NFTS enhances facilities with extensive Dolby upgrade

The National Film and Television School (NFTS) has announced an extension of its partnership with Dolby, enhancing its facilities with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision upgrades.

All three of the school’s dubbing theatres and its 10 sound design suites will feature Dolby Atmos, combining with its existing Dolby Atmos-equipped cinema, aiming to provide students with an end-to-end facility to develop, mix and experience immersive sound technology and workflows. The grading suites will be equipped wth Dolby Vision, enabling films to be delivered in Dolby Vision HDR.

The School’s grading suites will also be equipped with Dolby Vision to enable students to deliver their films in Dolby Vision HDR.

In January, the NTFS will add 25,000 sq ft of teaching space when it opens The Cubby Broccoli Building, increasing student capacity by 25 per cent. Supporting both new and existing areas of training, the building will feature technologies across virtual production, motion capture and real time innovations to cutting-edge VFX, animation, sound and post production facilities, said the organisation.

In addition to the infrastructure upgrade, students will learn how to create in Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, with Dolby-supplied materials and workshops integrated into the curriculum. Ongoing technical collaboration and faculty training aims to ensure students graduate with appropriate practical experience in immersive audio and HDR workflows.

Jon Wardle, director of the National Film and Television School, said, “Our ambition is for the NFTS to be the most technologically advanced film school in the world, giving our students access to facilities, equipment and workflows that match those being used across the industry. This major Dolby Atmos upgrade is another important step towards that goal. By embedding this technology across our sound design suites, dubbing theatres and cinema, students will have the opportunity to work with immersive sound throughout the entire creative process. But this investment is about much more than one technology.

From virtual production and real-time filmmaking to VFX, animation and post-production, we are continually investing in the tools and environments our students need to push creative boundaries and enter the industry, ready to shape its future. We are immensely grateful to Dolby for their investment and the amazing new capabilities the upgrades will provide for our students and their work.”

John Couling, senior vice president, entertainment at Dolby, added, “One of the most effective ways to support the future of the creative industries is to invest in education today. By integrating Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision into both the learning environment and curriculum, we’re helping students develop the technical expertise, creative confidence and practical understanding of professional workflows they’ll need throughout their careers. This collaboration supports NFTS’ ambition to be one of the world’s most technologically advanced film schools while helping ensure graduates are ready to contribute from day one. We can’t wait to see the work that comes out of NFTS in the years ahead and are proud to play a role in developing the industry’s future talent pipeline.”