^{Ellis Parkinson photographing Provost Michael Arthur for Provost Portrait Competition, 2020}

Equipment Loan Store

A dedicated equipment loan store for students includes a large variety of audio visual equipment to support both the production and display of artwork during term time. This includes:

• Digital stills & video cameras (Canon, Blackmagic, Sony) with an extensive range of Sigma and Canon EF lenses 
• Film stills cameras including 35mm, medium format and large format (Pentax, Mamiya, Horseman, MPP)
• 16mm and Super 8 analogue film cameras (Bolex, Arriflex, Braun Nizo) 
• Sound equipment including portable recorders and various microphones including binaural, induction, hydrophone, contact, shotgun.
• Continuous and flash lighting kits
• Other relevant peripherals such as tripods, gimbals and tracking kits.
• Projectors - Digital and film (35mm slide and 16mm moving image)
• Flat screen and Sony Trinitron cube monitors
• 5.1 speakers kits, audio interfaces as well as small to large powered and passive speaker

Photography Studio

Our large studio is equipped with a full suite of Profoto D2 flashlights and accessories with a tethered camera workstation. The room also includes a large space to document 2D wall hung artworks, various paper backdrops, a product table and a cubelite.

Flat Copy

This room is dedicated to top-down documentation of 2D artworks to a professional standard using Profoto D2 flashlights and a tethered camera workstation.

Photographic Darkrooms

There are 4 black and white Devere enlarger workstations capable of printing up to 20” x 24” prints from 35mm up to 5” x 4” large format negatives. Each room has a large sink with all necessary trays, measuring and washing equipment and drying area provided. There is also a dedicated space for the development of black and white film negatives from 35mm up to 5” x 4”. Ilford chemicals for standard processes are provided.

Sound Studio

The studio contains a sound isolated recording booth and wide range of software and plug-ins/VSTs including Waves, Native Instruments etc. Keyboards and synthesiser equipment including a Make Noise eurorack system. Full 5.1 Surround speaker set up.

Video/Green Screen Studio

The video studio has pull-down and portable systems for green screen and other colour backdrops. Equipped with a set-in-place, live-operable Blackmagic camera and microphone set-up. Capable of livestreaming.

Film Edit Suite

Equipped with a 16mm and a Super 8 Steenbeck editing desk for manual editing and preparation of analogue films. 

Laser Cutter

Large bed size capable of cutting and etching acrylic, paper and wood materials. 

3D Printing

We have two FFM 3D printers capable of printing PLA material. Great for fabricating and prototyping 3D objects and designing small parts.

Computer Workstations

The Slade maintains several computer suites that are equipped with high powered Mac and PC workstations. All workstations are equipped with HDR, colour-balanced monitors and software includes:

• Adobe CC Suite (Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, InDesign, et al.)
• Additional Video editing software including Final Cut and DaVinci Resolve
• 3D and VFX software such as After Effects, Cinema 4D, ZBrush, Blender
• Audio software such as Logic Pro and Ableton
• Open source software including micro-controller support and Maker workflows e.g Arduino IDE, Raspberry Pi
• CAD and 3D Printing software including Autodesk and Ultimaker Cura
• Interactive environment software such as Unreal Engine, Godot, Unity

Software requirements are regularly reviewed and students have opportunities to feedback to technical and teaching staff through a dedicated ‘Media Users Group’ 

There is also a range of peripherals available including:

• Epson A3 and A4 flatbed scanners 
• Wacom touch-screen workstations 
• Hasselblad X5 film scanner for 35mm, Medium Format and Large Format stills
• Animation stand equipped with Dragonframe software 
• DV/miniDV system for digitising legacy tape media including VHS

^{Print studio, Slade Summer School 2017, photo Mary Hinkley}

The Slade’s printmaking workshop has facilities for most forms of printmaking and bookbinding. Inductions and workshops are run regularly by technical and academic staff, and there is a full-time technician in the area for day-to-day support and advice.

Intaglio

The studio is equipped for all forms of intaglio printmaking including:

• traditional hard & soft ground etching, aquatint and photo-etching on copper and aluminium plates
• three etching presses, up to a maximum plate size of 700 x 1000 mm

Screen printing

• 3 vacuum tables for printing up to A0 in scale, and bench top printing units for small scale (up to A3) printing and garment printing
• UV-LED exposure unit and backlit stencil processing / washout unit
• water-based ink system

Screens can be booked for individual use and range in size from A3 up to A0 in a variety of mesh types.

Relief Print

• Albion Press
• Proofing press with mechanical inking system

The area is equipped with rollers and glass surfaces for inking wood or linocuts as well as various forms of monoprinting with both oil-based and water-based inks.

Lithography

• Motorised direct press for printing from stone or plate.
• Facility for grinding and graining of stones.
• A stock of litho stones in a variety of sizes.

Bookbinding

The Slade has a bindery which is equipped for most forms of book and publication production, with nipping presses, finishing presses and associated hand tools.

• Perfect binder for hot-glue paperback bindings
• Power guillotine for trimming books and paper
• Foiling press
• Creasing machine
• Board cutter

Risograph

• Riso MZ-770 for high speed, low cost printing up to A3 in scale
• Printing from digital files or directly scanned originals
• 5 colour drums available

Digital Print

• Epson large format inkjet printer for high quality pigment prints up to 44” / 1118mm in width
• Epson inkjet for smaller formats up to 17” / 432mm width rolls or A2 sheets
• Colorwave printer for economical colour printing on uncoated papers up to 42” in width, and an integrated scanner for originals up to 914 mm in width
• Colour managed workflow for printing on stock papers
• X-Rite i1 spectrophotometer for custom profiling

^{Sculpture workshop, 2024, photo Roisin de Cogan}

The workshop has a wide range of metal-working, wood working, casting and moulding, plastic and ceramic facilities which includes: 

Metal working 

• Forging facilities
• Welding equipment – Including MIG and TIG
• Bending, cutting and rolling equipment
• A metal lathe
• A sandblaster

Wood working 

• Cutting and shaping equipment including saws, planer and sanders
• Drills
• A range of hand power tools
• Hand tools

Casting and moulding

• A dedicated wax working area
• A dedicated moulding bench

Plastic

• Vacuum formers
• Hot wire cutter for polystyrene
• Line bender for rigid plastics

Ceramics

• A dedicated ceramics bench is available with basic tools
• A tabletop throwing wheel
• The ceramic kiln runs weekly bisque and earthenware firings. Specialist temperature firings are also available regularly, on request.

There are three part-time technicians and one full-time workshop manager to offer skills workshops, day to day support, and supervision. Booked slots and on the day drop-in slots are available weekdays throughout term. Skill workshops are booked in advance and offer small group learning in areas such as:

• Bronze casting
• Stretcher making
• Welding
• Woodwork
• Slip casting ceramics 

Slade students have access to all UCL libraries and study spaces, but the principal print collection for Fine Art and History of Art is in the Main Library, just a few seconds walk from the Slade. It has a dedicated Art Subject Librarian, Liz Lawes. The Art collection comprises books, exhibition catalogues, magazines and audio-visual material relating to the history and theory of Fine Art practice, art criticism, film theory, performance, and photography. Take an online tour of the Main Library to see the Art reading room and find information on Getting Started with UCL Library Services.

The Library also has extensive online collections of ebooks and ejournals, as well as numerous bibliographic databases in all arts, humanities and social science subjects. Databases also include those that stream film, including arthouse cinema, TV and radio broadcasts. The Art Subject Guide lists all the most relevant resources and gives links to training materials on literature searching and reference management. The Library’s print and electronic collections can be searched using Explore, the online catalogue. LibrarySkills@UCL offers an extensive collection of quides and training courses to develop your library and information literacy skills and help you make the best use of UCL’s libraries and resources.

The Library’s Special Collections also holds the Small Press Collections, consisting of Little Magazines (self-published experimental literature), the Poetry Store (small edition pamphlets and ephemeral items featuring avant-garde writing and visual work), the Alternative Presses (underground newspapers with a political/countercultural emphasis), and a collection of reference material relating to the history of small press activity in the twentieth century.

^{Testing Ground, UCL Art Museum, photo © Hydar Dewachi}

The collections consist of many unique groups of material of international importance dating from the 1490s to the present day. A selection of these is on permanent display in the public and semi-public rooms in the college, including paintings, sculptures and murals. Works in the reserve collections are available for viewing by appointment. These include prize-winning student work from the Slade School of Fine Art, prints and drawings by old master artists such as Dürer, Rembrandt, Turner and Constable, and sculpture models by the renowned Neo-Classical artist John Flaxman – the largest group of works by this sculptor in any collection. 

UCL Information Systems provides central IT facilities, cluster rooms and network, together with a wide range of IT support activities and training. All students are issued with their own computer account including email when they enrol.