Disguise and MARS Volume launch VP training course at the MARS West London Facility

Disguise is partnering with MARS Volume, created by Bild Studios, to launch an Accelerator course that lets students get hands-on with the same MARS LED volume used on 3 Body Problem, Culprits, Gangs of London and more.

The course — Disguise’s 23rd Accelerator to date — follows the success of its other training programs in Los Angeles, New York, Barcelona, West Yorkshire and Asia. It will be taught in three distinct phases. The Disguise Learn phase enables students to access online tutorials on real-time fundamentals in Unreal Engine. Then the Classroom phase takes them through more advanced concepts with an instructor.

Finally, there is the practical phase. Taught over three days, this phase will immerse trainees in a pre-planned film shoot at MARS Volume, one of the largest virtual production facilities in the UK. There, they’ll capture scenes on the 8,000-square-foot MARS Volume using its 220-degree 25.5 x 5m curved LED wall, 108m² lighting LED ceiling, stYpe RedSpy camera tracking systems and Disguise VX 4 media servers.

“As new UK tax credits bring more productions to London, we’ve seen increased demand for courses that give storytellers an accurate simulation of the demands faced on real VP sets,” says Addy Ghani, Vice President of Virtual Production at Disguise. “With this London Virtual Production Accelerator, we’re not just helping more creatives bridge that gap. We’re also helping to advance career opportunities with Virtual Production Operators.”

By the end of the course, students will have had practical experience trying multiple roles on set including Disguise operations, game engine integration, practical lighting and cinematography. From pre-production to in-camera VFX, colour workflows, frustum optimisation and more, each student will have all the skills to excel on a state-of-the-art LED production.

“We’ve been working with Disguise for over 10 years, delivering hundreds of software training sessions globally while also using Disguise technology on some of our most ambitious projects ever since we first worked together on the Red Hot Chili Peppers Tour and Coachella in 2011,” says Joanna Alpe, Head of Academic Strategy at MARS Volume & MARS Academy. “Since we opened the doors in 2021, education has been at the forefront with the training courses we have delivered through MARS Academy, supported by Screenskills. Partnering with Disguise this summer to deliver the Virtual Production Accelerator in London represents another stride forward and great brand alignment, welcoming Disguise to our studio, an undeniable world leader in this field. We can’t wait to get started.”

Discover more and reserve your spot on the London Accelerator course here.