Vancouver Film School (VFS) has partnered with Mimic Performance Capture to open a performance capture studio accessible to both students and film, TV and gaming companies.

Mimic is a Vancouver-based studio headed up by Graham Qually, who previously served as the head of motion capture at Rainmaker Entertainment.

The new space, in which VFS and Mimic invested a total of $1.5 million, provides facilities for advanced stunt work, voice work, camera systems and applied research. The studio is located on VFS’ Film Production campus.

The space is currently available for use by students of VFS for their own projects, with companies such as Texas-based video game company Gearbox, Osaka, Japan-based Capcom, Vancouver CG studio Waterproof Studios and Toronto pre-production studio House of Cool scheduled to begin using the space later this summer. Currently, the studio is fully booked for the next 18 months.

As well, the new facility (32,000 cubic feet) will see personnel from Mimic mentoring VFS students in various aspects of performance capture. Mimic and VFS will also work together to create a curriculum for workshops for the various programs that the school offers. In addition, alumni of the school will have first priority when it comes to commercial employment opportunities at the studio.

Performance capture technology allows for the filming of an actor’s movements in a specialized studio space, after which these images can be placed over digitally generated backdrops. This tech differs from motion capture because it also captures sound can track movement to a greater degree. As a result, it is becoming increasingly popular in films such as The Hobbit.