Unlocking 3D Digital Practice in Hair, Makeup and Prosthetics for Performances in Virtual Production

Project partners: London College of Fashion, Copper Candle, Imogen Fox, Anette Ollerearnshaw

XR Network+ has supported a research and development collaboration between London College of Fashion (LFC), live virtual events makers, Copper Candle, digital designer Imogen Fox, and undergraduate students from BA Hair, Makeup and Prosthetics for Performance at LCF.

The project looked at how the design and application of hair, make-up and prosthetics could be effectively translated from physical spaces to digital ones to create engaging and innovative characters for live, interactive events, such as those in Fortnite. This was achieved by developing and testing a new workflow, or “pipeline”, that enables hair and make-up practitioners to work across both physical and digital contexts. 

Training for this was delivered through a series of workshops with students at LCF. The pipeline was then tested when participants were tasked with designing the digital hair, digital make-up and prosthetics for a character from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. This required collaboration with physical performers and a choreographer to create a digital interactive experience that will be made available via the Fortnite game. 

This successful collaboration has established that 3D content creation tools can be adapted for the specialist needs of hair and make-up design, opening up opportunities for practitioners working in physical media to expand their skills into virtual spaces. With theatre, dance and music increasingly taking place in 3D online environments, there is now both an artistic and economic need for professionals who can work across both mediums.

This project is one of four initiatives supported by the XR Network+ Prototyping, Impact and Acceleration (PIA) round two funding call. Grants of up to £10,000 were awarded to researchers at UK universities to develop new ideas and complete existing research related to Virtual Production. The projects took place over a six month period, commencing from September 2024.

Image credit to University of the Arts London, London College of Fashion. Behind the scenes shot of IJAD Dancers, hair and make-up creatives and technical crew virtual production testing in the UAL XR Research Lab, London College of Fashion.

Categories: Arts, Games, Performance, Research, Technology