In response to the exponential growth of the digital content sector and local gaming, animation, media and entertainment industries, the government is taking into consideration the ample potential of these industries as core pillars of the digital economy by working through the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to bolster the development of these industries.
Over the years, MDEC has introduced several policies and initiatives to spur innovation across the digital content ecosystem and creative industries — these include the Digital Content Creators Challenge (D3), Digital Content Grant, as well as its regional industry events, LEVEL UP KL and Kre8tif!.
More recently, the Malaysian government outlined plans in its Digital Economy Blueprint to develop the country into a regional hub for digital content creation by 2030. This is in addition to an investment of RM$46 million to support and encourage hiring and training in the local film and media production across the sector.
Malaysia’s digital content industry is primed for growth. For the country to truly shine and lead on the regional and global stage, however, creators need to leverage next-generation technologies, such as real-time 3D visualization software, to spur innovation. The technology is already revolutionizing the creative development process for creators worldwide, accelerating faster, more collaborative workflows, streamlining development processes, as well as the creation of high-fidelity graphics.
Access to these technologies, in addition to collaborations across the creative ecosystem, will be crucial to bolstering innovation across Malaysia’s creative industries.
Epic Games, creator of Fortnite, is now powering this wave through its Unreal Engine software, and investment into the Malaysia market.
(Projects in gaming (left), films (center), and virtual events (right) are among Unreal Engine’s very real applications, depicting work by Malaysian studios.)
“We believe that Malaysia’s digital content industry holds great potential for growth, and we are proud to play our role in supporting local creators, as well as the development of the wider ecosystem,” shared Sameer Pitalwalla, Business Director, India and Southeast Asia, Epic Games.
“We are rolling out our support for creators in several ways — firstly, democratizing access to next-generation technology with the Unreal Engine, which is free for download. We are also offering a whole gamut of online training initiatives, as well as training and development courses for professionals looking to get started on the Unreal Engine.
“Secondly, we are enabling greater access to talent and expertise across our global network of Unreal creators, technical specialists, and leading industry experts in gaming, animation, film media and entertainment. Lastly, we have schemes like our Epic MegaGrants, which provide capital and funding for creators leveraging Unreal in new and innovative projects. We believe that the possibilities are endless when the right people are paired with the right technologies at their disposal — and with these pillars of support, we aim to lower the barriers to entry for creators to bring their ideas to life like never before,” he added.
“In Malaysia, we are excited to be working with partners like MDEC, and local developer studios like Streamline Media Group, AeonSparx, Ammobox Studios, FrameMotion, Scribble Studios, and Disguise as they create cutting-edge content for a new digital world.”
As Malaysia now looks to accelerate innovation within its digital content industry, one thing is for sure — that its future is bright with real-time 3D creative visualization.
The Unreal Engine 4.27 – A Powerful Upgrade To A Creative Ally
Since its creation, Epic Game’s Unreal Engine has allowed creators across game development, film and television, architecture and more achieve unprecedented visual masterpieces through its suite of high-quality development tools for anyone looking to leverage real-time technology solutions.
Regardless of industry, the Unreal Engine has proven to be a strategic, creative ally for creators and innovators in the digital era. Particularly across typically technical, rigid, and time-intensive industries such as media and entertainment, Unreal has been revolutionary in transforming workflows, enabling users to bring their imaginations and visions to life greater and quicker than ever before.
As the engine continues to develop, the capabilities of the Gaming and Media & Entertainment industry will continue to grow. The Unreal Engine 4.27, which was unveiled earlier in August this year, is introducing powerful new features for creators across game development, animation, film, media and entertainment.
Key highlights include major updates to in-camera visual effects toolsets for virtual production, multi-user editing functions, as well as lighting and ray tracing capabilities that empower creators to create cinematic graphics, and life-like virtual experiences. For many of these applications, the devil is in the details, and Unreal provides an unparalleled level of precision in meeting these needs.
Source: Epic Games