AFTRS Launches Digital Futures Summit Series

The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) has launched the Digital Futures Summit series to bring together Australian and international screen and broadcast industry leaders with educators and government in discussions on collaborating, adapting and capitalising on technological changes.

The series will explore how technology has—and will continue to—shape the future of work, education, training and creative opportunities across the industry.

The first summit in the series, Digital Futures Summit: Virtual Production, to be held online on 14 October 2021, looks at current and future practices and the opportunities that virtual production brings to the local industry. The summit will explore how the industry can leverage digital technologies to “leapfrog” through change to accelerate growth opportunities.

Sessions and speakers include –

• • INDUSTRY PARTNERED EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
    AI, automation and mechanisation have already made huge changes to industries around the world. In the creative sector, the scope of impact can be clearly seen through a post-pandemic lens: the proliferation of technology-based solutions such as virtual production and the virtual workplace to enable continuity of work, and re-invention of future work. Presented by Flinders University, NIDA and AFTRS.

• • INTRODUCTION TO VIRTUAL PRODUCTION IN AUSTRALIA
    Virtual production uses a suite of tools to mix live-action footage and computer graphics in real-time. This session will look at the many facets of virtual production, from motion-capture and real-time animation, previs and techvis, asset creation and integration, and LED walls with cinematography, and how Australian screen content creators are currently utilising this technology. Representatives from EPIC Games, Light ADL and FIKA Entertainment will share their experiences.

• • DEMYSTIFYING AND DEFINING LED VOLUME STAGES FOR VIRTUAL PRODUCTION
    Demo and speakers from disguise studios in London will lead a technical demonstration that will demystify an LED wall virtual production workflow through a walk-through of a live LED wall stage and the different tools involved to shoot on a virtual production set using disguise, as well as skills needed throughout the pipeline.

• • LOCA VIRTUAL PRODUCTIONS CASE STUDIES
    An exclusive first look into Australian virtual production in action from development and budgeting to post. Case studies include the television series Home and Away. Contributors include Dreamscreen Australia, Cutting Edge and Big Picture (NEP Group).

• • ASSET CREATION AND LOCATIONS: PRE, SHOOT, POST
    This session will illustrate how digital assets are important in pre-production, on-set and post-production. Panel members will discuss a range of processes involved in creating assets for virtual production, including location scouting and scanning, creating digital environments, full-body volumetric capture, previsualisation and live-broadcast. Panel members include representatives from Myriad Studios, Last Pixel and Girraphic.

• • THE FUTURE OF VIRTUAL PRODUCTION
    This forward-facing discussion with industry leaders and innovators in virtual production will focus on skills development, creative potential and business opportunities for local screen practitioners. Panel members include WETA Digital, Heretic Foundation, FX PHD, EPIC Games, Spectre Studios and FIKA Entertainment.

Nell Greenwood, AFTRS CEO, said, “We are thrilled to be launching the Digital Summit series as an opportunity to bring great thinkers together on topics that will shape our industry. This year AFTRS is launching a new five-year corporate strategy, Creating the Future, with a redrawn mission to offer its world-leading, industry partnered training and education across Australia, through a micro-credentialled model of flexible delivery, providing better access and opportunities for both entry-level and established industry practitioners to develop new and emerging skills alongside legacy craft skills, as the industry and technology evolve.”

“The AFTRS Digital Futures Summit series aims to bring together industry leaders, educators and policymakers to provide thought leadership on technological transformations being experienced in Australia today. The summits will offer a space to share knowledge, connect people and bring about tangible outcomes to strengthen our community of practitioners, businesses and educators. The summit series is about connecting, learning, strategising and adapting to a fast-changing digital landscape whilst offering an insight into how to leverage digital technologies to accelerate opportunities and remain competitive in a rapidly moving global market,” said Susan Danta, Head of Research at AFTRS.