spatialcomputing.info

Mindshow, the real-time CG animation company, unveiled its virtual production platform for enterprise partners looking to use XR headsets to speed up the animating process. The company additionally announced the appointment of David Baron as Chief Operating Officer, a founding executive at Hulu, and industry veteran of Fox Digital Media, Paramount, and Microsoft.

You might have heard of Mindshow when it first launched on Steam in 2017, giving anyone with a PC VR headset the ability to animate and capture everything from short skits to entire shows thanks to its virtual production tools. The app was delisted from Steam in 2020, ostensibly pointing to the company’s ambition to turn its once consumer-oriented platform into a enterprise toolset.

Now, Mindshow has unveiled that enterprise production suite, which allows select industry partners to animate in virtual studio sets using XR headsets, including Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest, merging real-time rendering with “asset ingest and character animation tools accessible across the entire production pipeline—from storyboarding to final pass,” the company says in a press statement.

Before its platform unveiling, Mindshow worked with a number of brands to create promotional videos and narrative content for Barbie, Hot Wheels, Monster High, and Enchantimals, as well as a slew of Cameos from Cheetos mascot Chester Cheetah.

While the company says it will continue to offer its full-service production studio though its Los Angeles-based location, the Mindshow platform is now available for licensing to select entertainment companies, sports organizations, and consumer brands.

The studio says Mindshow features proprietary lip-sync technology which converts pre-recorded audio into stylized animated facial performances and character movements. It also includes virtual studio cameras for in-app capture, motion capture for real-time character expression, and asset integration, allowing companies to rig existing 3D models for quick animation.

“Every step of animation requires a specialized tool—from assets to previsualization to rendering and review. This technical fragmentation bottlenecks creativity costing production teams time and money,” said Sharon Bordas, CEO of Mindshow. “Mindshow is purpose-built to integrate a growing ecosystem of virtual production capabilities as rapidly as cutting-edge content tools and technology hit the market, making studio-quality animation immediate and intuitive through a single platform.”

The company says its recent addition of streaming veteran David Baron as COO “underscores Mindshow’s commitment to scaling its enterprise software platform.”

Baron notes that Mindshow helps bands “move from concept to delivery in one production cycle, turning characters into multi-platform properties across social, streaming, previsualization, and beyond.”