On the evening of November 3, iQiyi Inc. held its first Virtual Photography Flagship Studio Open Day (referred to as the "Open Day") in Hengdian. Zhu Liang, Vice President of iQiyi and Head of the Intelligent Production Department, outlined the company's development roadmap for virtual production, stating, "Our approach to virtual production is tailored to domestic characteristics, emphasizing practicality and simplicity. We focus on creating tools that enhance quality and efficiency rather than blindly pursuing scale or overly complex technologies. Our goal is to make virtual production more like an open-source software system, easily accessible to new creators."
As of now, iQiyi's virtual production projects in 2025 have increased by 125% year-over-year, marking the company's first full-process participation in a major theatrical film collaboration. Meanwhile, AI has been integrated throughout the workflow, supporting applications such as AI concept design and pre-visualization, AI model generation, and rapid 3DGS scene scanning.
Virtual production, as a representative technology in the industrialization of film and television, has garnered significant attention from creators worldwide in recent years. Shooting in front of LED screens shifts post-production visual effects work to earlier stages, offering a "what you see is what you get" result that is highly appealing for projects with strong visual effects. Internationally, Disney, HBO, and Netflix have released several series utilizing virtual production, including *The Mandalorian*, *1899*, and *House of the Dragon*.
In China, iQiyi has been a pioneer in applying virtual production technology to commercial series production. Since 2021, the company has completed over ten film and television projects using virtual production, many of which have already aired. During this process, iQiyi has developed and refined multiple patented algorithms for color and lighting matching, virtual depth of field, and more. The company also introduced innovations such as a waterproof rotating set platform with virtual-real interaction and a quick-disassembly LED screen structure, overcoming limitations in front-of-screen reverse-angle shooting and underwater scenes while enabling multi-angle direct lighting through screens.
"We are committed to providing creators with simple and practical solutions rather than blindly pursuing technical complexity," Zhu Liang emphasized. He noted that virtual production has entered a phase of mass production, and the rapid advancement of AI is expected to significantly shorten production cycles. For example, the series *Phantom Catcher* achieved bidirectional integration of digital assets between virtual and real worlds by leveraging AI-generated models, digital assets for virtual shooting, 3D-printed physical props from digital assets, and physical props for live-action filming.
According to Zhu Liang, the key to successfully applying virtual production lies in awareness and action, with selecting the right scenarios being critical. Early exposure to virtual production allows for greater creative inspiration during the scriptwriting stage, while hands-on experience enables creators to understand the boundaries of technological capabilities and ultimately achieve breakthroughs in their work.