Virtual Production Week 2022

January 24 - 28

Around the globe in film and television studios of all sizes, virtual production is revolutionizing pipelines from previs to final pixels. Join us this week, as we celebrate its success with some of the industry's leading lights.

There'll be new content throughout the week, so be sure to check back every day!
 

 
Monday, January 24

Action design in Unreal - PROXi Virtual Production

Join Guy and Harrison Norris, co-founders of PROXi, as they show you how they are using cutting-edge virtual production techniques on films like The Suicide Squad for action design and techvis—faciliating a collaborative sandbox that enables every department to be involved in the creative process whenever they want to be.

Virtual Production Sizzle Reel 2022

We've been blown away by the amazing content filmmakers around the world have created with the help of virtual production techniques using Unreal Engine over the past year. Take a look!
 

The Virtual Production Field Guide
Download both free volumes of The Virtual Production Field Guide today! Get in-depth insights into how the technology is transforming the art and craft of filmmaking for entire film production crews, together with practical advice for using the techniques in your own production. 

 
Tuesday, January 25

Behind the scenes on Super Giant Robot Brothers! with Reel FX

This special behind-the-scenes presentation features never-before-seen footage from the new Netflix animated series Super Giant Robot Brothers!, produced by Reel FX. Hear from Academy-Award winning director Mark Andrews (Brave) how cutting-edge virtual production in Unreal Engine has transformed every phase of the production process—from early visualization to final renders—on this high-end action-comedy show.

Writing in Unreal | Tribeca

In November, Tribeca and Epic Games introduced Writing in Unreal,  a program designed to open new doors for independent filmmakers. Panel discussions included Fix it in Pre: A New Pipeline for Filmmaking; What You Write is What You See: A Case Study; A Cohesive Collaboration: The Shared Vision of the Director and the DP;  and The Bottom Line: Indie Producing in Unreal Engine. All sessions are now available to watch on demand.
Image courtesy of MARS Studios and Bild Studios

Looking for more virtual production content?
Visit our Virtual Production Hub for spotlights, podcasts, news, and more.

 
Wednesday, January 26

Fireside chat with Kathleen Kennedy

President of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy joins Epic Games' Miles Perkins in a look back at Kathleen's remarkably prolific career in film production, which includes such groundbreaking visual effects titles as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Jurassic Park, and Twister. They discuss the changes she has witnessed over her forty-year tenure and the opportunities and challenges that virtual production now presents to the industry.

Supercharging production: The Third Floor talks visualization in Unreal

On ambitious productions like The Mandalorian, The Third Floor has developed a host of technologies and techniques to block and preview shots and characters; explore ideas; and synchronize virtual assets, real environments, lighting setups, and shooting plans. This session showcases how Unreal Engine can be leveraged to communicate creative vision, make informed choices, and accelerate cinematic storytelling.

Planning The Midnight Sky with Unreal Engine - NVIZ

NVIZ’s Head of Visualization, Janek Lender, talks about the studio’s implementation of Unreal Engine throughout their pipeline. The session focuses on NVIZ’s virtual camera system, ARENA, which runs in Unreal Engine. Janek illustrates the collaborative visualization ARENA enables in a virtual space by exploring two key scenes from The Midnight Sky.

Free Guy | Visualizing a Metaverse - Halon Entertainment

Halon Entertainment supervisors Ryan McCoy and Grant Olin take you inside the visualization process of Free Guy. Learn how Unreal Engine played an integral part in making Free Guy’s blockbuster Metaverse a cinematic reality.

In-camera VFX tutorial series
A few months ago, we shared a short production test created by a team of filmmakers to put the latest in-camera VFX toolset in Unreal Engine 4.27 through its paces. Now, you can explore the features and workflows used on that piece with a series of nine tutorials, and a free sample project.

 
Thursday, January 27

Inside Unreal with Elizabeth Ito & Cory Strassburger

This week on Inside Unreal, we talk with two amazingly creative people using Unreal Engine to entertain us with quirky animated content: Cory Strassburger, creator of Xanadu, and award-winning director Elizabeth Ito, who's currently working on Mall Stories

Spotlight: Mr. Spam Gets a New Hat - DNEG Animation

Mr. Spam Gets a New Hat is an animated short feature that's already winning awards before its theatrical release. In this spotlight, the team at DNEG Animation reveal how using virtual production techniques in Unreal Engine made them rethink their entire production process—for the better. 
Image courtesy of DNEG Animation and Howdybot Productions

Recently on The Pulse...

In a recent episode of our thought-provoking video series on emerging trends in interactive technology, our panel of industry experts from Animation World Network, DNEG Animation, BRON Digital, and Chromosphere discuss real-time animation workflows and how they impact speed, style, and story in animation production. 
 

Interested in creating animated content?
Visit our Animation Hub for feature overviews, samples, spotlights, and more.

 
Friday, January 28

Spotlight: Yuki 7 - Chromosphere

In this spotlight, award-winning artist and CEO Kevin Dart explains how Chromosphere switched from a time-consuming traditional pipeline to an Unreal Engine workflow for animated web series Yuki 7, unlocking real-time collaboration, fast iterations, and automated VFX—all while retaining the show’s signature 2D look. 
Yuki 7 is a Chromosphere production

Shorts India Program - celebrating the creativity of Indian storytellers

To celebrate and inspire the creativity of Indian VFX creators and animators, we recently hosted a three-month program to train them in real-time concepts, with the help of Unreal Engine, MetaHuman Creator, Quixel, and more. The final films are a fascinating array of thought-provoking narratives and whimsical animated tales. 

The Unreal Fellowship for Virtual Production: alumni success stories

The Unreal Fellowship is a 30-day intensive blended learning experience designed to help seasoned industry professionals in film, animation, and VFX learn state-of-the-art virtual production tools and techniques in Unreal Engine. In this blog, we see how three of the program's alumni have used their learnings to embark on some really special projects.
Image courtesy of Aaron Sims Creative

THE EYE: CALANTHEK explores real‑time filmmaking in Unreal Engine 5 Early Access

Created in just six weeks with Unreal Engine 5 Early Access, MetaHuman Creator, and a small team of artists, THE EYE: CALANTHEK is an enigmatic and suspenseful short film by Aaron Sims Creative. Watch the film, find out more about how it was done, and download the alien character for free.

Free real-time character animation training
Epic Games has a lot of great resources for learning how to animate characters with Unreal Engine. Come along for a tour of our animation training in the Unreal Online Learning portal, plus check out our informative webinars, how-to articles, and feature highlight videos.

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