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
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...
22/07/2026
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 22.5 MILLION IN 2025...
22/07/2026
In the Opinion of the Censor airs Monday 27 July at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player
In the Opinion of the Censor looks at how films for theatrical release wer...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
21/07/2026
New research involving a cross-section of Mongolias independent media landscape finds enthusiasm for AI as a tool to improve efficiency, sustainability and resi...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
21/07/2026
In a time of disarray in regional sports broadcasting, the league will provide c...
21/07/2026
When NEP designed one of its largest recurring mobile production unit fleets for PGA TOUR
coverage, the leading media services provider faced a familiar challe...
21/07/2026
High-end analogue channel strip boasts plug-in recall
Originally revealed as a prototype back at NAMM 2024, the Channex Studio channel strip represented a b...
21/07/2026
Relies on same DSP as plug-in range
Musik Hack's line-up has been influenced heavily by founder Stan Greene's work as a mixing engineer, and their M...
21/07/2026
Official collaboration with boutique builder Dirty Boy Pedals
Warm Audio have just announced the launch of a new guitar pedal range created in collaboration...
21/07/2026
SBS scores biggest ever FIFA World Cup Reach as Spain triumph in the final
21 July, 2026
Media releases
Spain v Argentina attracted a Total TV reach of al...
21/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz showcases broad range of EMC test solutions at EMC SIPI 2026 in ...
21/07/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery's unbroken lead is interrupted as sports and live mus...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Across the TV and streaming ecosystem, industry players face mounting pressure to do more with less. They must simplify operations, protect premium content and ...
21/07/2026
Tuxera, a leading prover of quality-assured file systems and networking technologies, is bringing its latest advances in connectivity performance to the media w...
21/07/2026
COW Jobs: Apple Motion Expert for Custom FCP Rigged Graphics Package
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
HIRING: Apple Motion Expert for Custom FCP ...
21/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, will use its presence at IBC2026 (stand 7.A01, Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September) to...
21/07/2026
Calrec will be located in Hall 8, on Stand C47
Beyond bigger
For years, broadcast facilities were built around one assumption: provision for the biggest pro...
21/07/2026
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, will discuss its future-facing developments for the new generation of medi...
21/07/2026
nxtedition returns to IBC2026 with its consolidated production platform, showing how scripting, editing, graphics, AI-assisted tools and automation can work wit...
21/07/2026
C2PA content signing helps broadcasters, public institutions, and publishers give audiences a verifiable record of where their video content came from and how i...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
New capability centralizes collaboration, feedback, security and status tracking within VIDA, providing a structured, auditable approach to master quality contr...
21/07/2026
Lightcraft Launches Exclusive Spark Story Beta for Filmmakers and Creators at SI...
21/07/2026
Indie Road Movie Where in the Hell Shot with Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Brie Clayton July 20, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist blends vintage film looks to shape...
Tim Moore, CEO at Vu Technologies, discusses emerging trends in the virtual production market
