The Mandalorian S1 | Virtual Art Department

Scaling Virtual Art Departments Across Star Wars

Leading environment design and shaping Lucasfilm’s early virtual art department workflow with Unreal Engine.

I served as VAD Supervisor on The Mandalorian Season 1, Lucasfilm’s first major step into virtual production, helping lead environment design and establish the foundation for the Virtual Art Department. I helped bridge traditional production design with Unreal Engine workflows, shaping how virtual environments were developed and used.

Working closely with Production Designer Andrew Jones and DP Greig Fraser, I helped build and lead the virtual set reviews - guiding directors, producers, and designers through virtual sets both in-engine and in VR. What began as a proof of concept quickly evolved into a working pipeline that expanded into larger teams in later seasons.

High-end Previs as Production Foundation

We built high-quality Unreal environments for VFX handoff, culminating in a Shot Bible used as the on-set visual blueprint.

Felix sitting in one of the sets of The Mandalorian Season 1

Lighting review with Greig Fraser (Copy)

Greig Fraser and Safari lighting Peli’s Hangar

Safari walking around one of the sets from Nevarro in The Mandalorian Season 1

Safari in front of the LED volume on the set of The Mandalorian Season 1

Photo of a set on the LED volume

The Key Creatives (Production Designer Andrew Jones, and VFX Supervisor Richard Blufff) checking out the virtual sets for Arvala

Photo of a set on the LED volume

Jon Favreau in a virtual location scout exploring one of the sets

Production schedule and sets

VAD bid and schedule

Photo of the Nevarro set on the backlot

Photo of the Nevarro set on the backlot

Photo of the Nevarro set dressing on the backlot

Photo of the Nevarro set on the backlot

Photo of the Nevarro set on the backlot, with Production Designer Andrew Jones checking out a piece of set dressing

White card miniature model of Nevarro for planning scenes

Photo of a set on the LED volume

Safari taking photos for photogrammetry for miniature pieces

Some of the VAD crew watching a virtual location scout

Large photogrammetry structure

Reconstruction of the photogrammetry structure

Image rendered from Unreal Engine from a camera placed by Grieg Fraser

Image rendered from Unreal Engine from a camera placed by Grieg Fraser

Image rendered from Unreal Engine from a camera placed by Grieg Fraser

Image rendered from Unreal Engine from a camera placed by Grieg Fraser

Image rendered from Unreal Engine from a camera placed by Grieg Fraser

Screenshot of one of the mud walls Safari sculpted for Arvala Mudlands in The Mandalorian Season 1

Sarah Delucchi watching Safari and Grieg Fraser in a prelight

A reference picture of one of the sets in The Mandalorian Season 1

A reference picture of one of the sets in The Mandalorian Season 1

A reference picture of one of the sets in The Mandalorian Season 1

A reference picture of one of the sets in The Mandalorian Season 1

A reference picture of one of the sets in The Mandalorian Season 1

A miniature of the Blurg creature in The Mandalorian Season 1

A reference picture of one of the sets in The Mandalorian Season 1

Season 1 focused on high-quality previs built for VFX handoff, with direction coming directly from the production designer. We developed these environments in Unreal Engine while ensuring they fit within a traditional VFX and physical production pipeline - a key step toward what would become modern ICVFX workflows.

One of our key deliverables was a printed Virtual Art Department Bible, used on set as the primary reference for how each scene should look, helping align departments across production.

TEAM

VAD Supervisor: Felix Jorge

VAD LEAD: Safari Sosebee

COLLABORATORS

Producers:
Jon Favreau (also showrunner); others included Dave Filoni and Kathleen Kennedy

Directors:
Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Rick Famuyiwa, Bryce Dallas Howard, Deborah Chow, Robert Rodriguez

Production Designer: Andrew L. Jones; lead of visual art department Doug Chiang

Cinematographers:
Greig Fraser, Barry “Baz” Idoine

PROJECT DETAILS

160+ Virtual Stage Walks With Production Designer

70+ Prelight & Camera Blocking Sessions With DP For Techviz

40+ Virtual Location Scouts With Key Decision Makers

10 Virtual Art Department Artist

6 Months Of Set Design

12 Hero Sets With Multiple Variants

45+ Set Variants

65+ Set Dressing Assets scanned

70+ Lighting Scenarios

300+ Cameras Placed