If you’ve watched an NBA replay where the camera seems to orbit around a frozen moment of action, or seen a music video where the performer exists as a 3D figure viewable from any angle, you’ve seen volumetric video. It’s been quietly maturing overseas while Australia watches from the sidelines. That’s starting to change.

What Volumetric Video Actually Is

Traditional video captures a flat image from a single camera perspective. Volumetric capture records a subject from every angle simultaneously, creating a full 3D representation viewable from any direction.

A typical volumetric stage uses 50 to over 100 synchronised cameras arranged around the subject. The footage is processed through photogrammetry and machine learning pipelines to reconstruct a 3D model for every frame. The result is a moving, photorealistic 3D human that can be placed in any virtual environment, viewed in VR headsets, or integrated into AR experiences.

Think of it as the difference between a photograph and a sculpture — except the sculpture moves.

The International Landscape

Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Capture Studios (now Metastage) have operated in the US since 2017. In the UK, Dimension Studio has captured content for the Premier League and luxury fashion brands. The technology has found commercial legs in three areas:

Sports broadcasting. The NFL, NBA, and Premier League have all used volumetric capture for immersive replays. Canon’s Free Viewpoint system, deployed in several stadiums, is a simplified version of the concept.

Entertainment. Music videos, virtual concerts, and brand experiences increasingly feature volumetric performers. Placing a real human in a virtual world without the uncanny valley of CGI has obvious appeal.

Training and simulation. Medical training, military scenarios, and corporate induction programmes benefit from realistic 3D humans in interactive environments. A volumetric capture of a surgeon performing a procedure, viewable from any angle in VR, is fundamentally different from flat video.

What’s Happening in Australia

Australia has historically consumed this technology rather than produced it. Most Australian productions requiring volumetric content shipped talent overseas. That’s shifting.

The University of Technology Sydney’s Animal Logic Academy has been experimenting with volumetric capture techniques. In Melbourne, production studios have built lightweight capture rigs using consumer-grade camera arrays paired with cloud processing.

The Australian sports market represents a significant opportunity. The AFL, NRL, and Cricket Australia are investing in digital fan engagement, and volumetric replays are a logical next step. The AFL has been exploring immersive content as part of its digital strategy, though a full stadium deployment is still some way off.

Technical Barriers

Beyond camera hardware — which runs into hundreds of thousands for a professional rig — the processing pipeline is the real challenge. Converting synchronised feeds into clean 3D assets requires significant compute power and specialised software.

Cloud processing from companies like Arcturus helps smaller studios offload computation, reducing upfront costs. But bandwidth remains a constraint in Australia, where upload speeds in many areas lag behind international standards.

Storage is another factor. A single minute of raw volumetric footage can produce terabytes of data before processing.

Use Cases Worth Watching

Indigenous cultural preservation. Volumetric capture offers a way to record cultural practices and storytelling as full 3D experiences. Several projects are exploring this with appropriate community consultation and ownership frameworks.

Corporate training. Mining, healthcare, and emergency services already invest in VR training. Adding volumetric captured humans — real instructors rather than animated avatars — makes scenarios more realistic.

Real estate. While current virtual tours use photospheres and 3D scans, volumetric capture of people within spaces could change how properties are presented.

Where This Goes

Volumetric capture will follow the same trajectory as most production technologies: expensive and rare today, increasingly accessible over three to five years. As capture rigs become cheaper and AI-assisted processing reduces compute requirements, more Australian studios will offer this as standard.

For now, most Australian organisations should be aware of the technology rather than investing directly. The use cases are real, the quality is impressive, and the trajectory is clear. The infrastructure just needs to catch up.