A NEW research lab is being set up in Belfast to help the city’s thriving film industry develop the next generation of visual effects.
A consortium led by Ulster University has been selected by the UK Government to host one of four new labs specialising in the future of virtual production.
The lab will be based at Studio Ulster, the university’s new £72m virtual production campus set inside Belfast Harbour Studios.
It will explore a new range of real-time content production techniques using computer-generated imagery (CGI).
In a move away from traditional ‘green screens’, where visual effects and CGI are added in post-production, virtual production allows filmmakers and theatre directors to create large-scale digitally-generated environments that performers can interact with in real-time using LED panels, as a faster and less expensive alternative to green screens.
The technology was deployed for the ABBA Voyage live concert in London and has been used for Disney’s smash hit show The Mandalorian.
The new Belfast lab will bring together expertise from BBC Northern Ireland, Belfast Harbour, Northern Ireland Screen and specialist animation studio Humain.
It’s being set up as part of the UK Government’s £75.6 million Convergent Screen Technologies and performance in Realtime (CoSTAR) programme, of which Ulster University is part.
Studio Ulster and a number of other partner organisations such as BT, the National Film and Television School, Vodafone and Screen Yorkshire, announced on Wednesady that they will invest a further £63.3m in the programme.
Professor Declan Keeney from Ulster University, said the Studio Ulster facility is set to become a global hub for the creative industries.
“Studio Ulster will support the growth of this fast growing sector in Northern Ireland and will now be underpinned by a world-class research facility,” he said.
“We are confident that our collaboration with the CoSTAR Network will accelerate the development of new technologies and techniques that will revolutionise the way films, TV, games and animations are made.
“We are excited to see what the future holds for virtual production, and we are proud to be playing a leading role in its development.”
