We have launched Virtual Environments Lab!

Last Friday we held a mini celebration in our classrooms where we launched Virtual Environments Lab, the first in a long line of programs that will enrich what this year’s CGA conference can offer.

We are talking about an educative program that will give young digital artists a chance to get familiar with different aspects of creating an environment on three different digital sets in Unreal Engine 5. All of these created environments during the summer in Crater are planned to be used in the conference’s production, simulating a level in a video game, movie set, and TV studio (there is a high chance we will come up with a few more exciting additions).

Through these processes, the participants will be led by a team of mentors made up of experienced 3D/ Level artists that come to us from companies like Mad Head Games, Ubisoft Belgrade, Case 3D Proptech Solutions, Una TV and others alike. The project will be led by Dane Blačić, the Technical Director of this year’s CGA program, and the art direction will be done by Dimitrije Miljuš.

We have received numerous applications, and some of the participants arrived directly from courses: Environment Art, 3D Essentials and Unreal Engine Essentials. The chosen twelve were divided into 4 teams that have, by the time of writing this, already long started working on their designated projects. Each team consists of a 3D Modeler, Level Artist, as well as a Materials & Textures Artist. Three candidates that have especially blown us away with their applications, will be aiding the team in their work as mentoring assistants.

On Monday the participants started working on their environments, here is what Bojana Simić our program coordinator, had to say about all of this:

“The first week of Virtual Environments Lab is off to a great start and we are already seeing initial results. The participants entered this project more than ready and we firmly believe that, together with Dane and fellow mentors from the industry, they will successfully manage to create environments that will find their purpose in the upcoming CGA conference. We owe a big thank you to our industry partners that responded to our call, and we can’t wait to delve into their upcoming lectures. The fact that our participants will have a chance to find their future employers through this program makes us that much happier. Reinforcing the ecosystem and taking care of the industry’s talent is one of our main missions!”

The complete list of lecturers and mentors who will support our small virtual construction site with their expertise can be found here. We will keep you updated during the summer about the progress of this project, so make sure to stay tuned.

More information on the CGA conference coming soon!