For those who don’t know the event: FMX is where post, VFX, and realtime folks compare notes, spot new workflows, and meet toolmakers from Foundry to AYON .

The 30th edition runs on site May 5 to May 7, with Online and On Campus on May 8, and On Demand from May 9 to June 9. Early Bird ticket options run until March 20. Tickets are sold through the ticket shop, and the full schedule is published as an online program schedule.

This year’s reveal is a broad spread across VFX, animation, and digital media creation, with more updates promised as additional speakers and topics get added. The headline message is simple: the program is live now, and it is designed to be browsed like a buffet. Get your preferred morsels here :)

RENO turns a studio inward

A newly confirmed session in the Shorts track focuses on RENO, an original sci fi short used as a live testbed for virtual production and machine learning workflows. The session names Tav Flett, Rob Hifle, James Pollock, and Paul Silcox, and describes how a traditionally post-driven VFX studio re-engineered its pipeline for a newly opened virtual production stage. It also calls out Gaussian splat scanning, automated rotoscoping, and marker removal as tools for streamlining production.

Generative video, now with shot notes

The hype cycle is almost over. The bubble tends to pop the moment somebody asks where this stuff fits into an actual production pipeline. That is the useful angle of Moonvalleys‘ session in the “The Road ahead” track. . Instead of treating generative video as a party trick, Ben Lock looks at what happens when studios try to use it for real: control, continuity, versioning, integration, governance, and all the other small details that usually kill shiny ideas on contact.

For VFX and animation teams, that is the point. Not more halfbaked sizzle reels, but a sober look at where generative video already helps, where it still breaks, which parts of the panic were never grounded in production reality, and when studios may begin hiring artists again once practical applications, and their many many limits, are easier to assess.

Predator: Badlands, built as a handoff

A joint presentation in the VFX for Features track names Laurens Ehrmann from The Yard VFX and Dominik Zimmerle from TRIXTER discussing work on Predator: Badlands. Shared assets, shared look development, and constant creative exchange across studios to ensure continuity while elevating environments, characters, creatures, and effects, plus a deep dive into selected sequences and the creative and technical challenges behind them.

And there is more to come! Much more!

https://fmx.de/en/program/program-2026/overview

The post FMX 2026 program goes live first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

The NRW Minister for Culture and Science, Ina Brandes, officially opened the Hochschule Hamm‑Lippstadt’s (HSHL) Visual Effects Laboratory on July 16, 2025. The VFX Lab is at the core of the new bachelor programme Visual Computing and DesignVisual Effects & Virtual Productions, offering students and partners hands-on access to live LEDwall compositing, motion capture, and immersive audio technologies.

Collaboration with Leading Institutions

The VFX Lab’s launch was supported by a broad coalition of industry and academic players: Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, research initiative Digital Locations, the Fernseh und Kinotechnische Gesellschaft (FKTG), the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and systems integrator ICT AG. Together with project manager Prof. Stefan Albertz (LinkedIn) , Filmuniversität Babelsberg will cohost annual Virtual Production workshops and develop joint film projects leveraging the HSHL setup. SMPTE and FKTG bring standards, networks, and industry insight. Digital Locations ensures research integration. ICT AG has built the studio infrastructure on site, custom fitting lighting, networking, and acoustics and a one-of-a-kind tiltable mobile LED wall.

Studio Design: LED‑Wall Meets Real‑Time Pipeline

The studio features high‑resolution LED walls comprised of millions of tiny pixels, offering in‑camera compositing as footage is shot, eschewing chromakey for live visuals. Behind the scenes runs a real‑time graphics pipeline, integrating Unreal and similar engines for live background rendering.
Adjacent to the LED stage is a full‑body motion‑capture array, enabling actors’ live performance to be captured and streamed into virtual environments. This supports use cases from film and TV to games, advertising, live events, and even medical visualisation.

Studio Infrastructure: Tech for Production Scale

The VFX Lab is acoustically treated, air‑conditioned, and built on load‑bearing studio flooring. It features a dedicated external access ramp for large props or vehicles. Climate control supports consistent LED operation. Motion‑capture cameras are ceiling‑mounted in a tidy rig for capture accuracy; audio equipment enables 360° soundtracks.
A control room adjacent to the stage houses real‑time VFX operators, graphics workstation clusters, and network infrastructure—all connected to the LED stage and MoCap rig. The in‑camera workflow is designed for tight pipelines, enabling rapid iteration, pre‑vis, and final image captures in a single pass.

Want to know everything inside? Here is a List for download – and what this all means will be explained soon in a dedicated article – or series of articles!

What This Means for HSHL and NRW

HSHL President Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kira Kastell describes the VFX Lab as unique among German public universities and a milestone for practical teaching and research. Minister Brandes emphasised that producing tomorrow’s skilled VFX, audio‑video engineers, and realtime artists requires hands‑on labs like this.

Looking Ahead: Workshops, Projects, Innovation

Annual workshops with Babelsberg students are already planned. Project‑led efforts under Digital Locations, in partnership with SMPTE and FKTG, will explore live‑production pipelines, real‑time workflows, and standards. ICT AG will continue supporting technical expansion as new use cases emerge.

And a deep dive into the technology, features, and every included tool and possible use case is already in the works – Prof. Stefan Albertz promised us in our Podcast!

The post Minister Brandes Opens VP-Stage: Germany’s First University Multi-Purpose LED‑Wall and MoCap Studio at HSHL first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.