The inaugural class in virtual production in the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts featured a classic fairy tale re-created in an immersive world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Virtual production incorporates large LED walls that display computer-generated virtual environments. These digital environments are created using real-time game engines. The Virtual Production Institute<\/a>, funded as a special item by the 88th Texas Legislature, was created in 2024 as part of the college, and a Virtual Production minor<\/a> began in the fall semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fall course \u2014 Virtual Production Techniques \u2014 introduced methods, methodologies and approaches of the technology, according to Stewart Ziff<\/a>, instructional associate professor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ziff came to the college in the fall after spending the last nine years in Greece, where he worked with a nonprofit collective that used game methodologies for interactive work and storytelling. Ziff has Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He spent several years as a technical director for a research lab at MTV Networks, and his higher education career includes teaching in the Graduate Design Technology Program at Parsons School of Design; the Graduate Computer Art Program at the School of Visual Arts; and at Georgia State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At MTV, Ziff\u2019s visual arts work included similar principles to virtual production. He and his lab team worked with 3D animation, motion capture and live-to-air puppeteering of virtual characters. They tested hardware and software and experimented with projects including creating a \u201cvirtual VJ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exploring the latest technology has always been a primary focus for Ziff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was restless when I was younger, hungry to work with the cutting-edge technology and be somehow involved in pushing the boundary,\u201d he said. \u201cComing into a virtual production situation like we have here, that has a particular character to it, is really adapting what I already know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were challenges with the inaugural course. As part of the Virtual Production Institute, four virtual production stages will be built: two on main campus and two at Texas A&M-Fort Worth<\/a>, where the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts is teaching courses in the Visualization program. But the timeline of the development of the stages and the semester calendar for the class weren\u2019t in alignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That left Ziff with the obstacle of teaching virtual production without a virtual production environment. His outlook changed, he said, and he focused on helping students understand two key elements of virtual production: workflow and flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe can still explore the potential, the workflow and the mentality,\u201d he said, \u201cand the thinking and the creative processes that go into inventing something. That was the approach of the class.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A solution came at Starlab<\/a>, the motion-capture facility on the Texas A&M RELLIS campus in Bryan. The lab is led by Michael Walsh<\/a> \u2014 associate professor of practice with dual appointments to the Visualization program and to the Department of Mechanical Engineering \u2014 who created space for the virtual production stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sony Electronics, which is providing equipment and technology<\/a> for the Virtual Production Institute, built a 10-by-11 foot LED screen, which became available to the students in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEarly Hurdles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n