As OTT video services demand the creation of more content, we discuss the potential of virtual production technology with Tim Moore, CEO of the new Vū Studio.
IN CLEAR FOCUS this week: As streaming video services demand the creation of more content at lower costs, we discuss the disruptive potential of virtual production technology. Guest Tim Moore is CEO of Vū Studio in Tampa, one of only a handful of spaces worldwide equipped to support this new process. Vū uses massive LED screens and game engine software to create virtual and extended reality environments that can be captured in-camera, eradicating the need for CGI in post, and location travel.
Episode Transcript
Adrian Tennant: Coming up in this episode of IN CLEAR FOCUS:
Tim Moore: Eighty percent of our work prior to COVID was in the field and so we would have to travel to these locations and you can imagine the expense and the time and the logistics, but now in one day we can go all around the world and back and be right there in the studio.
Adrian Tennant: You’re listening to IN CLEAR FOCUS, fresh perspectives on the business of advertising produced weekly by Bigeye. Hello. I’m your host, Adrian Tennant VP of Insights at Bigeye. An audience-focused, creative-driven, full-service advertising agency, we’re based in Orlando, Florida, but serve clients across the United States and beyond. Thank you for joining us. Last year, we spoke with Janelle Jordan, in-house production manager for the global online crew directory ProductionHUB about some of the ways in which the film and TV industry has been impacted by COVID-19 – from the challenges of adhering to evolving health and safety guidelines, to the difficulty of coordinating long-distance travel for production crews. Concerns about health and safety have accelerated the adoption of production practices that mitigate the risks associated with having to shoot scenes on location, such as choosing to work entirely on soundstages instead – as was the practice for a majority of studio pictures during Hollywood’s heyday. But in addition to concerns about health and safety, with a growing number of streaming platforms in need of fresh content, producers are looking for faster and cheaper ways to meet demand. A new approach has emerged called virtual production. The green screens typically married with computer-generated imagery and post-production are replaced by massive, high-resolution LED displays that enable photorealistic backdrops to be integrated with sets. Driven in part by technology that originated in the gaming world, but unlike the use of green screens, this approach creates a type of virtual reality in which actors can see and inhabit the spaces they’re performing in. And as importantly, scenes can be captured in-camera without the need for time-consuming CGI compositing in post-production. This technology has been used to great effect and the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian. I’m joined today by the man bringing this virtual production revolution to Florida. Tim Moore is a three-time Emmy award-winning director and the Founder and CEO of creative video agency, Diamond View, based in Tampa. Since its inception in 2007, the agency has worked with clients including the Atlanta Braves, Gatorade, TD Ameritrade, Purina, Coca-Cola, RedBull, and WellCare among many others. In addition to directing duties at Diamond View, Tim is an author: His book Sold on Purpose is a comprehensive guide to purpose-driven marketing. Tim is also the founder of the Tampa Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, focused on inspiring communities through positive public messaging – and a board member of the CEO Council of Tampa Bay and the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council. Tim joins us today from his office in Tampa. Tim, welcome to IN CLEAR FOCUS!
Tim Moore: Well, thanks for having me today.
Adrian Tennant: What inspired you to pursue a career in creative video production?
Tim Moore: Well, when I was 15 years old, I had a trip of a lifetime. I was going to the Dominican Republic, what I thought it was going to be a vacation. But it was a missions trip and it was with my local church. And, before I had even gotten to the island, one of the counselors on the trip gave me a camera. And it was life-changing because before then I had never put a camera in my hands and never even knew what to do. So he told me, “On the back of it’s a little button when you click it, the light blinks red and whatever you point at goes in and whatever goes in comes back.” And so I spent that whole trip getting a third-world education on how to shoot video. And to be able to see the conditions in the Dominican Republic was eye-opening. Some of these people would be jealous to have the problems that we have in America, and they were making houses out of trash they could find at the landfill. And so to capture this on camera was something that was for me really emotional as a kid. But the thing that really made me say, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” is when I showed that video to the congregation at the church. They had played it on the big screen, and I was sure that everyone was going to clap afterward. And when the video ended, nobody clapped. And as the lights came up, I realized people were crying. And I thought, “Wow, this is, this is powerful.” One of the ministers came out and he said, “Hey, if you want to help these people, we’re going to pass around a bucket and feel free to give anything that you can.” And I saw people give money to people that never met in a country they’d never been to for a cause that two minutes before that video, nobody even knew about, and I thought to myself as a kid in the back of that church, “Wow. That’s what I want to do for the rest of my life because that’s the power of good advertising.”
Adrian Tennant: What led you to establish Diamond View?
Tim Moore: When I was 18, a friend of mine actually had started a business and I never had that idea until he called me and said, “Hey Tim, guess what?” I was like, “What’s that?” He goes, “I just registered a business in Florida” and I said, “What are you talking about? You’re 18 years old.” He said, “Yeah, it’s easy. You just sign up online. And, before you know it, you’ll have your own.” And so right after that call, I went online and I said, “You know what? I’m going to start somewhere.” So I started Diamond View and the first person I called was my dad. I said, “Hey dad, guess what?” He said, “What?” I said, “I started a business.” He goes, “What do you mean? You started a business?” I said, “Yeah, I have a video production business. It’s called Diamond View.” And he’s like, “Well, one problem. You don’t even have a camera.” I was like, “Well, you know, I’m going to figure that out.” And so the first year of Diamond View was really just a dream of one day this would be something. But, once we got off the ground, it’s been an amazing journey ever since.
Adrian Tennant: Tim, what have been some of your favorite projects over the past couple of years?
Tim Moore: Probably the most impactful project we worked on was one for PTSD. We did a social experiment and it was really eye-opening to see most of the time I have the script in my hands and I get to direct exactly how the actors interact and how the scene should play out. But a social experiment you’re along for the ride! You’re watching, seeing how things unfold. The scene was that they were in this cafeteria and hearing things that no one else was hearing and to see how that made them feel. And to connect it back to how would you feel if you were in someone’s shoes that felt this way. So I would say that was probably the most eye-opening shoot I did and really great one to be involved with.
Adrian Tennant: Now, that sounds like it would require quite a setup. What was the behind-the-scenes story for that?
Tim Moore: Well, you know, with any social experiment, you don’t want to tell anybody you’re doing it or it taints the results. So it was a candid camera style, seven cameras, hidden in coffee bags and behind the cashier and to produce the sounds. We had a massive subwoofer and speakers all around, but those were hidden as well. So, you can imagine if you walked in to grab a cup of coffee and then you hear a bomb go off, or glass shatter, what your reaction might be.
Adrian Tennant: That’s available to view on your website, correct?
Tim Moore: Yeah. I’ll be happy to share the link.
Adrian Tennant: Now, Tim, as I mentioned in the introduction, you are bringing virtual production to Florida with only one of a handful of studio spaces in the world dedicated to this new approach. A couple of weekends ago, The Today Show aired a segment featuring you and your team at Diamond View on the eve of the Super Bowl, in which you explained why COVID-19 has really accelerated the adoption of virtual production. So, could you give us a primer on the various technologies that you’re bringing together and offering in Vū?
Tim Moore: Sure. Virtual production can be done in a number of ways, but the way that we do is we use a LED volume. And an LED volume is like an IMAX theater. If you imagine a massive screen surface, typically curved in a cylinder with a full ceiling on it. And so the effect is just as if you were to put a VR headset on – when you go into the volume you’re fully immersed in this digital world. Now what’s really interesting is that the camera is a lot less sensitive to your eye, to the image. So when it goes in there, it believes that it’s in that environment. So the LED volume becomes a space that when you put images on, it appears like you’re at that location. So it’s an alternative to location-based shooting. So if you wanted to shoot on the beach, you simply put the beach – project it on the LED volume – and it looks like you’re there, and then snap the fingers and you’re in the mountains, snap the fingers and you’re in downtown Manhattan. It’s incredible because 80% of our work prior to COVID was in the field and so we would have to travel to these locations and you can imagine the expense and the time and the logistics, but now in one day we can go all around the world and back and be right there in the studio.
Adrian Tennant: Now, just to be clear, the curved high definition LED screen is made up actually of hundreds of individual flat panel displays, which are just slightly angled relative to each other to create that curvature. Is that correct?
Tim Moore: That’s correct. Yeah, it would be like if you took every TV in your house and you could connect them together seamlessly, you can make as large of a display as you want to put anything in front of it. And so it’s incredible technology.
Adrian Tennant: So how are they actually attached to each other?
Tim Moore: Well, we use custom hardware that allows us to adjust the curvature on each panel but there are several ways you can do it. The curved is the most immersive way because when you turn the camera left and right. It’s fully on the LED board at all times, but some people do flat displays. Some people do small displays if you’re doing product. So there are several ways to do this and not one particular way is the right way or the wrong way. It just really depends on what type of things you’re shooting.
Adrian Tennant: Now when you’ve got a lot of individual LED screens, are there any needs for special software to keep them all in sync?
Tim Moore: Yeah, we use something called InDisplay that maps the geometry of the screen to the scene that you’re doing in Unreal Engine. So Unreal Engine is the same game engine that makes the popular game Fortnite. And by using that, you have all of the 3D attributes of a game. So just like in a first-person shooter game, you would walk around the environment. When the camera moves in the LED volume, we’re using camera tracking to track the perspective. And through InDisplay, we’re mapping that perspective to the screen. And so, it’s a very seamless process that uses a lot of advanced technologies to get the final product. But when you see the final product, it’s absolutely amazing.
Adrian Tennant: Are there any potential issues with flicker at different apertures or shutter speeds?
Tim Moore: Well, there are a few ways to solve for – one is within any LED screen, you’re going to have a refresh rate and understanding what the refresh rate intervals are will allow you to put the shutter speed that is appropriate for it. So if you’re scanning at the same speed that the screen is scanning, then you have no scan issues. Now, LEDs are unique in the fact that there’s also something called a scan way. A scan way is different than the refresh rate. So instead of the LED staying solid, to conserve energy, it’s pulsing and it scans at a certain rate. So you have to factor in a number of things into the calculation of “Alright, what shutter speed am I doing? What aperture am I using? What’s the distance from the wall so I don’t get other things like moire or aliasing?” So there’s several things that you wouldn’t have to worry about if you were on location, but when you’re shooting against technology like this, you have to make those considerations.
Adrian Tennant: Now as with any new technology, virtual production has its own jargon. You’ve used them already. The soundstage is not a studio space, but a “volume.” Where does that term originate from?
Tim Moore: Well, if you were in the center of a cylinder, you would be in the volume. And so, we talk about the volume as the actual stage itself, but to be in the volume or out of the volume, that would give you a clear indication of where you’re at in it.
Adrian Tennant: Sounds a little bit like being in The Matrix. Where do those visual backgrounds that you project onto the LED screens typically come from?
Tim Moore: Unreal Engine has a marketplace of more or less maps. So if you imagine just like any game, you know, as you advance through levels, you would be in different maps and environments. So you can purchase those maps on the actual marketplace from Unreal Engine, but if you’re a really good designer, you can make them from scratch. And so the idea behind the game engine is you’re making very photorealistic backgrounds, but because you make them in 3D space, whenever the camera moves around, it’s not like a stock video or a stock photo it’s fully interactive and immersive with you.
Adrian Tennant: Do you think we’ll see a whole industry of people capturing location, exterior, and interior imagery, specifically for virtual production?
Tim Moore: Oh, yeah. You know, one thing that exploded back in the day as people brought car scenes into studios was driving plates. People would stick a camera out of the window and get the telephone poles passing by. And then we would use that for reflections on the cars for driving plates. I think people will make plates for volumes as well, where they shoot locations in very wide shots. Cause you gotta remember most volumes are extremely panoramic because since they’re curved, they have to be very wide and not so tall. And so to shoot something like that, that fits that geometry, you have to do very wide shots. And I think we’re going to see a number of people going out and creating databases like that in the future.
Adrian Tennant: Let’s take a short break. We’ll be right back after this message.
Kathie Baptista: I’m Kathie Baptista, Designer on Bigeye’s creative team. Every week, IN CLEAR FOCUS addresses topics that impact our work as creative and advertising professionals. At Bigeye, we always put audiences first. For every engagement, we commit to really understanding our clients’ prospects and customers. Through our own primary research, we learn about customers’ attitudes, behaviors, and motivations – and develop Personas that help us visualize them as real people. As a designer, I use these insights to guide my approach to crafting visually engaging solutions. And our clients see insights brought to life in inspiring, imaginative brand-building campaigns. If you’d like to put Bigeye’s audience-focused creative communications to work for your brand, please contact us. Email info@bigeyeagency.com. Bigeye. Reaching the Right People, in the Right Place, at the Right Time.
Adrian Tennant: Welcome back. I’m talking with Tim Moore, CEO of Diamond View about bringing virtual production to Florida. One of the things that make scenes shot using virtual production techniques so convincing to the viewer is the coordination between what’s projected onto the LED screen with motion-controlled camera movements. Tim, could you explain what the parallax effect is and how you achieve it?
Tim Moore: Parallax is if you’ve ever been driving down the road and you notice that the light poles move very fast because you’re close to them, but in the distance, the buildings might move very slow. And so there’s a relative movement of wherever you’re at, the objects close to you move quick and the objects far away move relatively slow. And so that gives you an indication of perspective. So, when you are creating a 3D scene, you would expect the same thing to happen. That if I’m in a room and the desk is near me, that the perspective of the desk pivots very quickly, but that the window in the back of the room might slowly move in a different kind of fashion. And so parallax tells the viewer that this is real – this is not a flat object. Now things that don’t parallax are like a static image. If you were to look at a photo on the wall and move around it, the photo stays static and that tells you that that’s a flat object. It’s not three-dimensional. So that’s a very important effect in the LED volume is that we want everything to parallax as if it has depth in 3D space. Because at the end of the day, this is a flat wall that we’re projecting these on, so we want to give them depth and dimension by using parallax to illustrate that.
Adrian Tennant: As the CEO of a video agency with years of traditional production experience, what are some of the differences that producers need to consider if they’re thinking of going the virtual route versus traditional?
Tim Moore: You’re talking about layers and layers of technology and so I think that one of the things we realized very quickly is we need to hire a staff that understands these systems. I mean, I come from a traditional video background and so does all of our team. And so the learning curve on this technology is immense. In fact, it’s to the point that when you think you’ve learned at all the technology changes and there’s more to learn. So, you know, it’s a exponential type of curve. But if you’re coming from a traditional background, it’s not too much to get started. But I think if you really want to excel, bringing in experts that understand this can help you really take it to the next level, and that’s what we’ve done.
Adrian Tennant: Tim, how does it alter the production planning process?
Tim Moore: If you’re shooting green screen, I’ll tell you this, everyone goes into a room, that’s got a green background and we’re all imagining. So in the pre-production phase, you really have to have everything understood and figured out. With real-time rendering and display, what you see is what you get. And so, while we have to create the scenes in advance, which would normally be done in post-production on a green screen. By making in advance, we have so much more creative capacity on set. And so the main thing we’re finding out is we need to determine some of the main things up front, like location, lighting. But once we’re on set, we are so much more empowered as creatives because we’re seeing it real-time. And so we can make decisions that are much more informative.
Adrian Tennant: How do you think this might change the way that set designers work?
Tim Moore: Well, set design is very similar in the same way, where before you had to create everything. And so the set designers had to make the scenic backdrops. They had to create all the elements and props that would fill that out. And so you had to fill an entire scene. With extended reality and virtual production, one thing that’s nice is that they’re only making pieces of it and the background becomes the digital extension. So for example, you know, the White House is built about 400 times a year. And the reason is it’s in episodic, it’s in commercials, it’s in long-format film. And so you build this massive set and throw it away just for a one-time use. But now imagine all you need is the desk for the White House. And then the rest of the background, the Oval Office, is merely projection. So you can put so much more detail and time into the small things – whereas now the prop design is really done with the digital artists. Those backgrounds are being made digitally. And so I think that’s a really unique time where there’s still that blend of traditional and digital, but now it’s not as heavy of a lift on the traditional side.
Adrian Tennant: Have you seen any differences in the ways that performers respond to these wraparound sets?
Tim Moore: Not having to go in and imagine is an incredible tool because if you’re going a traditional green-screen route, everyone in the room is thinking something different. You know, they might be acting and we’re believing in the background’s going to do this or that. And the actor thinks it’s going to do something else. So not having a physical environment to see and react to leaves so much up to the imagination. Being able to see in real-time where you’re at, what’s happening to the environment, that gives the actor an amazing advantage. And I think once they see this, they’re going to be requesting it. They’re going to say, “I don’t want to do any more of the green screen shoots. I want to see it as I act.” So, that’s going to be an incredible shift in the way we make movies.
Adrian Tennant: Are clients enjoying seeing this in-camera as well?
Tim Moore: Oh, the clients love it. Not only from being able to see it on set, because what you see is what you get, but being able to get the files so fast, there’s no real post-production needed. You’ve baked it into camera – final pixel is captured immediately. They also love too, the cost savings. I mean, you think about this: Location-based shooting is so expensive to travel crew. On a major Hollywood film, the average catering cost is $20,000 alone, because you have these massive teams that need to do all these things. And so when you reduce the footprint of a crew to quarter that size, the cost savings to the client is incredible. So the clients are liking it from multiple angles, but it is an incredible technology for them.
Adrian Tennant: Tim, from having the idea of a virtual space in Tampa to actually opening the doors on Vū, how long did it take?
Tim Moore: Well, we were in hyper-speed, so it was about three months total time. We had got into the space in early October. We had the screen fully set and running, shooting things in December. So, yeah, it was very quick, but you know, we had a clear deadline in sight, and that was the Super Bowl. The largest entertainment event of the year and it was coming to our backyard. So we knew if we could create the studio in time, we could really maximize, not only the viewership of people seeing it and learning about it, but using it with the NFL while they were in town.
Adrian Tennant: You list some key partners in this venture on your website. How did you coordinate their contributions?
Tim Moore: Getting technology partners, especially in a startup venture, is very difficult because you’re basically pitching the idea that we’re going to do something. And what really helped is, you know, we got in with Unreal Engine early on, and I think they did an incredible job helping show the marketplace what we were doing with the technology. So we leveraged a lot of those assets and we went to Nvidia, to Sony, to Mark Roberts Motion Control, MOSIS camera tracking. And we showed them, “Hey, here’s what we’re doing so far, we’re learning, but we’re growing.” And we had a short pitch video of “This is the type of studio we want to build and we need your help with it.” And after shopping that around we found the right partners for the job. And they’ve been amazing in helping us get started.
Adrian Tennant: And is that ongoing technical support that you can call on those partners as needed?
Tim Moore: Yeah, a lot of what we’re doing now is research and development. We think that this is the tip of the iceberg. It’s just the beginning. What you can’t see underneath is all the innovations that are to come. We’re working with the partners now on, “Hey, are there other verticals we can serve outside of the film and video industry?” You know, this type of simulation is an incredible technology. You think about fighter pilots have been using this for years, large format displays to be able to learn how to fly planes without the risk of taking them off the ground or the cost of running through jet fuel. Are there other industries that could use a game engine for real-time simulations in an LED volume? That’s the big question for us now.
Adrian Tennant: Tim, I know you plan to increase the size of Vū’s facilities in the future. I know it’s early days, but what kind of adoption of these production techniques are you seeing? Is it mostly local clients that you’re working with or are you drawing interests from further afield?
Tim Moore: Well, we’ve never really had a large base of international clients. And ever since we opened the studio, we’ve gotten much more international clients than we ever had before. From Mercedes-Benz that came in from Germany, Whooshi from the UK. And so seeing now that this has international appeal, but I also see that as the technology continues to progress what clients are looking for is what is going to help them out the best. And so we feel looking now to more regional and local clients, that we can have practical applications for that that’s going to add to our base of clientele.
Adrian Tennant: Tim, you’re passionate about purpose-driven marketing, and literally wrote the book on the topic. You believe that traditional approaches to marketing are often ineffective because they’re out of step with what customers want and expect from brands. How so?
Tim Moore: Well, you got to understand that Tampa Bay is the capital for infomercials. This is the home of where HSN and a lot of what you’d see on TV, the “Yell and Sell” type of direct marketing was born. And so being in this market for years, you know, it was almost repulsive to me to see that type of television. When I knew as a child, what the power of video could be when it was emotional. And so I really started thinking hard about, you know, is there a different method than transactional advertising? Is there something like transformative advertising where you could show viewers things just like I did in Dominican Republic of “Here’s the need? How can we all come together as a community and help?” And I really think that that’s the power of video is that if you can show the need to the world, the world will respond and help out. And in a time like this, where you see our country is divided in values, that has many challenges, across the number of spectrums, video can be that platform to help people find and solve problems. So that’s really when we talk about purpose-driven video, these aren’t videos for the purpose of profit, just to sell a product – it’s about, really leaning into values and helping communities enrich themselves.
Adrian Tennant: Tim, you also put your money where your mouth is. Diamond View is a Certified B Corporation, which means that it meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Can you explain why you chose to pursue that certification for your company and what the process looked like?
Tim Moore: You know, for me, it’s always been about how can we be bigger than just a business. The mission of B corps is to really use business as a force for good. And even just hearing that tagline, it resonated with me because I feel that the purpose of business is not to create as much profit as you can in the same way that you and I, we need food in order to survive. The purpose of our life isn’t to eat as much as we can. You know, businesses have a much greater goal than that. You know, I believe the goal of the business is to find your gift. And then once you find your gift, the purpose of the business is to give it away. And so B corps hold businesses to that standard. They say, “Hey, you know what, if you’re amazing at video, or you’re awesome as a barber, or you’re a great author, whatever your gifts may be, give that away. Don’t just use it as a profit engine.” And so we became B Corp-certified a little over a year-and-a-half ago with the idea that we were connecting to a community that wanted to use their business in the same way. We wanted to make a difference. And I will tell you the B Corp standard is a high standard. We had failed several times before we got our certification and 90% of businesses that apply do. And you have to make the adjustments in order to be in line with a responsible business. But being a part of that community has been really rewarding and we look forward to being invested in that in the future.
Adrian Tennant: You’re also the founder of the Tampa Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on inspiring communities through positive public messaging. What led you to found the organization and what kind of work does the Foundation do?
Tim Moore: The Tampa Foundation is built around really inspiring the community through art. And I found out that this was such an incredible way to really uplift someone’s state. Just from a personal perspective, I went to a neighborhood outside of Miami called Wynwood. And 10 years ago, if you went to Wynwood, it was a ghost town, it was abandoned warehouses. It was kind of a sketchy place to be, you know, you’d see the haystacks rolling in the street and no one wanted to be there. It was just, the energy you could feel was just not right. And then I went back maybe five years later, and to see that the art had gone all over the walls, the murals had taken over and it was like contagious. One went up and then the other followed and it brought life back into the community. Coffee shops opened, people moved into the area. And I thought, “Wow, what an incredible way to really revitalize an area.” Is that you take these shells, these empty, vanilla walls. And you put inspiring quotes and powerful artwork on it. It just uplifts the community. So I said, “Man, I want to do that in Tampa.” You know, because the best kind of building for this is 70s and 80s architectures, the big blank walls. And so we started here in Tampa and it’s been an amazing journey ever since.
Adrian Tennant: Well, you’re evidently a very busy person in an industry that’s known for being stressful and often demands long workdays. So Tim, how do you relax? What are your sources of inspiration?
Tim Moore: Well, I’ll tell you that I am a die-hard, big, loving fan of video. So as silly as it sounds, when I’m home, I’m shooting with the kids and on vacation, still shooting. Like I just think that your investment in memories pays tenfold when you get to see that in the future. And so I enjoy spending a lot of time with our family and friends. But I’ll tell you that video was never a career for me, it was a hobby that I got lucky to do day after day. You know, my balance is to continue to pursue that passion in and out of work and I’m just really fortunate to have a super supporting family and a loving wife. And that was something I didn’t mention before. You know, those first couple of years when I was struggling, getting the business off the ground, my girlfriend at the time was the first one to buy a professional camera for me. And, that was nine years ago and I realized very quickly, that’s the woman I want to be with for the rest of my life. So I married her and we have two awesome kids. And so just really blessed now, to see Diamond View grow and be where we are today.
Adrian Tennant: Tim, somebody who buys you your first camera, you know they’re going to be a keeper!
Tim Moore: Yes.
Adrian Tennant: Virtual production certainly looks like it could be a major disruption in production for movies and TV shows. Do you think the techniques open up a new world of imaginative opportunities for creators?
Tim Moore: Oh yeah. You know, what I saw in 2008? A lot of the tape-based cameras were going digital. And people were asking the question. They said, “Well, the tape-based cameras are so good. How will the digital ones ever be that good? It’s gonna look too computer-generated.” And I was an early adopter in that and I went on the bet that I think digital cameras are going to be the future. And you know, for a year I was wrong. And cameras when they first came out digital wasn’t great, you know. But what had happened was being an early adopter, I was really able to get ahead of the crowd and learn things, to put me essentially a year ahead of most video companies. And that’s where I think we’re at now is that we were at the digitization of studios, as we know it. We used to paint green on the wall, imagine, and then take it out in post. I mean, this is 60-year-old dinosaur technology we’re talking about. When people move over to digital in this studio environment, they will never go back. And so what I see is that the second people experience this magic and they say, “Wow, this is limitless” they will continue to evolve the technology and it’ll iterate and it’s only going to get better. And that’s exactly what cameras did and I think that’s exactly what studios are doing now.
Adrian Tennant: Tim, what excites you the most about the future for Vū?
Tim Moore: Vū is kind of our makers’ lab. We got a bunch of exotic technologies from motion control, robotics, optical tracking, you know, there’s so many toys to play with and things to discover that my real excitement and passion comes from finding out what’s next. You know, I’m naturally curious and so I’m always asking the question, “If we can do this, what else can we do?” I think that’s what I’m most excited about is the discovery. I can’t tell you what we’re looking for, but I know we’re on the path and it’s almost like trying to curate your own serendipity. There’s something out there but we haven’t found it yet. So we’re still trekking.
Adrian Tennant: “Curating your own serendipity.” I love that. Tim, if IN CLEAR FOCUS listeners would like to learn more about Diamond View’s work, virtual production, your book about purpose-driven marketing, or your nonprofit work, where can they find you?
Tim Moore: I would encourage you to go check out our website, DiamondView.io, or any of our social channels, @DiamondView or @VūStudio. For more info on me on LinkedIn, it’s just Tim Moore from Tampa and I would love to engage with anyone that has any more questions.
Adrian Tennant: Tim, thank you very much for being our guest this week on, IN CLEAR FOCUS.
Tim Moore: Well, thank you for having me.
Adrian Tennant: Coming up next time on, IN CLEAR FOCUS:
Sarah Salva: So dog and cat owners – they’re very different people. So something that you say that works really well with dog owners can completely backfire on you with cat owners. It’s sort of the same sensitivity that you might expect to see when you’re marketing products that are made for human babies.
Adrian Tennant: That’s an interview with Sarah Salva, Director of Marketing at H&C Animal Health. Examining the US pet industry, next time on IN CLEAR FOCUS. Thanks to my guest this week, Tim Moore, CEO of Diamond View. You’ll find links to the resources we discussed today on the IN CLEAR FOCUS page at Bigeyeagency.com under “Insights.” Just click on the button marked “Podcast.” If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, YouTube, or your preferred podcast player. Thank you for listening to IN CLEAR FOCUS, produced by Bigeye. I’ve been your host, Adrian Tennant. Until next week, goodbye.
