Image shows student dj-ing in virtual environment

DJ assessments with a difference

25 July 2023

Final year students on BA (Hons) Digital Music recently had the fantastic opportunity to take part in a totally unique end of year DJ assessment.

Instead of handing in the traditional audio mix-tape project, students were entered into a ‘virtual’ world, using a TV studio kitted out with a 'Mosys' camera tracking system which enabled tracking of the camera movements, with Unreal engine custom backgrounds – the kind of thing regularly seen on BBC News and the Olympic Games.

Supported by staff and students from television degrees, the team filmed the DJs in a green screen area in real time and projected them into a virtual space. Students then received a video file of themselves performing in the virtual world, which could then be used for their own promotion after completing their studies.

Steve Middleton, Technical Instructor for Audio and Music, said, “This unique opportunity enabled students to showcase their skills in an end of year assessment that was like nothing else we've done before. Being a DJ myself for many years I feel this innovative project would give students confidence outside of their comfort zones working in a multi-disciplinary TV studio environment. We’re really excited to continue building on this in future years.”

Ian Williamson, Technical Instructor for TV, said, "It’s a fantastic opportunity to show what the studios are capable of and working across the courses to produce something quite stunning."

External examiners also praised the innovative nature of this assessment, explaining, “The use of innovative filming VP techniques to capture the DJ performances not only makes for a novel and effective assessment method, but also an incredibly useful source of portfolio content for the students.”