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Ed Ulbrich — Chief Content Officer & President of Production, Metaphysic.ai

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It’s been seven years since Ed Ulbrich last appeared on the CG Garage podcast — and a lot has changed. The man who digitally aged Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and resurrected late rapper 2Pac as an on-stage hologram is now chief content officer and president of production at metaphysic.ai, which is using AI tools to create photorealistic digital humans in real time for movies such as Robert Zemeckis’ Here.

Ed breaks down what Metaphysic.ai does, and how it can be used by directors to see live digital doubles while slashing production times and costs. In turn, Ed envisions AI tools turning Hollywood on its head and enabling filmmakers to be more creative on lower budgets. He also highlights some of the challenges of enticing new audiences into theaters and shares what he’s working on next.

Links:

Metaphysic.ai >

Ed Ulbrich on LinkedIn >

Ed Ulbrich on IMDb >


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0:04:30 What Ed's been doing since his last podcast

0:09:20 The evolution of digital humans

0:13:13 How the technology works

0:18:23 Creating 2Pac

0:24:22 Why 2Pac was OK ethically

0:28:53 SAG-AFTRA and defeating the AI boogeyman

0:33:30 AI as jet fuel for creativity

0:38:29 The first AI-generated full body in a movie

0:42:23 How AI is changing the economics of Hollywood

0:47:29 Are kids still into movies?

0:51:03 And how do we entertain them now?

0:56:10 What makes music videos unique

1:00:20 Cross-border production

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About the author

Christopher Nichols

Chris is a CG industry veteran and Director of Chaos Labs. He can also be heard regularly as the host of the CG Garage podcast which attracts 20,000 weekly listeners. With a background in both VFX and Design, Chris has worked for Gensler, Digital Domain, Imageworks and Method Studios. His credits include Maleficent, Oblivion and Tron: Legacy.

Originally published: September 9, 2024.
© Škoda Design

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