THE OFFICAL NEWSPAPER FROM IBC


09:30 – 18:00


SATURDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2022


EXPLORING THE FUTURE OF AI IN MOVIE MAKING


BY TIM DAMS


Artifi cial intelligence is transforming the way movies are produced and will do so even more in the future, Markus Gross, Chief Scientist at The Walt Disney Studios, told the IBC Conference yesterday. Gross explained how rapid


progress in machine learning and artifi cial intelligence is already disrupting many aspects of the traditional fi lmmaking process both for live action and for animation productions. DisneyResearch|Studios (DRS)


has more than 50 researchers rethinking the fi lm production and distribution pipeline with the help of AI to help it increase production effi ciency reduce costs and support the creativity of storytellers. Gross outlined AI innovations that Disney is employing in production, covering digital humans, virtual production technologies and deep video processing.


He said that Disney has spent a lot of time over the past 10 years trying to create digital humans that are undistinguishable from real ones and that can project real emotional depth.


“Why is this important? Because in the end, we tell stories, and a story is the emotional journey of a


Gross: AI is ‘already transforming profoundly the way you produce movies’


protagonist through time. The face is the single most important object through which we convey emotional depth. If we want to build characters that truly bond with the audience, we have to make sure that we can project such depth,” Gross said. Motion capture and the deep


learning of AI is now working together to create highly believable digital humans, he said, citing the Medusa Facial Capture system developed by DRS. It has been used on over 30 movies, including Avengers: Endgame.


DRS has also developed capture technology to create realistic- looking digital human eyes, which has been used in Star Wars. It is also using AI to de-age or re-age people. Turning to animation and virtual


production, he showed how AI can help to remove the “noise” from animated images saing signifi cant sums of money.


Gross said that Disney wanted to use AI and deep learning to create animated characters that are “truly art directable in real time”. He spoke of the possibility of directors being able to give verbal instructions to animated characters about how to walk or which way to move.


He went on to explain that AI now allows for motion capture in a non-controlled environment using only iPhones. “The visual data you capture with the iPhone is enough to create a high-quality mocap scenario,” said Gross. In the area of video processing, Disney is using AI to improve the resolution of low-res images. Artifi cial intelligence has made such great progress over the last decade, what we call deep learning. It’s truly already transforming profoundly the way you produce movies. And it will do more so in the future,” said Gross.


INSIDE


The best of both worlds Blending linear with streaming is the way to deliver a great connected TV experience


Page 3


The Future of MediaTech IABM presents 2022 State of the Industry report


Page 4


Showcase Theatre Insights from Accenture, Google and Piano


Page 6


On a mission David Short shares the IET’s efforts to engineer a better world


Page 18


Bringing people together RTS CEO Teresa Wise discusses the organisation’s focus on making the industry more accessible


Page 20


5G Edge-XR Andrew Gower of BT Applied Research takes us through the Best Technical Paper award-winning project


Page 94


SHOW INFORMATION Conference Programme, session agendas, fl oorplan and exhibitor list Page 41


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96