What does the technological evolution of a major digital media company look like?
TheSoul Publishing started over six years ago, much like other aspiring content creators did: with an idea. Of course, we also had a DSLR camera, a tripod, and two light sources. Still, innovative ideas, creative content, and openness to experimentation have grown TheSoul to its position today — with our portfolio of brands driving over 16 billion views per month.
Demand across the globe for original, entertaining, and positive content continues to increase. Simultaneously, new platforms and media offer additional engaging formats to test, namely VR, and the metaverse. As a result, we’re expanding our content production facilities to include the latest groundbreaking technology to match this demand.
TheSoul’s mission to further tap the power of emerging technologies has led to several global expansions, with our new studio in Budapest, Hungary, due to open in the fall. As the studio’s launch gets closer, we are looking forward to ensuring we continuously provide the most up-to-date and revolutionary technology to our innovative team members. We understand and greatly appreciate how their creativity has led to our incredible success, and we want to ensure we continue to provide every opportunity to help enhance their content creation even more! Their imaginations should be the only thing that limits what they can create.
The opening of a second super studio in Riga, Latvia, in 2021, which has aided in the growth of TheSoul’s Music division, is evidence of the success of these endeavors. You only need to contrast Riga’s cutting-edge audio hub with our initial audio recording setup, which involved recording sound in bathrooms and showers with carpets and egg boxes as temporary soundproofing materials, to understand how quickly our use of technology has advanced.
With the help of new software and hardware, our team’s capacity to create original production solutions has significantly improved. We developed a fully mobile wall system in Riga that enables a single location to house four different filming sets. Creating content is streamlined dramatically when combined with embedded ceiling lighting systems, with each transition taking less than fifteen seconds.
TheSoul’s Budapest production facility will concentrate on our existing brands, such as the worldwide sensation 5-Minute Crafts, which has already undergone a technological change in every aspect of production. The most significant adjustment was the purchase of 6K cameras, which enabled us to simultaneously shoot for multiple formats and adapt our content to the native aspect ratios of all of our digital distribution partners.
Additionally, the Budapest studio will house test projects utilizing cutting-edge VR, gaming, and animation technology. TheSoul is a firm believer in these technologies’ revolutionary potential to unleash our staff’s creativity and deliver audiences with consistently captivating content. There is already a demand for it, as our 360° VR videos on Bright Side have gained so much traction that they now have their own channel. Making VR content has been a welcome challenge that has allowed us to explore a completely new and distinctive animation style, and it’s been amazing to see the enthusiastic audience response.
Writing about these changes is one thing, but experiencing the results is another. To celebrate and highlight these technological evolutions, we invite everyone to see the technological changes in our latest video.
