James Cameron’s Lightstorm Vision Acquires Creative-Tech Collective Outsyders

James Cameron’s Lightstorm Vision has acquired AI-driven tech startup and 3D specialist Outsyders for an undisclosed price as the company positions itself as a one-stop shop for 3D content creation.

The two companies recently worked together on Paramount summer release Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D), directed by Cameron and Eilish. Other Outsyder projects have included the Imax 3D version of Blue Angels; the 3D reimagining of Disney’s Lilo & Stitch (with most of the 2D classic brought to 3D in just eight weeks); Doug Liman’s 8K, high-frame-rate stereoscopic film Asteroid, produced for Samsung and Google; Tron: Ares, and Moana.

The company currently has more than five feature films underway.

Outsyders was launched in 2024 by stereo, vfx and tech veterans Paul Becker (who is CEO), Jared Sandrew and Chris Harvey. It core AI-driven stereoscopic processing platform for post-production achieves, among other things, visual consistency between converted and native stereoscopic footage. That can be paired with Lightstorm Vision’s capture and production capabilities.

Outsyders’ platform combining real and synthetic data continuously improves model accuracy while enabling small, highly skilled teams to produce premium stereoscopic content in a fraction of the time and at significantly lower cost than traditional conversion methods, the companies said. “That capability now finds its fullest expression within Lightstorm Vision’s integrated platform.”

“At Lightstorm we’ve been working with Paul Becker and his team for almost two years, and really enjoyed the collaboration. As everyone knows, I’ve got a very exacting eye for 3D, and I can confidently say that their work and their AI tools are world class. Together we will provide end-to-end solutions for productions and for studios, as we merge the worlds of conversion and native photographic 3D.”

“We’ve always shared Jim’s vision for stereo,” said Becker. “Our work with Jim confirmed that our combined technologies were the most logical and effective step for the format. We are excited to join and bolster Lightstorm Vision’s mission.”

Tech-forward Cameron sits on the board of Stability AI. In late 2024, Lightstorm and Meta partnered to scale the creation of 3D entertainment experiences across sports and entertainment on the Meta Quest mixed reality platform.