Australian Film Television and Radio School

Established by the Australian Federal Parliament in 1973, the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast institution. Operating from a purpose-built facility within The Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park, Sydney, the school delivers specialized education across screenwriting, cinematography, directing, sound, and digital post-production.

Virtual Production and Studio Infrastructure

A prominent feature of contemporary training at AFTRS is the integration of real-time technologies and In-Camera Visual Effects (ICVFX). Central to this workflow is the campus Volume Studio, equipped with a 4-meter by 8-meter curved LED wall powered by Epic Games' Unreal Engine and optical camera tracking. Rather than utilizing digital backgrounds as static backdrops, students treat the LED volume as an active lighting source that casts reactive ambient illumination onto physical actors and physical sets. This environment enables artists to preview parallax and reflections in real time, shifting post-production decisions into pre-production and principal photography.

The Moore Park campus houses specialized screen facilities under a single roof, including:

• Film and television sound stages
• Ten offline picture editing suites
• Professional 5.1 mixing theaters
• A 120-seat projection cinema
• Digital animation and visual effects labs

This physical co-location supports direct collaboration between visual effects students and peers in cinematography, production design, and post-production sound.

VFX and Animation Curriculum

AFTRS organizes visual effects and digital animation instruction across several study pathways:

• Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production: A comprehensive undergraduate degree covering multi-disciplinary screen crafts, incorporating visual storytelling, digital workflows, and practical film production.
• Graduate Diploma in Visual Effects: Developed in direct partnership with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), this postgraduate program trains artists within studio-simulated pipelines, emphasizing mentorship from senior visual effects practitioners.
• Master of Arts Screen: An advanced postgraduate framework allowing practitioners to refine high-level craft specializations through intensive project work.
• Short Courses and Intensives: Targeted programs such as Volume Studio Fundamentals, Colour Grading Intensive, and Videomaking Intensive cater to industry professionals looking to upskill.

Instruction focuses on cross-platform digital pipelines rather than isolated applications. Students work with Autodesk Maya for character rigging and 3D asset modeling, SideFX Houdini for dynamic FX simulation and procedural elements, and Foundry's Nuke for compositing, rotoscoping, and plate integration. Finishing and digital intermediate workflows are taught using DaVinci Resolve.

Flexible Delivery

Alongside on-campus studio instruction in Sydney, AFTRS provides synchronous remote learning options for select digital modules. Online courses such as "Intro to VFX & 3D Animation" and "Producing for VP and VFX" deliver virtual instruction in pipeline coordination, asset scheduling, and pre-visualization concepts.