“The difference between a good video and a great video is that feeling you get afterwards, that it really touched you and connected” Tim Moore, founder of Diamond View Studios and CEO of Vu said.
Moore discovered his love of video when he was 15 years old. “I’d gone on a missions trip with my church and didn’t have any interest in video or making a video company,” he said, “but going on that trip was lifechanging for me. I was able to see through the camera in a way that I had never seen before.”
Founded in 2007 by Moore right after graduating from high school, Diamond View Studios began as a 2-person company shooting private events and has now grown into an Emmy award winning national creative studio developing award winning videos and commercials, specializing in emotionally charged videos that inspire audiences. Their long list of clients includes WWE, Adidas, Amazon and more.
When the world shut down during the pandemic, Moore says he and his team immediately realized they had a major problem. “Ninety percent of our clients were outside of the Tampa market, so when we couldn’t travel to them, our business came to a halt,” Moore said. That’s when Moore saw an opportunity in the power of virtual production, forming Vu Studios in 2021 as a sister company of Diamond View. Now a leader in virtual production, Vu has designed and implemented more than 20 virtual production studios across North America and the UK and facilitated over 500 virtual production shoots for clients.
A new form of storytelling and content creation, virtual production uses computer generated content in virtual reality displayed on giant, immersive LED screens to create high quality media content dramatically faster than traditional production methods. “The best way to think about the studio is that it is all the technology of a VR headset but at the scale of an IMAX theater,” Moore said. Unlike a green screen, these massive LED screens project images in real time during filming instead of being added afterwards in post-production. This method opens a whole new world of possibilities explained Moore. “Since the camera is less sensitive than your eye, when you put objects in front of it, whether it’s a person or a car, the camera can’t distinguish what’s real and what’s virtual, making everything in the shot appearing like it’s actually there.” With infinite possible locations, a video can take place anywhere in the world without ever having to book a plane ticket. With total environmental control, the weather will never get in the way of anything your mind can imagine.
Now Vu is ready to push the envelope even further with their new software platform Virtual Studio that will make virtual production even more accessible to creatives. “The core technology behind Virtual Studio is an AI orchestrator that helps create the virtual backgrounds instantly,” said Moore. With the Beta version already released, the full general admission will be released later this fall, empowering creators to unleash their imaginations. “Our mission is to empower the world to create content at the speed of thought,” Moore said.
Moore is currently on the Board of the Tampa Bay Chamber. He says the chamber has been a resource for Vu by providing networking opportunities with organized events and seminars, business development and referrals along with community information and resources.
