The Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California is organizing its inaugural Synthetic Media Summit on June 8 on the USC campus to chart the course of AI-driven future.  As artificial intelligence promises to change the way media content is produced, distributed and consumed, even altering the nature of media itself, are we fully ready?  This high-level event will gather top AI experts and media executives to discuss the state, media use cases, and ethics of synthetic media for the news and entertainment industries. June Read More

The Entertainment Technology Center@USC has begun releasing its case study entitled “Fathead: Virtual Production & Beyond.” Section 1 of the four-part white paper is “Cloud Computing: Growth Without Bounds” highlighting innovative work on the production done entirely in the cloud minus the shoot on set.  Section 2 of the white paper is “Sound Mitigation: Performance Matters,” which features compelling interviews with “Fathead” co-producer Brandyn Johnson and former Sony Pictures executive Eric Rigney. The section also addresses “the challenges of recording clean dialogue on LED volumetric stages and Read More

What a difference a year makes. CES 2023 attracted more than 115,000 attendees from 140 countries to Las Vegas where 3,000 companies filled 2 million square feet of exhibit space. Among the major themes relevant to M&E this year were artificial intelligence, the multiverse, AR and immersive experiences, displays, mobility, IoT, and numerous policy and regulation topics. ETC@USC attended the convention with onsite and remote teams, once again blending its in-person tradition with a virtual presence. Our post-show report features extensive coverage and perspectives related to these key creative, Read More

ETC hosted its 6th vETC virtual conference at this year’s Siggraph 2022 in Vancouver, BC, Canada, August 9th, 10th and 11th. vETC highlights significant presentations of emerging technologies and their impact on the M&E industry.  This year, speakers will present concepts, workflows, business models, case studies, etc., as it applies to virtual production and the concept of “fix it in pre”.  Many of the companies that worked on ETC’s latest R&D film project, “Fathead” will discuss their discoveries in sessions that are recorded and posted on ETC’s Read More

“Preparing for the Multiverse” was the subject of ETC@USC’s latest virtual Digital Town Square half-day event (February 16th, 1:30pm – 4:45pm). As the culture, art and commerce spaces rebalance to incorporate blended physical and virtual options, it is clearly important that we understand early on how changes will impact our business and creative endeavors. Making up the list of speakers were Eric Holdener, Founder & CEO, and Rachel Joy Victor, Director of Strategic Insight & User Experience at Kinestry, an Innovation Studio; Edward Saatchi, Founder of Fable Studio and Organizer Read More

ETC@USC’s Archive Working Group, a committee within its Adaptive and Virtual Production project, is releasing its most recent white paper, “Practical Cloud Archive,” an ongoing exploration of digital asset preservation challenges, proposing “a number of avenues to introduce cloud storage and cloud technology as part of an overall archive solution, without compromising the basic tenets of preservation.” Led by co-chair, Denis Leconte, VP of technology at Iron Mountain Entertainment Services, the paper is the next step toward the continuing process to study “more precise experimental data on Read More