Virtual Production Studios Network

Project reference nº: 2021-1-DK01-KA220-HED-000023130 Funded By the European Union, carried by an institution consortium comprised by: VIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE; STICHTING BREDA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES; NORD UNIVERSITET & INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DO CAVADO E DO AVE. Status: Ongoing. Role: Staff Member

Virtual Production (VP) is technology that moves filmmaking into a digital space by creating ultra-realistic digital backdrops, allowing scenes to convincingly be created from assembled parts. This process makes film, game, and art creation more affordable while also allowing for cooperation across great distances and is poised to revolutionize the industries attendant to each of these diverse forms. VP can also allow teams to fully visualize a filmic output during the production itself as opposed to being a function of the editing phase as has traditionally been the case. The shift has been pronounced in other media formats where we have seen drastic changes in the production processes, as well as dissemination viability of a number of media projects made possible by advances in technology.

When educators from highlighted programs are given access to a VP studio and become aware of its capabilities they will be able to craft specialized courses and materials that fit the demands of their educational goals and structures, informing a future generation of creatives and creating the base understanding of a platform that can offer far more connectivity and flexibility in pursuit of the perfect shot. This is particularly relevant now, when due to Covid-19 there is a visible tendency of companies and studios to hire talents remotely, therefore investing less in training them in the house, as a result creating higher need of training with new emerging technologies at HEIs.

Topics addressed by this project:
– Creating new, innovative or joint curricula or courses
– Digital content, technologies and practices
– Cooperation between educational institutions and business

The goal is to prepare students to engage with Virtual Production upon graduation, but also to determine the best strategy for VP studios moving forward. The high cost of building a VP studio would seem to suggest that they be regional or partnered investments that service a wide range of customers, but the methods for enacting such a program are as of yet untested. This project will build networks between creative and technical educations to prepare for the role of VPS among media industries and their attendant educational structures.
Target groups:

1. Educational and professional training coordinators and teachers
Teachers and course coordinators of educational institutions in creative industries will have access to structured market research and analysis, hands-on experiences and well-developed teaching and training curriculums relevant for Virtual Production Studios implementation in their facilities which can be easily integrated in their teaching pipelines. Here is the output for theteacher’s workshop:

2. Students and graduates
Students from creative industries in Europe will be taught the relevant theoretical and practical information needed
regarding how best to use VP. Here is a behind the scene of a film VP Stage at Breda University of Applyed Sciences:

3. Industry sector
Different businesses in the creative industries (animation, gaming, film, digital media) will be indirectly impacted by the VPSN project. There will be an increasing number of students and graduates possessing awareness and practical skills in virtual production studios which will help to foster innovative production practices.