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By OLIVER WEBBThere have been leaps in technological growth over the last few years in the VFX and animation industries. With new developments across the board in virtual production, real-time technologies and LED volumes, 2025 is looking bright, though the industry is still recovering from the effects of COVID-19 as well as the strikes. Further to the technological advancements, there are skills in demand and education available to those looking to delve into the industry. The skillset required for implementing new tools and techniques with a sharp eye on the future while navigating the present is pivotal to keeping up and staying ahead. Following is a variety of viewpoints from industry professionals crossing the street at the busy intersection of VFX and animation.Wt FX doesnt use generative AI. Instead, for several years, theyve been developing and utilizing machine learning, embedded into their artists tools, such as Wts facial performance and image-based refinement systems. Wt FX contributed effects to A Minecraft Movie. (Images courtesy of Warner Bros.)Richard Frances-Moore, Senior Head of Motion, Wt FX At Wt FX weve been innovating and using virtual production since the cave troll sequence in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Virtual production as a visualization technique supporting live-action, animation and performance capture grew as a key part of our workflow on many projects, especially on the Avatar series. For a while, it seemed like virtual production was a no-brainer as it saved costs in post-production and provided a better on-set experience for directors and actors. Since then, practitioners and productions have learned more about the strengths and weaknesses of virtual production high demand for upfront investment, complex scenarios and technical issues can lead to unplanned costs, causing some productions to become a little more cautious. However, with more industry understanding and standards, the scope for successful uses is now stabilizing, and ICVFX has become another piece of the filmmakers toolkit that will no doubt continue to develop and improve. We are continuing to push on our overall virtual production system, working on the integration of our pre- and post-production workflows, as well as integrating Unreal Engine as an option so we can connect and collaborate with productions using that platform.[W]ith more industry understanding and standards [for virtual production], the scope for successful uses is now stabilizing, and ICVFX has become another piece of the filmmakers toolkit that will no doubt continue to develop and improve.Richard Frances-Moore, Senior Head of Motion, Wt FXSSVFX was nominated for an Emmy for its work on the FX series Shgun. SSVFX completed hundreds of shots to bring CGI Osaka in the 1600s to life. (Images courtesy of SSVFX and FX Network)AI and machine learning are having a large impact on the industry at the moment. While we dont use generative AI, for several years, we have been developing and utilizing machine learning, embedded into our artists tools. Examples include our facial performance and image-based refinement systems, and demand for this technology is increasing. On set, AI allows us to provide real-time camera depth, improving the speed and quality of creating digital photogrammetry while reducing the footprint on set. Increased availability and the development of shared standards are also a big movement across the industry. With productions wanting the flexibility to share assets and work between facilities, this has led to the need for better platforms and systems like Open USD, MaterialX and even Unreal providing a form of shared format for some virtual production and previs workflows. We are embracing this wherever we can while maintaining flexibility and continuing to innovate where we still see there are opportunities for improving our work.Or-Bits is a 30-second TV commercial for a fictitious breakfast cereal. The AIE student led-production team was hired by a mock-client to deliver the spot according to a detailed brief. Some AI-generated still images were used in the mock-brief and appear in the commercial. All other work is 100% student-originated. (Images courtesy of AIE)Viktor Mller, CEO, Universal Production Partners (UPP)Is there any growth in terms of employment in the VFX industry? We are coming out of a disastrous time for our industry, and not just in VFX, but across the board. So many people lost their jobs last year. So many companies went under. Its a legitimate crisis. Despite that, were seeing more VFX in film and TV than ever. In a sense, youd think that would be good, but the films and shows you see now are overloaded with CGI elements and the number of CGI artists working on big projects is so gigantic that they cant even fit them all in the end credits despite the long end titles we have now.The AIE VFX Class of 2023 won the 2024 Seattle Film Festival prize for Best Animated Short for their senior project, Spare Parts. (Images courtesy of AIE)I would say that virtual production or AI programming is probably the fastest-growing field. But in the end, they will take jobs from other disciplines. I think everyone knows that were in what people are calling The Great Contraction. We had this boom-time of Peak TV and just tons of films being made for both theatrical and streaming, and now the bubble has burst and there arent enough projects, even compared to previous years. The craziness after COVID brought new talent into the industry, which is great news but, at the same time, it has overloaded the market. Another downside is that this saturation hasnt necessarily improved the quality in the VFX industry but has rather increased average capacity. As we move forward into the new normal, companies will need to focus on efficiency and develop really good pipelines to stay successful.At UPP, were always striving toward a more equitable and diverse workforce, and Im very proud to report that we have gender parity at our studio. Having a diverse group of artists and technicians has always just seemed like smart business to me, but, in our industry, women in particular are seriously under-represented, especially in technical and leadership roles. We have numerous women running various departments including the head of our film and TV department and while were happy to discuss every one of them, we also hope to get to a place where we dont need to talk about it at all because, frankly, it should just be nothing special. It should be the norm. But I think were gradually moving in the right direction as an industry.Jonathan McFall, Head of CG and VFX Trainer, National Film and Television School (NFTS)VFX has been an evolving industry since the beginning with pioneering and breakthrough technologies now making their way into summer blockbusters every year; however, a lot of the core departments and skills remain the same. A modeler makes the model, and an FX artist makes the FX, but things have become more sophisticated within each department with the introduction of USD into company pipelines, allowing for variants in the models, textures, lights, FX and more. Software like Unreal and Houdini are also playing a larger role in productions, and virtual production stages arent just used for the biggest films anymore. Therefore, key skills like understanding USD workflows, shotgrid, lighting, Houdini, virtual production, Unreal and, of course, comp will all help you to gain entry into the industry. These are highly in-demand skills.National Film and Television School (NFTS) VFX students in the U.K. working with a virtual production screen. (Image courtesy of NFTS).The industry may at one point have been more dominated by male figures, but these days it is becoming increasingly more diverse. The National Film and Television School strives to encourage and support people from all backgrounds to feel confident to pursue a career in visual effects, with outreach and over 1 million of funding available for U.K. applicants. There is such a wide range of skills that are needed across many roles ranging from very creative roles in the art department and texturing to very technical roles in FX or pipeline. There are jobs for anyone who wants to work in VFX!Sir David Attenborough tests the technology at Mars Volume in the U.K. (Image courtesy of Mars Volume and Bild Studios)The National Film and Television Schools (NFTS) Visual Effects (VFX) MA is renowned for the 360-degree practical training our students receive, learning creative problem-solving across the VFX pipeline. Our VFX Labs are cutting-edge with dedicated workstations that replicate those used in the VFX industry. Each machine has current industry-standard software, including Maya, Unreal Engine, Nuke, Nuke Studio, Photoshop, Substance, Houdini, Resolve, Reality Capture and PTGui. The students have access to the studio 24 hours a day and are part of a small cohort who receive personal and group tuition, gain experience on set and an understanding of the entire production pipeline. The expansive site, tucked away in a small Buckinghamshire village, offers 18 dedicated shooting spaces for students including a 7,000 sq. ft. main stage, a 4k television studio and virtual production volume.Rowan Pitts, Co-Founder, MARS Volume and Bild StudiosMARS is one of the U.K.s longest-running virtual production brands, delivered by the experienced workflow specialists at Bild Studios. Since its launch in 2021, MARS volume has become one of the bigger LED volumes in the U.K. (25.5 x 5m), with its facilities used by productions such as Netflixs 3 Body Problem, Disneys Culprits and Asif Kapadias 2073, and the MARS team has been on set delivering virtual production for HBOs House of The Dragon and Apple TVs Masters of the Air.Participating and collaborating on open-source software has positioned DreamWorks to more easily maintain and share assets across TV series and features such as The Wild Robot. (Image courtesy of DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures)Theres been a trend from bigger is better to recognizing that strategically-sized LED volumes are more cost-effective and work better overall for production. Thats how our business has channeled over the last few years. We are around a 50/50 split between scripted drama and branded content. We are based at our permanent virtual production facility in West London, but the team is mobile and can take virtual production services on the road with them as pop-up solutions. MARS volume is fully serviced, and we often get involved in the world-building of the digital environments for the shoots that come through. Our pop-up service involves building bespoke LED volumes for film shoots at other locations and providing a team to run and operate them as well.Virtual production certainly has an important place in the future of film production. As awareness grows around how a volume can be used, that unlocks producers ability to understand the true value gained with virtual production shooting, and the return that they will receive from shooting on a volume. While it may appear more expensive initially than a traditional studio, if you factor in the savings that could be made, both in terms of time and efficiencies, and in terms of how much content can be shot within a single day, then virtual production can come into its own. We now see experienced producers shooting on MARS volume, who can generate a huge scene throughput by carefully pre-planning and scheduling, proving the efficiency gains to be made are real.Bill Ballew, Chief Technology Officer, DreamWorks AnimationOne of the trends we have seen in the industry over the last few years is an increase in the participation and collaboration on open-source software. With the widespread involvement in the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) by both studios and third-party tool creators, the viability and usefulness of these projects have increased manyfold. Today, these serve as a basis for nearly every studio, utilizing standard data representations and sharing functionality that has become ubiquitous. As an early adopter of the Linux operating system in the 1990s, to open-sourcing our proprietary renderer, OpenMoonRay, in 2023, we have seen tremendous value in leveraging and contributing to these best-of-breed community solutions. This gives us two major areas of benefit: 1) It allows us to focus our engineering on efforts that differentiate our films, provide unique creative looks and empower our artists, and 2) The common industry building blocks and standards are positioning us to more easily maintain and share assets across our TV series and features.Ed Bruce, Senior Vice President, SSVFXIt has always been the case that technology and creativity go hand in hand. Each year, new technology can help advance creative limitations or inspire the creativity to push further. Over the last few years, technical advances have been coming thick and fast. AI and machine learning are on a rapid growth trajectory bringing many new tools into vendors workflows and pipelines. It can be a challenge to navigate through to ensure a net benefit versus just adapting to change.Launched in 2021, MARS Volume is one of the more agile LED volumes in the U.K. The MARS team is mobile and can take virtual production services on the road. (Images courtesy of MARS and Bild Studios)Ultimately, our goal is about delivering beautiful storytelling imagery on time for the right price. If machine learning can play its part in that, then it is worth adapting to. At the moment, however, many of the tools can be a minefield to navigate regarding security, which is of key importance to us and our clients. Datasets must exist within the boundaries of a secure network, and any communication outside of that network comes with an incredible risk.At SSVFX, one area we specialize in is facial augmentation and de-aging. This is an area where weve seen AI advancements promising easier, faster and better outcomes. However, weve found that this is not the case with our proprietary tools and workflows that we continue to adapt and build upon. Weve found we still hit the quality, time and cost better than what the machine learning approach is currently delivering, plus there is no dataset or security concern and, more importantly, no infringement with actors contractual concerns regarding AI. The ability to make nuanced changes to service the clients direction can be very challenging with the current AI tools. This isnt an issue within the traditional approach.Every year, new tools and technology will be created to support the VFX team. Some will be adapted and become a staple within our workflows, others will fall away. Its important for us at SSVFX to continue to stay informed and adaptive to these advancements.Joseph Bell, Principal, HDRI ConsultingI think people were surprised by how slowly VFX work has started to pick up after last years SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. Focus on the strikes masked an enormous drop in project commissioning by the major streamers compared with the year before, driven in part by pressure on the streamers to reach profitability. To give just one example, Disney+ spent around 40% less on commissioning content in 2023 than in 2022. And 40% fewer productions started principal photography in the U.S. in Q2 2024 than in Q2 2022. This dramatic decrease in the amount of film and TV commissioning, with the U.S. being especially hard hit, had a huge impact on employment in the visual effects industry worldwide. A lot of skilled VFX professionals have been out of work for many months in some cases, more than a year. With Disneys streaming services reaching profitability in mid-2024 and Paramount close behind, production should finally pick up. As an industry, this is a great time to reassess how we operate and what we can do to make companies and careers more resilient for the future.Countries with strong domestic film industries and those that are less reliant on work from U.S. productions to stay busy, such as Japan, Vietnam and to some degree France, have been less impacted than countries where a large majority of the spend on high-end VFX comes from the U.S. studios.Joseph Bell, Principal, HDRI ConsultingUPP has become one of the most active and versatile visual effects and post-production houses in the Central Europe, and has contributed VFX to Gran Turismo (above) as well as Barbie, Conclave, Five Days at Memorial and Blade Runner 2049, on which UPP CEO Viktor Mller served as Visual Effects Supervisor. (Image courtesy of Sony Pictures)Its difficult to highlight growth when so many VFX professionals around the world have spent large portions of 2023 and 2024 without work. Countries with strong domestic film industries and those that are less reliant on work from U.S. productions to stay busy, such as Japan, Vietnam and to some degree France, have been less impacted than countries where a large majority of the spend on high-end VFX comes from the U.S. studios. We are seeing growth in the number of roles for which knowledge of RT3D tools like Unreal Engine is becoming important. Knowledge of these same tools equips VFX companies and artists to work on VR/AR/XR, gaming and immersive projects. Among the various new technologies currently making their mark on the industry, real-time 3D is going to have the most far-reaching and enduring impact.Andy Romine, Senior VFX Instructor, AIEThere continue to be perennial opportunities for junior artists in lighting and compositing roles, though skills like rigging, VFX and Creature FX are always in high demand. Theres also been a recent surge in opportunities for traditional VFX artists who have experience working in real-time, e.g. Unreal Engine, for use in previs and virtual production pipelines.We model a real-world studio environment at AIE, so in addition to learning the technical skills required for a career in the VFX industry, students are taught to work in teams to real and simulated client briefs, manage asset creation and deadlines, and develop an online portfolio they can use to apply for a job. Students have access to state-of-the-art workstations and are instructed in industry-standard software including Maya, Renderman, Houdini, Katana, Nuke and Substance Suite. Every week, our Lunchbox program brings in professionals to talk about their experience in the industry and provide our students with opportunities to network. We have regular contact with members of the Visual Effects Society that AIE sponsors who give Lunchbox talks, provide mentorship and detailed portfolio reviews.The ability to make nuanced changes to service the clients direction can be very challenging with the current AI tools. This isnt an issue within the traditional approach.Ed Bruce, Senior Vice President, SSVFXBecause of Seattles importance as a game development hub and our parallel game art track VFX students are exposed to real-time game engines like Unreal 5. Our students have gone on to work at a variety of VFX houses from boutiques to major studios. Weve also had graduates migrate to the game industry with their crossover skills. Recent notable projects from grads include The Mandalorian, Deadpool & Wolverine, Doom Patrol and Destiny 2. The VFX Class of 2023 won the 2024 Seattle Film Festival prize for Best Animated Short with their senior project, Spare Parts.
