Building a Virtual Production Curriculum

Supported by MegaGrant from Epic Games, MAGIC Spell Studios has brought groundbreaking research and filmmaking techniques to RIT. 

The grant — co-written by David Long, MAGIC Center director, and Shaun Foster, program director of 3D Digital Design — is driving the development of a curriculum in virtual production. Virtual production is a field blending filmmaking, computational photography and real-time game engine rendering to produce in-camera visual effects. The technology is well known for its deployment in Disney's The Mandalorian.

RIT's work in virtual production is in collaboration with industry-leading entertainment companies. For the project, students and faculty teamed up with THE THIRD FLOOR (TTF), an award-winning visualization studio co-founded by Chris Edwards ’97 (Film and Animation), and PRG, a global leader in entertainment and event tech solutions. TTF experts delivered guest lectures and directly trained faculty on the technologies while PRG is the project’s hardware and equipment partner.