NYWIFT Blog

Learn more from the experts at 4Dviews

By Jean Criss

Are you looking for new creative ways to produce films with emerging technology? Look at and compare traditional film design and production with the immersive offering from 4Dviews. Navigate your way through a revolutionary new experience. First, create your narrative – where you begin capturing an immersive reality with the HOLOSYS+ system. Next, build and craft your story with 4Dfx, created with precision. Then, deliver with seamless integration with Unity and Unreal engine.

CAPTURE – BUILD – DELIVER

Whether you’re crafting for film, music, fashion, advertisements, or training, 4Dviews’ volumetric video ecosystem brings your stories to life. Push creative boundaries and transform how you capture and share immersive experiences. Discover how 4D technology can elevate your next production.

Real By Fake 

About the company:

4Dviews, founded in 2007 as a spin-off from INRIA, has developed the leading volumetric video ecosystem, including the HOLOSYS capture system, 4Dfx editing tool, and plug-ins for third-party software. The company is a pioneer in the volumetric capture space and offers high-quality, fully packaged equipment for creative studios.

In 2010, 4Dviews set up the world’s first volumetric video studio in Tokyo for DigiCast, and in 2018, launched HOLOSYS, the first industrialized system for volumetric video capture. HOLOSYS includes capture equipment, software, training, and a lifetime license, providing a high ROI with minimal constraints. In 2020, 4Dviews introduced 4Dfx, enhancing the ecosystem with editing tools for volumetric video. With over 20 studios worldwide – some locations hosting multiple – 4Dviews empowers content creators to bring stories to life across AR, VR, MR, and 2D platforms.

Real By Fake

About the technology:

The HOLOSYS is a turnkey capture system consisting of 32 or 48 cameras, lights, a green screen, and servers. The talent performs in the studio for their entire performance to be converted into 4D assets usable in existing workflows.

The 4D assets can then be edited with 4Dfx to add branching storylines, morphing effects, gaze control, CG object integration, and interactive mesh/texture editing, to provide a more intuitive and enhanced storytelling experience.

With free plug-ins, the edited assets can then be integrated into workflows that are the current industry standard e.g. Blender, Unity, Unreal Engine, Maya3D, or any other 2D/3D software. This enables easier distribution across platforms.

Centounopercento put Prada’s new collection on anamorphic screens across London, NYC, Tokyo, Seoul, and Chengdu. Centounopercento x Prada – https://www.outthere360.com/works/prada-linea-rossa.html

AR Concert with Natalia Lacunza and H&M

Can you describe the benefits of using 4D volumetric video over 3D video technology?

The 4Dviews volumetric video ecosystem offers several advantages over traditional 3D animation and motion capture, making it an appealing choice for content creators: 

• Films real people, their movements, facial expressions, and clothing without the need for animators, leading to major time and cost savings.
• Does not require rigging and animation tuning followed by creation of textures, physics-based clothing simulations, accurate facial animations etc.,
• Can be easily integrated in AR/VR/gaming engines/2D workflows,
• Does not require actors to wear special suits covered in sensors which can restrict their movements sometimes,
• Preserves depth, making them suitable for VR/AR applications where the viewer can walk around, zoom in, or even interact with the character,
• This can be used in crowd population scenes where the director can film once and use multiple versions of the same asset, thereby reducing the costs of extras, sets, prop rentals, governmental permits, catering etc.

Can you describe the primary difference between 2D and 3D and motion capture?

The main difference between 2D and 3D experiences lies in perspective. Traditional 2D video captures a subject from a single, fixed camera angle chosen by the director. In contrast, volumetric video by 4Dviews generates a dynamic 3D model with depth, volume, and movement. This not only gives creators the freedom to place the subject in any environment, but also lets viewers explore from any angle.

2D video can only be viewed on flat screens with no interaction, while volumetric video can be used in AR, VR, and gaming engines, allowing users to move around and engage with the content. It also integrates into traditional filmmaking for virtual sets, crowd generation, and interactive storytelling, enabling audiences to engage with characters in ways flat video cannot.

Volumetric video also integrates into traditional filmmaking workflows by way of virtual sets and crowd generation, reducing costs and location constraints. The same videos can be reused for interactive storytelling, virtual concerts, museum installations etc. Audiences can get up close to and interact/engage with the filmed character in ways that flat video cannot achieve.

Volumetric video also does not require actors to be filmed on sets or to be shot from multiple angles. The actors, once filmed in-studio, can be placed in virtual sets, reducing further the budgetary and physical constraints. This brings a new dimension to filmmaking and offers greater creative freedom with cost efficiency. The technology extends a bridge combining traditional filmmaking with newer interactive media.

“Dimensional capture is the foundational basis of how we’re developing a more human media for the future. 4D Views was the first group that made it possible to translate my nascent, seemingly impossible ideas into results the public could actually get a ticket to see. Without them Mixed Reality would be years behind where we are now,” states Todd Eckert, CEO of Tin Drum.

Notably, the 4Dviews ecosystem has led to many award-winning pieces like Noire (Cannes Immersive Award winner in 2024), Marina Abramović’s The Life (sold at Christie’s for 370K USD), and The 7^th Guest VR (won Best Technology award at the Dutch Game Awards).

Colored – Cannes Immersive Award winner in 2024 – a cross-country collaboration between Taiwan & France

The Life – A Mixed Reality experience premiering at London’s Serpentine Gallery – Feb 2019

The 7th Guest VR is a recreation of the hit 90s game using volumetric video as a key aspect of improving the immersive nature of the game.

In closing, why should filmmakers use this 4D volumetric technology?

In an era where audiences crave immersive experiences, volumetric video redefines digital content. More than an upgrade to filmmaking, it enables real human performances with full emotional depth—unlike CGI’s digital models.

“Volumetric capture allows us to build digital experiences firmly centered on human stories. By building interactive experiences around people we care about, digital storytelling has begun to undergo a truly profound revolution. At 4Dviews we’ve built a complete tool set that will allow you to Capture, Build and Deliver engaging multi-branch interactive content ready to be used in any medium,” states CEO of 4Dviews, Richard Broadbridge.

Beyond film and entertainment, the HOLOSYS ecosystem transforms education, fashion, advertising, sports, and healthcare. Real humans with real emotions remain irreplaceable in this new storytelling era. With this 4Dviews technology, creating lifelike, spatial stories is easier than ever. As demand for immersive content rises, creators using volumetric capture the next digital media evolution—where stories aren’t just watched but lived.

Learn more here 

Sample 4Dview Production Studios

Within the United States and Canada, there are numerous studios equipped with the HOLOSYS with each having its own specialty e.g. Soapbox in Atlanta for music productions and RealByFake in Montréal for film & VFX.
                                               

Sample 4D Views (preview mirror)

Engaging Videos

• Capture, Build, Deliver with HOLOSYS & 4Dfx – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkp7bjVsVgc
• Capturing Fire in Volumetric Video 🔥 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1TAteKrrXg
• VirTra Volumetric Video (V3™) Capture Studio – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAf3FNpxLNU
• Sprite x Hawks x Latto – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HQpETMlQF0
• T-Pain – Dreaming (Official Music Video) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StlOpAOKiF0
• [Official Music Video] Perfume 「Flow」 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxsx3AMtz40
• The 7th Guest VR | Launch Trailer l Meta Quest 2 + 3 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZG7kPv9E_c

About Richard Broadbridge:

Richard is the CEO of 4Dviews, the most successful volumetric capture company in the market today. A French and American citizen Richard has now spent almost two decades bringing 4Dviews’ technology to XR, audio-visual and research clients in North America, the UK, the EU and East Asia. A NYU graduate and the Haute Ecole de Commerce in Paris. Richard resides in the French Alps where the 4Dviews team balances week-long volumetric capture innovation with weekend recreation in a rugged Alpen environment. richard.broadbridge@4dviews.com | https://4Dviews.com

About Clément Menier:

Clément is the CTO of 4DViews, leading the technological evolution of the most advanced volumetric capture solutions in the industry. At 4Dviews, Clément spearheads the development of the complete HOLOSYS ecosystem that empowers creators to Capture, Build, and Deliver volumetric content across XR, VFX, and research applications. With a background in computer vision and software engineering, he brings deep expertise in 3D graphics and real-time processing. clement.menier@4dviews.com.