CRAIC was funded by the Screen Industries Growth Network – a Research England fund administered by the University of York – to undertake a scoping study to map virtual production assets across the UK.
Virtual production is a way of describing a range of new production workflows and processes across TV, Film, Games, Performance and other sectors which make use of digital, spatial and other technologies. It can be defined as the use of real-time game engines and performance technologies to create a (primarily) film production process which brings together development, pre-production, production, and post-production.
The aim of the project was to map the emerging ecosystem of virtual production in the creative industries, capturing existing and proposed assets, or facilities, and creating a framework for assessing where in the value chain such assets are positioned. It was intended to map the landscape in terms such as geography, capacities, functions and technology readiness, using the Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) framework that is familiar in R&D literature. As a short piece of work, operating across a rapidly changing set of creative technology practices post-pandemic, the ‘map’ or ‘maps’ created were intended to be snapshots of a dynamic landscape; and the more substantial outcome of the work would be the creation of a Framework for future study.
The full report can be downloaded here.