Film & Television industry practitioners interested in Virtual Production are invited to FirstStage Studios (in Leith) to take part in a series of "sandboxes" exploring the application of technologies, with a focus on Virtual Production and Motion Capture, through an intentionally open, playful and experimental framework.
This is an opportunity to test the technology and explore what might be possible through the utilisation of these tools.
What is a "sandbox"?
In this phase there will be 6 separate sandboxes.
Each sandbox will give a participating team access to the facility, based at FirstStage Studios in Leith, with technical support for six days.
This will be structured as three flexible two-day blocks. The break between sessions gives teams time to reflect on what they have discovered, reconsider their approach and iterate before returning. The scheduling will also flex to accommodate teams' work commitments.
The teams will explore and experiment with hybrid digital toolsets and workflows including virtual production and motion capture and developing the connections within story telling practice between digital and physical assets.
Collaboration
Insights from the sandboxes will feed into the CoSTAR Realtime Lab and the wider CoSTAR Network, helping to identify areas for future research and innovation.
Part of the CoSTAR Network, the Edinburgh College of Art team will provide technical support while participating in and supporting the sessions - helping teams explore their technical and creative challenges while documenting the outcomes, needs, opportunities and any unresolved challenges that emerge.
What's available
Our 9000 square foot sandbox space offers an accessible environment for testing, learning, and developing real-time virtual production workflows.
The space currently includes:
- A 5 × 3 metre LED screen suitable for exploring in-camera visual effects (ICVFX)
- 3D set extensions and virtual performance
- A dedicated 6 × 6-metre motion capture area equipped with a Vicon system, providing camera tracking for ICVFX, enabling performance capture, character animation experiments, and investigation into performance driven digital content.
The LED Wall is run through a Brompton processor and two high-performance workstations operating as control and render nodes, enabling participants to understand the practical relationship between LED processing, Unreal Engine, camera workflows and real-time rendering.
The sandbox is currently running Unreal Engine, with the option to explore other emerging software for comparison, such as Chaos Arena.
Participants can explore a range of content approaches within the volume, including fully realised ICVFX workflows, pre-rendered or live 2D background plates, and work with Gaussian-splat scenes.
The program also has access to tech partnerships delivering sandbox access to additional new hardware.
Who can take part?
Industry professionals with a curiosity around this technology. Participants can apply with an existing team or express an interest in being supported to form a team. There will be a selection of curated teams with previous experience in these areas, as well as those selected through this open call.
What are we looking for?
We’re interested in people who have a question, curiosity or idea they would like to investigate using the available technologies. You don't need to have a fully developed concept or know exactly what the outcome will be.
We’d like applicants to tell us:
1. What are you interested or curious about?
Tell us about the creative ideas, technical opportunities, challenge(s), questions or problems, you would like to explore, and why. These may be very specific but can also be very broad, but you must indicate a direction of exploration and a starting point for your proposed sandbox.
2. Who are you?
Tell us about yourself and your role.
3. Who would your team be?
Tell us who you would like to work with, or whether you would like support to form a team.
4. What previous experience do you bring?
Share relevant experience, projects, skills or knowledge that could inform the exploration. You do not have to have experience with this technology but should be working in the creative industries and have experience of working in narrative production.
Support
This activity is supported by the National Lottery through Screen Scotland, Edinburgh College of Art, CoStar, and FirstStage Studios and is free to participants.
An invitation to experiment
There is no requirement to arrive with a finished proposal. The sandboxes are deliberately exploratory. If you have a question you'd like to explore, we'd like to hear from you.
Please submit your application or any questions you might have to [email protected].
This is an open call and applications are accepted on a rolling basis.