Best VFX Studios in Dublin (2026)

Introduction

Dublin has a compact VFX market, and the 7 studios below are the ones we could confirm as active in the city in 2026. They range from SSVFX, whose credits include Shōgun and The Penguin, to post houses running their own VFX departments.

The past two years reshaped the local map. Windmill Lane, one of the founders of Ireland’s VFX association, closed in early 2025, and two of its senior executives started Elephant Goldfish with the UK’s Molinare Creative Group that June. Ed Bruce and Nicholas Murphy left SSVFX and announced Enbarr in April 2026. Screen Global Production reported the same month that the Irish government had raised VFX tax relief to as much as 40%, from the standard Section 481 rate of 32%.

Every studio here shows a Dublin or Greater Dublin base, and we checked each one against its own site or trade coverage. We kept the list short because the market is small. It is unranked, since the right choice depends on the scale of the show, the shot count and how you like to work.

The best VFX studios in Dublin

1. SSVFX

Part of the Screen Scene group · Merrion Square · ssvfx.ie

SSVFX was founded in 2010 and is the visual effects arm of the Dublin post group Screen Scene, led by President and CEO Jake Walshe. VFX Voice described it in 2025 as the largest Irish firm of its kind. The studio lists 2 Emmy wins and 4 VES Award wins, and it spent 16 months with 150 people building Osaka for Shōgun.

Its site currently features One Battle After Another, Anemone, The Boroughs, Man on Fire and Peacemaker. One Battle After Another and Anemone were both nominated in the VFX category at the IFTAs in February 2026. Earlier credits include 3 Body Problem and The Penguin. Two senior names left to found Enbarr, so it is worth asking who would supervise your show.

2. EGG Post Production & VFX

Founder-led · Dún Laoghaire · egg.ie

Editors Gary Shortall and Gareth Young founded EGG in 2004 and remain joint CEOs. Picture post runs from Fitzwilliam Street Upper, while the VFX team has its own 70-seat site in Dún Laoghaire covering 2D and 3D work, with a CG department focused on FX and environments. EGG is a founding member of Ireland’s VFX association and announced a partnership with the US studio Crafty Apes in December 2023.

Credits include Good Omens, Doctor Who, The Woman King and Bodies, and the company names Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Sony and the BBC as clients. Having editorial, sound and VFX under one company suits drama producers who would rather not split post across several vendors.

3. Enbarr

Part of Dream Machine FX Group · Dublin · launch announcement

Enbarr was announced in April 2026 with its headquarters in Dublin, founded by Ed Bruce (executive creative director) and Nicholas Murphy (business director). Both previously worked at SSVFX and won Emmys for Shōgun, and Bruce won a second for The Penguin. He also had two nominations in the VFX category at the February 2026 IFTAs, for One Battle After Another and Foundation.

The studio offers services from CG environments to ageing and de-ageing work, and can draw on Dream Machine partner studios in Sweden, Spain and North America. Those credits belong to the founders, since Enbarr is new and has yet to publish a body of its own work. It plans to work with Screen Ireland on developing emerging digital artists.

4. Elephant Goldfish

In partnership with Molinare Creative Group · Docklands · elephantgoldfish.com

Deborah Doherty and John Kennedy, both formerly senior at Windmill Lane, launched Elephant Goldfish in June 2025 in partnership with Molinare. The studio is in The Freight Building on Sheriff Street Upper, away from the Georgian streets where Dublin post has traditionally clustered, and it links to London through remote workflows. It offers VFX, colour, audio and editing.

Its site lists VFX work on Doctor Who Season Two, Wednesday Season 2, American Primeval and Lee Cronin’s The Mummy. Kennedy runs the VFX side as managing director and VFX supervisor, having built up Windmill Lane’s VFX division. The launch coverage also reported work with Blumhouse on two features.

5. PiranhaBar

Partner-led · Fitzwilliam Square · piranhabar.ie

PiranhaBar has been operating for about 25 years and has grown from a post house into a creative studio covering animation, VFX, post and live action. It was one of the founders of Ireland’s VFX association. Richard Chaney is partner and creative head of studio, and the company has an Epic Games MegaGrant for a project blending 3D animation with live action in Unreal Engine.

Its VFX team worked on Sky’s Small Town Big Story and Netflix’s Bodkin, and its wider client list includes Heineken, Three Mobile, Virgin Media and Juventus. It is a practical option for brands and broadcasters who want animation, VFX and finishing from the same building.

6. Outer Limits

Boutique post house · Dún Laoghaire · outerlimits.ie

Outer Limits Post Production was founded in 2013 and works from 13,000 sq. ft. in Dún Laoghaire, specialising in colour and visual effects for features, drama and documentaries. Andy Clarke, who has more than 20 years in animation and VFX, heads the VFX department. The pipeline is set out on its site: Maya, Houdini, Unreal Engine, Redshift and Nuke, with ShotGrid for production tracking.

Credits include The Surfer, Kneecap, Normal People and Small Town Big Story, with clients such as Amazon Studios, Netflix, the BBC and Hulu. Its site also describes on-premises security measures for Amazon shows, including logged key-card access and cameras, which is useful detail for productions with vendor security checks.

7. Milk VFX

Phantom Media Group · Dublin 2 · milk-vfx.com

Milk is a London-headquartered VFX house with studios in Bordeaux, Barcelona and Dublin. It officially opened the Dublin studio in Grafter’s Ely House in early 2024, with the NBC series Surviving Earth as its first project, and the team works on feature and episodic projects alongside the other studios.

Ciaran Crowley was named as creative head of the Dublin studio in 2025 trade coverage. Donal Nolan, who was announced in that role at the opening, won a 2023 IFTA for VFX on The Woman King, a Milk project. The structure suits productions that want Section 481 spend in Ireland with access to a larger international team, though it is worth asking how much of a show would be done in Dublin.

What to look for in a Dublin VFX studio

Start with the scale of the show. SSVFX has built its name on large episodic work, while studios such as Outer Limits and PiranhaBar also handle Irish drama, smaller features and branded work. Ask for shots comparable to yours in complexity, and ask which of them were made in the Dublin studio.

Get the tax position in writing early. Section 481 is a main reason international productions bring VFX to Ireland, and trade coverage says post and VFX can qualify without a shoot in the country. The rate has moved recently, with reports of up to 40% for VFX against a standard 32%, so have your production accountant confirm what your project qualifies for and how the studio’s bid accounts for it.

Check names as well as logos. Senior people moved between Dublin studios in 2025 and 2026, and many of the credits on new studios’ sites come from their founders’ earlier jobs. It is reasonable to ask who will supervise the show, who will produce it and how many artists are in Dublin for its duration.

Then look at how the studio handles shot review and data. Dublin vendors often work with US clients remotely, so review is usually done across time zones. Ask how versions are shared, how notes are recorded against a frame or timecode, and how those notes are closed out. Ask also which security requirements the facility already works to, particularly on streaming shows.

How Fabric helps VFX teams

Fabric gives a VFX team one workspace for its files, review notes and production knowledge, with AI search across all of it. It sits alongside compositing software and production tracking tools, holding the material around the shots. Fabric for creative teams covers the wider setup, usually with one space per show.

Renders, plates and references can live in Fabric’s cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space, and shared team folders keep the latest versions in one place. There is more on this in your rendering files need a home.

For shot review, share a file or folder with the client or supervisor as a commenter, which works through a shared link without sign-up. They can leave timestamped comments on video, draw on the frame to point at a specific problem, or draw on stills and attach a comment to the drawing. The team marks each comment completed as the note is addressed, so a round of feedback works like a checklist. Review and approval describes the workflow in full.

Search works by meaning across documents, images and transcribed recordings, and results jump to the page or timestamp, which helps when a director’s note from a spotting session needs finding months later. Similar search surfaces images with related composition, colour and subject when an artist needs references from past shows.

For finished reels and bid materials, any file or folder can be published as a web page, view-only and with optional download, and protected with a password. Fabric uses AES-256 encryption and holds CASA Tier 2, and data is not used to train AI models. Whether that meets the requirements of a given show is a decision for your security team and the studio client.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is the best VFX studio in Dublin?

It depends on the show. On awards, SSVFX has the longest record, with 2 Emmy wins and 4 VES Award wins listed on its site. Enbarr’s founders won Emmys on Shōgun and The Penguin before setting up their own studio in 2026, and EGG has a long list of international drama credits.

What happened to Windmill Lane?

Windmill Lane, founded in 1978, closed in early 2025. Deadline attributed the closure to the 2023 US writers’ and actors’ strikes and an erosion in the competitiveness of Ireland’s VFX tax credit. Former executives Deborah Doherty and John Kennedy went on to launch Elephant Goldfish.

Do I need to shoot in Ireland to use Section 481 for VFX?

Trade coverage of the Elephant Goldfish launch says post and VFX can qualify independently, so a production need not shoot in Ireland. Your accountant and the relevant Irish authorities should confirm eligibility and the rate for your project, as this list is a general guide.

Should I choose a VFX specialist or a post house with a VFX department?

A specialist such as SSVFX or Enbarr suits shows with heavy, complex shot counts. A post house with its own VFX team, such as EGG or Outer Limits, can suit drama with a moderate shot count, where keeping editorial, colour and VFX together simplifies delivery. Our list of post-production companies in Dublin covers the full-service houses.

Do Dublin VFX studios work on commercials?

Some do, though much of the market leans towards film and episodic work. PiranhaBar has the clearest commercial and branded focus on this list, and the launch coverage of Elephant Goldfish names advertising in its remit. Brands that also need a shoot can start with our list of video production companies in Dublin.

Related lists

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

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

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for creative teams · Fabric for video editors · Review and approval