ROUND TABLE
Def: Looking ahead, what skills do you anticipate becoming increasingly important for professionals in virtual production? JB: The skill set for virtual production is so wide: scene creation and animation; computer science; broadcast engineering; colour science; directing; producing; AI prompting; programming. So many of the automated or functional skills will be taken over by machine learning and automation in the next two years, that we hopefully will be just making creative decisions around this incredibly complicated workflow. LR/JA: Communication and leadership skills. This is a highly collaborative area, and it can be make or break for a shoot if the various departments are not integrated, mutually supportive and respectful of each other. Virtual production presents a new team, new technologies on set, which might be perceived as a black box to other departments. The leadership to bring this together is mission-critical to a successful shoot. Technologies will continue to develop, advanced understanding of 3D and 2.5D playback will continue to be important skills for professionals to develop. JJ: The core skill is a specialisation in a filmmaking discipline, the same as it is in a traditional sense. But, of course, learning how best to use Unreal Engine in various ways is currently key as this software is at the heart of real-time rendered filmmaking (at least for now). For those looking to work in a technical area of VP, an increasing understanding of the hardware and how that plays into the process can be beneficial. Ideally, an effective VP supervisor should be an expert in all the hardware and software tools used for a virtual production, along with a number of years in a senior creative filmmaking role so they can support and develop the skills of the rest of their team during production. We are starting to see the beginnings of cross-media production, where the same digital assets are created and put into use for filmed content, game design and perhaps a VR or AR experience – potentially all at the same time. So, the ability of technicians and artists to learn
virtual production tend to have things in common, like collaboration and striving for excellence. We are quick to adopt best practices when they are revealed. I can definitely see a future where key institutions have carved out reputations as generating excellent and industry- savvy grads. The indicators of this are well underway with the investment in university facilities we see getting off the ground this year. ER: SMPTE RIS is working it! The On-Set Virtual Production Initiative (smpte.org). Not easy, as the technology is changing rapidly. There aren’t always such standards for traditional methods either. Additionally, while virtual production’s success is heavily dependent on a facility’s digital infrastructure, facilities, integrators and VP engineers do not implement data industry standards in their designs, construction and maintenance. When creating a certification of facilities, to what degree does their digital infrastructure meet data industry standards? No one wants to dine in a restaurant that doesn’t meet health department standards. What insurance company would want to insure a production willing to work in a highly digital environment that does not meet data industry standards? NO ONE WANTS TO DINE IN A RESTAURANT THAT doesn’t meet HEALTH DEPARTMENT standards ” FUTURE SKILLS As the landscape grows, professionals anticipate a demand for skills spanning technical expertise and leadership
new skills across media formats will become increasingly useful as these areas and production pipelines overlap even further. ER: Experienced VP producers and supervisors: knowing when and what flavour(s) are most relevant for a given production’s context. Plus the ability to put a solid team together, setting realistic expectations and requirements for all players. Data industry standards in the design, construction and maintenance of VP studios and services are also key. AG: As the industry matures, we’ll shift away from generalists who do a few things on a production, to experts that specialise in a single subject. This is the same journey that VFX professionals had – where if you want the best-quality digital human, for example, you can find specialists or companies that do just that extremely well. MP: As the technologies evolve, your skill set needs to evolve. Since it all evolves at a very rapid pace, everybody now engaged in VP can’t be sure on
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