Best VFX Studios in Melbourne (2026)

Introduction

Melbourne has seven VFX studios worth a shortlist in 2026, ranging from the local arms of global feature houses to studios built around commercials, games cinematics and motion work. Between them they cover film and episodic shots, creature and character work, CG product films and broadcast campaigns.

The city’s VFX base has grown on the back of large local shoots. Framestore’s Melbourne team worked on Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, and Michael Gracey’s Better Man became the largest film ever shot in Victoria. In April 2025 the Victorian Government announced that Wētā FX would turn its temporary Better Man facility into a permanent Australian headquarters in Abbotsford, with up to 80 new roles. Framestore Melbourne, the former Iloura and Method Studios team, has been adding staff for features such as Together and War Machine. Several smaller names that once worked out of Melbourne no longer show an active studio.

Every studio here has a working Melbourne studio in 2026. Full-service post houses sit on our post-production list, so this page sticks to VFX specialists. The list is unranked, since the right studio depends on whether you are delivering a feature, a series or a 30-second spot.

The best VFX studios in Melbourne

1. Framestore Melbourne

Part of Framestore · Melbourne · framestore.com

Framestore Melbourne is the city’s longest-running large VFX team. It began as Iloura, became Method Studios Melbourne, and joined Framestore’s global network in 2022, moving fully onto Framestore’s pipeline in January 2023. Lara Hopkins leads the studio after four years at Industrial Light & Magic, and VFX supervisor Dan Bethell has joined its creative leadership.

Its credits include Elvis, Three Thousand Years of Longing and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, plus creature work on Ted and Borderlands. Recent slates include Michael Shanks’ Together and Patrick Hughes’ War Machine. The studio runs Framestore’s paid Launchpad internship locally, and it was taking expressions of interest for 2026 roles.

2. Wētā FX

Part of Wētā FX (Wellington) · Abbotsford · wetafx.co.nz

Wētā FX, the Wellington studio founded by Peter Jackson, set up a temporary Melbourne facility for Better Man, which earned a 2025 Academy Award nomination for visual effects. In April 2025 it announced a permanent Australian headquarters in Abbotsford, backed by the Victorian Government, with up to 80 roles across production and animation. VicScreen lists it among the state’s VFX facilities.

The studio brings the pipeline behind The Lord of the Rings, Avatar: The Way of Water and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. It suits large film and episodic work with digital characters. For a smaller project, ask how the Melbourne team is staffed and which work is handled in Wellington.

3. Luma Pictures

Independent · Southbank · lumapictures.com

Luma Pictures is an independent VFX studio founded in Venice, California in 2002, with studios in Santa Monica, Vancouver and Southbank. The Melbourne studio has been part of Luma for more than a decade and was hiring senior lighting and FX artists in 2026.

Its feature credits include Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Prometheus. It added an advertising offering in 2015. Ask which parts of a project will sit with the Southbank team, as work is shared across the three studios.

4. Alt.vfx

Independent · South Melbourne · altvfx.com

Alt.vfx runs studios in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles and Tokyo. Its Melbourne studio sits on Tates Place in South Melbourne, in a space shared with the editing company ARC EDIT, set up to serve Victorian agencies and production companies.

Most of its work is advertising, for brands such as Westpac, Telstra, Tourism Australia, Allianz Care, Kia and Toyota GR with McDonald’s. It also works in long-form, with credits on Deadloch Season 2, Alice in Borderland Season 3 and Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. Creature, character, car and motion capture reels are on its site.

5. FIN VFX

Part of Dream Machine FX · Melbourne · findesign.com.au

FIN was established in 2001 and marked its 25th year in June 2026. It now has studios in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Ballina and the Gold Coast, which opened in November 2025, and it belongs to Dream Machine FX, a group of VFX studios that also includes Important Looking Pirates and Zero VFX. FIN won the 2022 AACTA Award for Best Visual Effects for Elvis.

Recent credits include Alien: Earth, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Murderbot, M3GAN 2.0 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, alongside trailer work for Lanterns and The Beekeeper 2. FIN also has an advertising reel. Confirm which studio will lead your project, as the Melbourne team works within a five-studio group.

6. Sequence Melbourne

Part of The Sequence Group · Collingwood · thesequencegroup.com

Sequence Melbourne is the Australian studio of The Sequence Group, a Vancouver company working in animation, design and VFX for advertising, film and games. Creative director and partner Luke Bicevskis leads the Collingwood team, which works on the group’s international projects and serves Australian and Asian clients.

The group is best known for game cinematics and work on established franchises, with recent projects for Borderlands 4, Magic: The Gathering’s Duskmourn: House of Horror and Minecraft Legends, plus Xbox Series X|S launch advertising. The Melbourne team contributed to the animated feature Halo: The Fall of Reach. It suits briefs that sit between CG animation and VFX.

7. Studio Pancho

Independent · Melbourne · pancho.com.au

Studio Pancho is a Melbourne studio producing motion, VFX and CGI for campaigns, broadcast, brand systems and entertainment. VicScreen lists it among Victoria’s VFX and post-production studios.

Its portfolio includes BMW’s M3 “40 Years” campaign, Nike’s “Runners Helping Runners”, a Super Mario celebration for Nintendo, and work for the Sydney Opera House, HOYTS, McDonald’s, NAB, Mazda and Foxtel. The mix of automotive CG, motion branding and campaign VFX suits agency briefs that need several deliverables from one studio.

What to look for in a Melbourne VFX studio

Match the studio to the format first. Framestore, Wētā FX, Luma and FIN are built for feature and episodic pipelines, with departments for creatures, environments and lighting. Alt.vfx and Studio Pancho spend most of their time on commercials, where turnarounds are short and the agency relationship matters as much as the shot count.

Ask where the work will be done. Several studios here share projects across cities or countries, which can bring more artists to a deadline. It also means the supervisor you meet in Melbourne may be coordinating artists elsewhere, so ask who will run your shots day to day.

Check incentive eligibility early on film and series work. VicScreen’s programmes and the federal post, digital and visual effects offset can change where a production places its VFX, and the studio’s producers should be able to say how much of the work counts as Victorian spend.

Finally, agree how shots, plates and versions will move between production, editorial and the studio. VFX projects generate large volumes of render files, EXR sequences and review exports, and a clear shared structure for plates, versions and notes saves time once shots go into review rounds.

How Fabric helps VFX teams

Fabric gives a VFX team one workspace for plates, renders, reference and production notes, with AI search across all of it. The creative team setup works well for a studio running several shows at once, with one space per project for briefs, plates, look development and client feedback.

Heavy files sit in Fabric’s cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space, and large media opens without a full download. There is more on organising output in why your rendering files need a home. Search works by meaning across documents, images and transcribed audio and video, and similar search finds reference that matches a frame’s composition, colour and subject.

For client delivery, any file or folder can be published as a web page and protected with a password. Supervisors and clients can leave threaded comments on any file through a shared link without creating an account. Reviewers can leave timestamped comments on video and draw on any video frame. The review and approval workflow shows how teams run rounds.

Production calls can be recorded and transcribed, with transcripts searchable alongside the rest of the project, and a Kanban board can turn a shots folder into a pipeline where each card is the file itself.

Password protection is included on Pro and Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best VFX studio in Melbourne?

It depends on the project. For feature and episodic work, Framestore Melbourne and Wētā FX have the largest local teams and the deepest film credits. For advertising, Alt.vfx and Studio Pancho focus on commercials and CG product work.

What happened to Method Studios Melbourne?

Method Studios Melbourne, formerly Iloura, became part of Framestore in 2022 and has worked as Framestore Melbourne on Framestore’s pipeline since January 2023.

Does Wētā FX have a studio in Melbourne?

Yes. Wētā FX set up in Melbourne for Better Man and announced a permanent Australian headquarters in Abbotsford in April 2025, with up to 80 roles in production and animation.

Do Melbourne VFX studios work on commercials?

Yes. Alt.vfx and Studio Pancho do mostly advertising work, FIN and Sequence keep advertising reels, and Luma has offered advertising work since 2015. Agencies often book a VFX studio alongside an editor and colourist.

Where can I find full-service post-production in Melbourne?

Studios that handle editing, grading, sound and delivery under one roof are on our list of post-production companies in Melbourne. Those houses often partner with the VFX studios above.

Related lists

VFX studios in other cities: Sydney · New York · London · Los Angeles · Toronto

More in Melbourne: Creative agencies · Post-production · Animation · Colour grading · Video production

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for creative teams · Best video asset management tools · Best creative proofing tools