Virtual Production
About
Virtual production empowers filmmakers, actors, and animators across multiple locations to collaborate in real time, enabling them to create together by using software tools to combine live-action footage with computer-generated graphics.
This technology has become integral to filmmaking. Studios need talent with a solid understanding of this new field in digital cinema.
The 18-credit-hour undergraduate Virtual Production Certificate from the IU School of Informatics and Computing at IUPUI focuses on the filmmaking qualifications employers are seeking now.
You'll gain in-demand skills and learn the software and equipment used to create virtual sets and reactive backgrounds in real time.
Fueled by the pandemic, virtual production is coming into its own. This new field:
- Reduces production costs and time.
- Enables greater creative visualization and collaboration.
- Allows virtual assets to be saved and reused.
Employers in the marketing, film, broadcast, and music sectors want to hire people with strong virtual production skills. IUPUI's central location in a burgeoning Midwest tech hub is ideal for virtual production, which isn't tied to a fixed location.
To earn your certificate, you'll take six in-person classes over a two-year period, using the facilities at SoIC, working with the same equipment as the pros to develop skills in 3D imaging and animation, sound, video, graphics, and special effects:
- Realize your vision in our Media Arts Research and Learning Arcade, Audio Production Suite, and our Video Editing and Emerging Technologies labs.
- Use motion-capture and 3D-printing technology as well as surround sound, Cintiq stations, and Unreal4 and Unity game engines.
Our undergraduate certificate in virtual production prepares you for traditional and emerging careers in filmmaking.
- Working professionals: Broaden and update your skills.
- College students: Enhance your studies and develop a new specialization.
- High school students and graduates: Discover a shorter path to professional training.
After you earn your certificate and get a job, you can continue your education and be on the way to a well-paying career. Many employers offer tuition-reimbursement programs, which you can use to pursue a four-year degree. If you decide to earn a bachelor's degree in Media Arts and Science from SoIC, the classes from your Virtual Production Certificate will count toward it.
Careers in virtual production include:
- SFX artist or animator
- Producer
- Director
- Lighting, audio, and video tech
- VFX pipeline developer
- Motion control specialist
- Engine technical director