Mr Tobby Kan Shiu-tao (right 2), Senior Lecturer of the Department of Digital Arts and Creative Industries, and his research team.
Lingnan University develops CineSim, the first free cinematography simulation education software of the higher education sector. It has realistic preset 3D street scene templates, so that film-making can be learnt easily through a simulated environment on computers, without studios or professional photography equipment.
Mr Tobby Kan Shiu-tao, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Digital Arts and Creative Industries at Lingnan University, who led the development of CineSim, said that the team had to overcome many challenges during the research and development process, and had invited 200 Lingnan students to provide feedback on their usage experience and repeated testing and optimisation. He explained “CineSim is one of the few creative Edtech products developed by a local academic institution that has been successfully commercialised. It addresses the pain point of many students, who have ideas and stories but lack equipment, drawing skills, and a platform. The University research team identifies the needs of film-making beginners, transforming complex processes, including lighting design, cinematography, and scene setting into an easily mastered, user-friendly, interactive, professional learning tool.”
Developed by Unreal Engine 5, CineSim allows the creation of film content with 15 realistic preset 3D environment templates, including nostalgic scenes from Hong Kong’s bing sutt, and public housing. It has adjustable lighting and camera settings, supporting day-night environment transitions showing how to shape light and create atmosphere. Users can control camera angles and framing easily, and adjust character postures and movements, enabling them to master essential skills in image creation, such as shooting composition and scene building. They can also export videos for display or educational purposes. Additionally, the full version of CineSim adds Fbx 3D import functionality, allowing users to create 3D models with AI and then import them into CineSim to design their own film scenes in a gamified environment.
Mr Kan added that CineSim has significantly lowered the threshold and cost of studying film-making, and even in schools with limited resources all students now have the opportunity to learn. CineSim allows independent production studios and creators shooting simulation and previs, and, by simply using basic drag and drop methods, film shots can be presented as animations, eliminating complicated processes and the time previously required for a hand-drawn storyboard, and also greatly reducing the labour costs and expenses of renting professional photography equipment. He emphasised that “CineSim combines educational functions with creative thinking training, the visual arts and computer studies, and it supports interdisciplinaryteaching by showing students how to master film language and production techniques at the same time as advancing local creative and technological education.”
To further explore the potential of the international market, the research team is holding teaching cooperation programmes with secondary schools and tertiary institutions, providing demonstration classes and on-campus workshops tailored to the needs of each school. It is also exploring possibilities of collaborating with commercial organisations, offering industry training programs and technical support to promote education in film production. The team has also set up a series of tutorial videos on YouTube. They are currently developing the CineSim Virtual Reality (VR) version, which should be released in 2026, so that through immersive VR technology, users can simulate real-world scenes with a VR headset to practise film photography and scene design.
