Context

Virtual Production (VP) is reshaping creative industries and education [1] and is often tied to the blending of digital and physical worlds on a single stage [2]. For educational institutions training future film practitioners, integrating VP into curriculums is essential to prepare students for the evolving industry demands in this area [3]. At its core, VP uses tools like LED screens, game engines and motion tracking to create dynamic digital backgrounds that replace traditional green screens. VP has many benefits, e.g., directors can visualise, edit, and shoot scenes in real-time, merging acting with virtual sets [2], like the one used in the Fallout TV series (2024), streamlining pre-production workflows, enhancing multidisciplinary team collaboration and others yet to be unveiled [4]. However, it also poses challenges, e.g., its technical nature can cause actor-director dialogue disruptions which affect performances [5], difficulties in articulating stage lighting with light emitted by led volumes [6], and, as VP gains adoption in the industry, it becomes harder for the education sector to keep up with its complexities and costs [3], not to mention the shortage of skilled workforce [7].

Bridging VP to Higher Education: The VPSN project

Beginning in September 2022, a consortium research project, dubbed Virtual Production Studios Network (VPSN), involving Denmark’s VIA University College, Netherlands Breda University of Applied Sciences, Norway’s Nord University, and Portugal’s Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, set out to address the previous gap by providing training for educators and students to prepare them for this new tech-driven, creative, movie making landscape. To achieve this, VPSN organised blended-learning courses, culminating in intensive workshops hosted at Breda University Applied Science’s (BUAS) Extended Reality Stage, a cutting-edge space equipped with an LED volume, Unreal Engine integration, and motion tracking, among other amenities depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1. VP and traditional film making equipment at BUAS XR Stage (left to right): high-performance digital video cameras with motion capture movement synced to UNREAL scenarios in real time; traditional lighting; traditional stage platforms and props; LED panels at the top and sides to project ambient light from the virtual scenario; d) main LED volume; brain bar, the computing power to control and monitor the previous components.

These workshops consisted of blended learning Breda´s staff hands-on training sessions to help teams of educators master the basics of VP technology and its workflows, so teachers could, in turn, guide students’ training. The online portion consisted of foundational resources, such as templates, scripts, and guides to help participants engage in pre-production work, notably, educators and students were encouraged to collaborate in teams and learn using exercises to develop storyboards, timesheets, breakdown sheets, and to build 3D virtual environments using the Unreal Game Engine to create virtual set pre-visualisations. The on-site workshop offered the opportunity to experiment with high-end equipment and to shoot small, short movies based on the previous pre-production work, as depicted in Figure 2.

Figure 2. On-site VPSN workshops: teachers training (left, 2023), and students training (right, 2024).

VP’s Challenges in Higher Education

The workshops reinforced the earlier challenges faced by educational institutions, such as: keeping up with training expectations and the investment in equipment and time to learn [6]. Also, the workshops, and interviews in their aftermath with participants and experts in the field, helped unveil other unidentified problems. Educators and students noted that the on-site weeks’ worth of training was insufficient to grasp the VP skill set, as it spans from game engines to traditional and contemporary animation and filmmaking. Educators found that addressing VP technical demands without familiarity easily overshadows creative expression—a common pitfall when working with complex technologies. Another notable challenge is that many studios and professionals tend to protect proprietary VP techniques and avoid sharing know-how to stay competitive. This posture can undermine the advance of VP research. These challenges led us to some hypothetical solutions.

How to Address these Challenges

VP adoption in the educational sector can follow the VPSN’s sustainable approach, i.e. recognizing that full-scale is less feasible than gradual adoption, i.e., students’ first encounter with VP occurs in extra-curricular settings before they can advance their training in credit-bearing courses. Also, by scaffolding VP workflows across different curriculum stages, institutions can make VP more accessible while enabling students to balance technical learning with creativity. Institutions can consider partnerships with professional VP studios, allowing students occasional access to high-end equipment without the high investment costs. An alternative scheme, with greater potential to gain holistic VP knowledge, is to design a one-semester project-based curriculum where students enrol in industry VP-equipped studios. Ultimately, students and teachers can learn pre-production using online resources and obtain practical knowledge in hosted VP studios, through travels supported by Erasmus+ EU funding.

VP’s Game-Changing Role in Higher Education

Incorporating VP into higher education offers students an edge in diverse areas of knowledge, its real-time, interactive approach cultivates skills that traditional methods can’t match, and as industry adoption of VP continues to grow, so will the demand for VP-trained professionals. As such, the VPSN collaborative, resource-conscious approach can act as a blueprint for institutions intending to introduce VP in their curriculums. In a nutshell, by grounding students in the artistry and the technology of VP, we’re preparing the next generation of creators to be able to shape the future of visual media.

Bibliography

  1. Kavakli, Manolya, and Claudio Cremona. “The Virtual Production Studio Concept: An Emerging Game-Changer in Filmmaking.” In Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR), 29–37. IEEE Computer Society, 2022.
  2. Priadko, Oleksandr, and Maksym Sirenko. “Virtual Production: A New Approach to Filmmaking.” Bulletin of Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. Series in Audiovisual Art and Production 4 (2021): 52–58.
  3. Boutellier, Andreas, and Panagiotis Raptis. “Teaching Virtual Production: The Challenges of Developing a Formal Curriculum.” Film Education Journal 6, no. 2 (2023): 69–81. https://doi.org/10.14324/FEJ.06.2.01.
  4. Bodini, Anna, Aniruddha Manohar, Francesco Colecchia, et al. “Envisioning the Future of Virtual Production in Filmmaking: A Remote Co-Design Study.” Multimedia Tools and Applications 83 (2024): 19015–19039. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-023-16308-7.
  5. Chen, Mei. The Impact of Virtual Technology on Film and Television Performance: A Paradigm Shift in Performance from Green Screen to Virtual Production. Economic Society and Humanities 1, no. 6 (2024). Academic Publication House.
  6. Swords, Jon, and Natalie Willment. “The Emergence of Virtual Production: A Research Agenda.” Convergence 30, no. 5 (2024): 1557–1574. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565241253903.

Acknowledgements

Funded by the European Union. However, the views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or ERASMUS+. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Project: Virtual Production Studio Networks (VPSN) – 2022-1DK01-KA220-HED-000085785

José Raimundo holds a degree in Communication Design and a PhD in Digital Media. He is a guest adjunct professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave teaching disciplines in audiovisual and Design, namely 2D and 3D digital artwork and animation and their toolsets. and works in the disciplinary area of audiovisual, teaching computer-aided design for producing 2D and 3D digital artwork and animation. As a researcher, he developed a framework for designing and analysing games to cultivate creative literacy and is extending it to virtual production practices in animation using game engines.

Marta Madureira is a professor at the School of Design of IPCA – Polytechnic University of Cávado and Ave, in Portugal, teaching in the image areas and is the director of the Master in Illustration and Animation. She has a bachelor’s in Graphic Design and a Master’s in Image Design from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Porto, and is a Specialist in Audiovisual and Media – illustration stream. She is a collaborating member of ID+ The Research Institute for Design, Media and Culture, at CAOS group, and part of the organization of CONFIA, the International Conference on Illustration and Animation.

Diogo Bessa holds a degree in Communication Design from the Faculty of Fine Arts – University of Porto (FBAUP) and a master’s degree in Illustration and Animation from the School of Design — (ESD-IPCA). He teaches digital drawing, video, and motion graphics courses to undergraduate students in Graphic Design and Audiovisual Design at ESD-IPCA; and 3D Modelling and Animation courses at ISMAI. Currently, his main research interest lies in integrating the combinative hybridity of new digital media in pedagogical strategies aimed at boosting creativity in the field of animated cinema.