Tim Moore, CEO at Vu Technologies, discusses emerging trends in the virtual production market
By Contributor
Published: July 8, 2024 Updated: July 11, 2024
Tim Moore, CEO at Vu Technologies, discusses emerging trends in the virtual production market
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> Tim Moore, CEO at Vu Technologies, discusses emerging trends in the virtual production market
https://www.tvbeurope.com/features/opinion-the-state-of-virtual-production title=Share via Email class=share-email>
In the wake of back-to-back labour strikes last year, the media and entertainment industry experienced a decline of historic proportions, with a 52 per cent decrease in production spending compared to the previous year and so much collateral damage that the effects have yet to be fully tallied. However in 2024, virtual production earnings have bounced back, with 35 per cent growth in the corporate and education sector.
But the market is forecasted to be a tale of two cities. As the volatile media and entertainment market continues to stifle investment in the industry, a rising number of corporate and higher education virtual studios will take virtual production technologies to new audiences with different use cases. With compounding disruption and volatile labour markets, radical transformation is quickly approaching.
The continued pace of innovation in the production industry has been relentlessly accelerating with advancements in computer graphics, and new creative workflows that are coming out so quickly it is outpacing the market's ability to commercialise them into viable solutions. With another looming strike on the horizon for M&E, and innovations in generative AI continuing to redefine how content is created, this year is expected to be one of the most transformative years in the industry since the shift to digital in the early 2000s.
We have reached the tipping point of advanced computer graphics We are at a unique moment in time where new innovations in real-time computer graphics and paradigm shifts in AI-powered workflows are allowing creators to make content at super-human speeds. For years, the human brain was the greatest processor in the world, but now there is a new species of AI in town and it's reaching human-like capabilities in almost every category of communication, including visual communication. Computer-generated visuals are so advanced that the human brain can no longer distinguish what's real or not. We have officially reached the tipping point. With new advanced technologies like generative AI and real-time virtual production, photo-realistic imaging is not just a creative aspiration, it's a widely accessible reality.
The AI crash is coming The Gen AI crash is coming, but not every AI company will feel it. Hype cycles are nothing new in the market. They often start when new transformative technologies emerge with a promise to change the world, then speculative investment capital propels the technologies into orbit before they are ready for mass commercialisation, leading to spectacular crashes that decimate large parts of the industry.
In the recent virtual production hype cycle of 2022, there was a bit of a different effect that happened. Fuelled by a huge surge in demand during the pandemic, the virtual production market experienced accelerated growth in 2021-2022, but the forces of gravity set in and eventually brought it right back down the following year. However, unlike some of the other technologies that thrived during the pandemic, virtual production has taken another accelerated upswing this year, suggesting a trajectory we are used to seeing on the long tail of a hype cycle. With virtual production in accelerated growth mode and generative AI now approaching the hype cycle peak, it will be an interesting year to see how the cascade of hype cycles all level out.
Instant is the new norm. A new real-time creative workflow In the past 12 months, new virtual production tools have been introduced to the market on a seemingly monthly basis. New 3D scanning solutions with technologies like NeRFs and Gaussian Splatting are allowing anyone to upload a basic video scan of a location from their phone into applications like Volinga and Luma.ai to create 3D virtual environments in minutes versus weeks. Markerless tracking solutions like Move.ai and Theia3D are replacing bulky, complex body suits with standard consumer cameras to create quick 3D character animations. Generative AI tools like Cuebric and Vu.ai are allowing for real-time virtual background creation for instant on set adjustments. A growing number of studios are migrating to hybrid 3D workflows like 2.5D and 3D depth maps for faster scene creation where full 3D isn't necessary.
Of all these advancements, generative AI for 2D plates seems to be the most adopted workflow as it is the simplest workflow for newcomers to the field to understand, and is often much quicker to create than full 3D environments. Let's not forget about Runway, Sora and Pika Labs all in a race for creating the studio completely in the cloud. And now Google has entered the race with Google VEO, an update to the original Imagine they announced in 2021. These fully synthetic AI text-to video generators will dramatically change the creative workflow as studios are able to instantly generate 2D video plates as virtual backgrounds and in many cases use generated video directly in their edits without ever going to a studio. And all of this technology progress is making virtual production faster, easier and allowing artists to create content at the speed of thought.
Virtual production 2.0: from science experiment to industry standard In the same way that Smart TVs made our lives easier by integrating the media player, internet and stereo system all together, virtual production stud
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Tim Moore, CEO at Vu Technologies, discusses emerging trends in the virtual production market
