UNIT, one of the U.K.âs leading post-production and creative services companies, has launched UNIT Effects, a new in-house visual effects division, which provides a full range of 2D and 3D effects across all genres from commercials and HD TV productions to 2K or 4K resolution films.
The division will be overseen by UNIT co-founder Roland Woolner, formerly joint-md of vfx company Split Image, who becomes head of UNIT Effects. Split Image was recently acquired by UNIT, making it the U.K.âs leading Final Cut finishing house.
UNIT also announces the appointment of Charlie Cassidy as the companyâs lead vfx artist. Cassidy will be responsible for overseeing all of the divisionâs visual effects projects. He joins UNIT from Triangle Post Production, where he led a team of designers and animators creating idents and graphics for a number of broadcast and advertising clients including MTV, Carlsberg and T-mobile.
David Peto, md, UNIT, said, âUNIT has experienced incredible growth since its inception in 2006 -- starting as a small Final Cut Pro post-house to securing a major VC investment enabling us to double in size and offer clients a broader spectrum of services. UNIT are continually striving to move forward and this expansion ensures our place at the forefront of the industry.â
âUNIT Effects offers a high quality visual effects facility to all new and existing clients,â added Woolner. âWorking on shared storage at online resolution, HD or SD, we can achieve amazing results for a diverse range of effects projects at competitive prices and to tight deadlines. Charlie has a wealth of experience and knowledge in visual effects and he will be a valuable addition to the team.â
The new division includes facilities with workstations boasting Shake, XSI, After Effects, Combustion, Cinema 4D, PFTrack and Matchmover. The department will also be available for dedicated effects spots and shot-by-shot work with a fully HD-capable workflow and HD monitoring in all suites.
UNIT has already completed a number of visual effects projects for Canon, Clinique, Estee Lauder and Shell. in addition to music videos for Meckâs âFeels Like Homeâ and Soulseekerzâs âParty for the Weekend.â
UNIT (www.unit.tv), founded in May 2006 by entrepreneurs David Peto, Tom Bridges and Roland Woolner, is Sohoâs only all-online, all-Apple, all-HD finishing house. UNIT is the first of its kind in the U.K. and continues to lead the way in Final Cut editing. The company offers a full spectrum of post and creative service solutions including editing, online, grading, audio and visual effects.
UNIT's clients are from all sectors: from commercials to promos; from documentaries to features -- notable names include the BBC, HSI, National Geographic, Channel 5, Academy, Jetix, Believe Media and CNN.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
