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Virtual
Production
@ RIT

What is
Virtual Production?

Virtual production is the current revolution in film and media production, representing the deployment of extensive computer-generated graphics, 3D art, motion capture, in-camera visual effects, and real-time rendering via game engines. With partners and alumni from Epic Games to The Third Floor and most of the major Hollywood studios pioneering these technologies, RIT is building a full research and learning ecosystem around these emerging workflows.

Meet the
Virtual Production
Faculty at RIT

By converging experts from across campus at its MAGIC Spell Studios, RIT is building curriculum and research efforts through the School of Film and Animation, 3D Digital Design program, School of Interactive Games and Media, and more.

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Partners

We have been honored to work with some amazing partners in the industry, including alumni and friends, to help us build our virtual production stages and curriculum at RIT.  Together with the generous support of Epic Games and their education megagrants team, we have worked closely with The Third Floor to immerse faculty in current workflows, Production Resource Group (PRG) to stand up a modern virtual production stage, and Optic Sky Productions to put the full workflow through a proper initiation, culminating in our pilot production,  RIT EVT.
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Select a partner logo to view how they helped bring virtual production to RIT.

Student Virtual Production Projects

At MAGIC Spell Studios at RIT, we learn by making things. Students immediately take lessons in previsualization, virtual art production, in-camera visual effects, and real-time filmmaking straight to the studio.  See below for some of the fantastic work produced with and by RIT students in virtual production.

MHOLD

A sci-fi thriller Virtual Production produced by RIT students. Transporting our cast and crew into an underground secret laboratory, all within our soundstage in Rochester, NY. Students operated LED walls, designed their own virtual worlds, directed motion-capture performances, and more.

Electric Vehicle Team

As RIT’s pilot effort utilizing real-time, in-camera visual effects, this promotional piece for the RIT Electric Vehicle Team was a joint production of Optic Sky and students in the inaugural virtual production courses taught by Professors Flip Phillips and Shaun Foster during spring 2021.

Reverie

A completely student-produced music video, music and all. In this context, our LED backdrop isn't hidden but rather acknowledged, as a virtual character literally escapes from it and in the process becomes "real" - augmented by motion capture technology applied to a live actor and a demonstration of the mixing of virtual production workflows.

War Room

A virtual-production short film made by students. Using mocap technology and a real actor, the film was shot using the Unreal Engine and a virtual camera. The story is about a robotic alien sent to Earth on a recon mission by an invading force. The alien enters a deserted arcade, believing it to be some kind of military intelligence facility, or war room.

Portrait of a Universe

Interstellar impressionist painter, Rodney, seeks out swirling galaxies and colorful clusters of stars and captures the vastness of our universe in his artwork with the aid of his AI co-pilot, Alice, as they talk about art and humanity.


Virtual Production 101

Learn more about all things virtual production at RIT. From the basics of the workflow, to the people fueling the innovation, and the technology that allows it, this series chronicles the introduction of virtual production at MAGIC and the construction of an entirely new curriculum at RIT.

Start Watching >

Case Study: RIT EVT Virtual Production

During the spring of 2021, RIT partnered with Optic Sky and PRG to produce its first virtual production at MAGIC Spell Studios, a promotional commercial for RIT’s Electric Vehicle Team.  You can read more about the creative and technical learnings from this full in-camera visual effects workflow produced by RIT students, faculty, and industry pros.

Download Case Study

In the News

Catch up on current news and events related to virtual production at RIT. From former alumni leading innovation outside of RIT, to ongoing projects and research on campus, explore the latest here.

MAGIC alliances prove mutually beneficial

RIT’s MAGIC Center won a MegaGrant from Epic Games, the largest academic grant ever awarded by the industry’s leading game engine developer. The grant allows professors to participate in hands-on training with some of the world’s leading visualization and virtual production experts.

RIT educates tomorrow’s experts in virtual production

MAGIC Spell Studios, RIT’s world-class digital media research and production facility, is bringing the latest in virtual production (VP) technology to RIT students. VP blends filmmaking, 3D graphics, computational photography, and real-time game engine rendering to produce in-camera visual effects similar to those seen in the groundbreaking work on Disney’s The Mandalorian and Marvel’s Avenger films.

Alumnus creates innovative environments for Disney's 'The Mandalorian'

MAGIC Spell Studios, RIT’s world-class digital media research and production facility, is bringing the latest in virtual production (VP) technology to RIT students. VP blends filmmaking, 3D graphics, computational photography, and real-time game engine rendering to produce in-camera visual effects similar to those seen in the groundbreaking work on Disney’s The Mandalorian and Marvel’s Avenger films.

Teaching the
Next Generation

RIT faculty are exploring and designing new curricular models to teach the next generation of virtual production creatives and technologists.  Learn more about courses developed on campus as well as our partnerships for online education through EdX and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineer’s training catalog.

Learn More >