling appeared first on Road to VR.

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VR Animation Company Penrose Studios Raises $10m in Seed Funding Round

Penrose Studios, the award-winning team behind virtual reality (VR) animations like Allumette and Arden’s Wake has announced the closure of a new funding round, securing the company $10 million.

Allumette

Led by TransLink Capital, the Series A round included a number of new and returning investors such as entrepreneur and SalesForce founder and CEO Marc Benioff, Grammy-award winning artist and VR creator will.i.am, Korea Telecom and Co-Made. Returning investors include Sway Ventures, 8VC, and Suffolk Equity.

“In what is still an early form of storytelling and entertainment, the Penrose team has cracked the formula to create VR stories and experiences everyone can enjoy,” said Jay Eum, co-founder and managing director at TransLink Capital. “The company’s unique technology paired with the beauty of its work speak for themselves. We’re proud to work with the team and Penrose leadership to bring more VR entertainment to audiences around the world, especially in Asia.”

Penrose Studios most recent project is Arden’s Wake, which includes two installments, The Prologue and Tide’s Fall. Arden’s Wake: The Prologue premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2017 with Tide’s Fall, premiering at at the same festival in April and features Academy Award-winning actress Alicia Vikander and world-renowned actor Richard Armitage.

“VR continues to be a breakthrough form of entertainment for all ages,” said Eugene Chung, Penrose Studios founder and CEO. “As we participate in taking this new form of storytelling to the next level, we’re proud to work with a great group of partners and investors to help us get there and continue to stand out and keep our momentum within the industry.”

Penrose Studios will use the funding round capital to continue its work in VR and augmented reality (AR), whilst continuing to grow and innovate in the sector. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Penrose Studios, reporting back with details of Arden’s Wake: Tide’s Fall public launch when it happens.

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Google, Epic Games and More Added to VRDC Line-Up

VRDC, the virtual reality (VR) exclusive spin-off from the Game Developers Conference (GDC), is set to take place in San Francisco, 19th – 20th March 2018. VRFocus has already reported on the appearance of Polyarc, developers of everybody’s favourite virtual rodent, and now another selection of big names can be added to the list.

Moss screenshotDavid Bond and Brian Pullen of Google will host a talk called Designing Human Avatars for Virtual Reality, in which the pair will discuss the lessons they learned designing avatars for YouTube VR, and beyond. The intention of the talk is for attendees to learn about emerging best practices in designing avatars for VR contexts, and come away with an appreciation of what doesn’t work in VR, and why.

Addressing the growing trend of animated VR short stories, Devon Penney of Penrose Studios will lead a session entitled Water Simulation and Rendering in the VR Film, Arden’s Wake. Arden’s Wake is a VR film that takes place in an ocean world where action is both above and below the surface of the water. This lecture will describe volume rendering solutions for murky underwater environments with spotlights shining through water. Also, the film has many interaction effects on the ocean surface, from characters splashing in the water to boats causing wakes across large distances. Penrose Studios developed a shallow water solver that gave them compelling effects with fast simulation times, and this lecture will share the solver architecture, methods for modelling collision objects, and a foam solver that adds detail to the simulation.

Arden's WakeThe final new addition to the line-up comes from Drifter Entertainment and Epic Games, wherein Shen-Ming Spurgeon and Wyeth Johnson, respectively, will offer a tutorial session entitled Visual Effects Bootcamp: How VR is Going to Break All the Rules in VFX. This talk will be an introduction to content development from the point of view of a visual effects artist, exploring what real-time VFX looks like in a VR environment, as well as discussing the limitations, sacrifices, and ultimately, the collaboration necessary to achieve success while working in VR.

VRDC will take place next month and VRFocus will be in attendance. Make sure you stay tuned for all the latest details direct from the show floor.