The practice of leveraging realtime technology in virtual production settings has upleveled how films and other content are created in recent years. The ability to have multiple powerful workstations working in concert with one another and, as a result, be able to manage and playback all the digital content from each of those screens, as well as manipulate content based on where the camera is panning and tilting, has given producers and filmmakers more flexibility in the creative process. As CPU processors, such as the AMD Ryzen Threadripper portfolio, allow for more workstation performance, the ability to make realtime manipulations of digital content will become more seamless in 2025.
In 2024, the media and entertainment industries dove into the possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI with the help of next-generation workstations. Leveraging AI manifested clearly in the practice of generative design, which helps creators identify a wide array of design possibilities that fit into a specific criteria. In 2025 and in the coming years, AI will become further embedded into software - taking shape as features or capabilities woven into services from companies such as Autodesk, Adobe or others – rather than a standout differentiator.
Nearly all new televisions today offer 4K ultra-HD resolution, and content providers such as Netflix, YouTube or Hulu are making 4K content more widely available online. While 4K is becoming more common, the move to 8K is in full swing today and will be in 2025. From a developer standpoint, the move to 8K requires increased storage, networking and compute power. As the move from 4K to 8K is a 4x resolution increase, developers must architect hardware with 4x the storage power, 4x the networking power and 4x the compute power. And with jumps to resolutions such as 16K in the future, developers will need to further increase backend power.
Rob Hoffman is the Senior Worldwide Manager for Media & Entertainment Vertical at Lenovo (www.lenovo.com).