Virtual Production Studio Operations : Join Mission Control for Virtual Filmmaking

What is Virtual Production (VP)

Virtual production combines physical and virtual filmmaking techniques to create cutting edge media. Teams use real-time 3D engines, like Unreal Engine, to create photorealistic sets, displaying them on LED walls behind physical sets.

This short video provides an overview of virtual production and In-Camera Visual Effects (ICVFX) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bErPsq5kPzE

What is the Brain Bar in VP?

The Brain Bar consists of a team of artists and engineers operating the equipment to ensure that the LED screens in Virtual Production are running smoothly eg. real-time image display on the LED, camera tracking, real time colour grading and compositing, and coordinates with the director and cinematographer to achieve the creative vision.

A brain bar is the nerve centre of virtual production - a dedicated team who have mastered both the creative and technical sides of bringing a scene to life. They are responsible for everything from content distribution, image manipulation, camera tracking, recording, and data visualization. It’s often referred to as ‘mission control’ or ‘volume operations’ due to its ability to bring stories to life using powerful technology.

AV8 Media is proud to announce a specialised course on Brain Bar operations for Virtual Production.

Course Overview

The course is designed to give local media practitioners the knowledge and abilities to be Real time 3D Artists capable of creating high quality digital assets for Virtual Production (VP) and to function as  Real Time 3D Operators capable of running a ‘Brain Bar’ to implement these  digital assets on VP shoots  

Learning Objectives

·       Gain a fundamental understanding of VP workflows

·       Create Environments  for VP in Unreal Engine

·       Oversee asset development in the context of In Camera Visual Effects (ICVFX)

·       Implement and Integrate VP assets in a real-world shoot

Skills built:

·       Content creation for VP in Unreal Engine

·       Digital Asset Development for In Camera VFX (ICVFX)

·       Calibrating and fine tuning of assets used in LED volumes

·       Camera Tracking and Lens Profiling

·       Effective Communication with technical and production crew on a VP production

Course Dates:

Course dates are to be announced. You can indicate your interest and we'll inform you once the schedule is available .

This course is supported by Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) with up to 90% course fee funding (excluding GST). More information is available here

Course Structure

In this course you will develop the talent required to successfully run virtual production operations for ICVFX in a virtual production volume.

You would begin with a tour of a virtual production facility, to understand the technology and applications of virtual production.

After this you spend 5 days learning Unreal Engine for virtual production from a team of Unreal Certified Instructors from Green Rain, who have a wealth of real-world credit on virtual productions, including several Netflix original series.

After this you’ll spend about 20 days working in teams to develop assets that will be used in an actual VP shoot. 

During this period, you would be mentored by industry professionals with regular check-ins to ensure you’re on the right track. A Discord or Slack community will also be set up to help handle questions and technical issues.

After developing your assets you’ll put them to the test by implementing them in an actual VP shoot, working with a VP venue and production crew to make them work in an actual production setting.

Course Outline

There are  5  main components to the training:

1.         Familarisation with Virtual Production and ICVFX (Half Day in person, Face to Face) session conducted at VP facility.

• Introduction to VP volume and ICVFX
• Role of the Brain Bar
• Purpose of the LED Wall
• Role of Unreal in VP

2.         Unreal Fundamentals (5 days conducted online, majority hands on)

Each online session will be approximately 3 hours. Sessions would be conducted mainly by Unreal Certified Instructors with real world VP experience.

• Intro to Unreal Editor
• Intro to Virtual Art Department
• Sequencer, Cinematics and Animation
• Lighting and Look development
• Worldbuilding

3.         Online Mentorship and Practice (20 days)

Online Mentorship would be conducted mainly by Aashish Vasudevan with 1 co instructor who is also an Unreal Authorised Instructor. Members of Green Rain’s VAD (Visual Asset Development) team may consult as well on a case-to-case basis based on the issues faced by the learners.

• Virtual Art Department VAD support
• Q&A
• Project Review
• 1:1 Mentor hour
• Previz

4.         Virtual Production (3 days face to face at a VP Facility, majority hands on)

• Introduction to ICVFX
• Calibration and Camera tracking
• Stage Operations
• Final project

Each team will spend 5 to 6 hours at the brain bar to deploy the digital assets they have produced during the mentorship phase onto the LED volume. Participants will communicate with the film crew and adjust the lighting and colours of the digital assets in a LED environment to meet production requirements. The final project produced is a recording captured in-camera of a VP scene shot against the digital assets.

5.         Virtual Production Post Training Support

• Slack / Discord community
• 1:1 Mentor hour
• Project Review

Dates and Attendance Requirements

Up to 90% course fee funding is applicable for local participants depending on the age of the applicant

https://form.jotform.com/243097693427467



Who should attend

Singaporeans/PRs with a prerequisite knowledge and understanding of VFX pipelines and basic understanding of CGI workflows looking to transition into a Virtual Production.

You do not need to have any prior experience using Unreal Engine, as we'll start with the basics in the online training sessions, which would prepare you for the in person virtual production workshop. However if you already have some Unreal experience it would be beneficial

Participants of the program should have the following:

• 3+ years of professional work experience
• Understanding of CGI pipelines
• Competency with at least one of the following: Unreal Engine, Maya, Max, Houdini, Unity, Cinema4D or equivalent DCC
• Showreel and work samples

You would need to submit an application listing your work experience, software competency and links to your showreels/work samples.  These would be used to assess your suitability for the course.

Technical Requirements

Learners should have their own computers capable of running Unreal Engine. These can bewither desktops or laptops.  If they do not own appropriate systems, we can recommend online cloud-based GPU systems for their work. These would cost approximately S$ 5 per hour and would be at the learners own cost.

Unreal system requirements can be found here

https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/unreal-engine/hardware-and-software-specifications-for-unreal-engine

About the instructors

Trainers are team members of Green Rain, India’s First Gold Tier Unreal Engine Training Centre, which has collaborated with partners like Netflix for training

The main instructors are

Karan Parikh

Karan is the founder and CEO of Green Rain Studios. He is an immersive technologist with expertise in real-time workflows.
He is India’s first Unreal authorized instructor and is a master mentor in Unreal Engine’s Virtual Production Fellowship program.

He has also conducted Unreal training for clients like

• DNEG
• Netflix
• WPP
• Al Jazeera
• Accenture
• Media Monks
  
  

Karan’s VP experience includes VP workflow design and implementation on productions like

• The Archies
• Yu Yu Hakusho
• Trial by Fire
• Choona,
• Mismatched - Season 2,
• Toothpari
• Kaala Paani

His training expertise combined with real world experience combined allow him to give practical insights into what the learners are doing and allows him to provide input on the feasibility of their ideas.

Karan is strongly focused on using technology to blur the lines between real and virtual worlds. His areas of expertise include virtual production, animation, games, XR, and simulations. His collaborative works have been displayed at some of the most prestigious art galleries, public spaces and museums such as Times Square in NYC, Artechouse in D.C., The Strong Museum of Play in Rochester NY.

Aashish Vasudevan

Aashish is an Unreal Authorized Instructor, FX artist and programmer. He has contributed to the Unreal pipeline for over 20 shows. This has given him real world experience with Unreal implementation that he is happy to share with learners.

He has also conducted Unreal training for clients like

• DNEG
• Netflix
• WPP
• Al Jazeera
• Accenture
• Media Monks

Aashish’s VP experience includes VP workflow design and implementation on productions like

• The Archies
• Yu Yu Hakusho
• Trial by Fire
• Choona,
• Mismatched - Season 2,
• Toothpari
• Kaala Paani

Like Karan, his combined teaching and practical experience give him the tools to really drill down to the essentials and give learners real world insight into their ideas and project suitability for use in VP.

He has a passion for developing interactive experiences and the tooling around them. He has worked with numerous game engines and technologies like Unreal Engine, Unity, and Openframeworks. He is curiosity-driven by nature and likes to dive headfirst into new technologies and solutions, always looking to push the envelope in terms of interactivity and visual fidelity. In addition, Aashish has also contributed to the creation of interactive amusement park dark rides, bringing his expertise to the world of immersive themed entertainment.

Additional Instructor Pool

Harsh Pandey

Harish is an integral part of Green Rain’s virtual production team. As Visual Asset Development Supervisor he oversees the creation of assets and environments for virtual production. Harsh specializes in building final pixel environments in Unreal and has nearly a decade and half of experience in animation and VFX.

Harsh would come in as needed to advise on the practical aspects of that the learners are doing and to troubleshoot issues they may face.

Manan Shastri

Manan is an Unreal Authorized Instructor at Green Rain Studios. Manan has a strong background in computer science and is currently focused on building games and interactive experiences for Fortnite using UEFN.

Manan is also an integral part of the Virtual Production team at Green Rain which mainly works on projects that utilize real-time camera tracking, ICVFX, Motion Capture, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality."

Sandra Kawar

Sandra is an Award-Winning Director | Unreal Authorized Instructor | Emmy Awards Judge | Judge at 3 Academy Qualifying Film Festivals | Mentor at International Games Programs and a Creative Consultant.

https://form.jotform.com/243097693427467