From Image to Immersive: VIVE Mars x Marble

Overview

Creating 3D worlds for film has traditionally been one of the most time-consuming parts of virtual production. Modeling, lighting, and rendering require specialized skills and complex tools — slowing how fast creators can experiment and shoot.

Marble, developed by World Labs, changes that. Using Gaussian Splatting and AI-driven spatial generation, it transforms a single image or text prompt into an explorable 3D environment within minutes.

In collaboration with HTC's VIVE Mars CamTrack and its new real-time compositing software Mars Nova, creators can now move directly from concept to camera-ready set. The integration accelerates the entire virtual production workflow — from world generation to live-action filming — all powered by AI.

Collaboration Overview

The collaboration between World Labs and HTC VIVE brings together two complementary innovations.

• Marble generates detailed, realistic 3D worlds from simple inputs.
• VIVE Mars provides the real-time camera tracking and compositing that make those worlds shoot-ready.

Together, they enable a seamless idea-to-shoot workflow, eliminating the need for traditional 3D software or complex technical setup.

Select production studios (New Media Manitoba, Moonshine Studio XR, Matt Vascellaro/Eric Furie) were invited to test the workflow in real-world conditions, exploring how quickly teams could move from world generation to live-action filming.

Moonshine Studio XR — Instant World-Building

At Moonshine Studio XR in Taipei, for a team known for its virtual production and VFX expertise, the challenge was clear: could creators with no 3D experience generate and film new scenes in a single day?

Three local creators were invited to test the combined Marble + VIVE Mars pipeline. Using Marble, they generated over ten unique environments — from futuristic interiors to moody cityscapes — and filmed social content inside them that same afternoon.

This hands-on experiment proved how accessible the workflow could be. It required no specialized 3D tools, only creative direction and a camera. For Moonshine, the project marked a major step toward making real-time virtual production available to any creator, not just large studios.

Filmmakers Matt Vascellaro and Eric Furie — Stylized Sci-Fi in Real Time

Filmmakers Matt Vascellaro and Eric Furie approached the collaboration from a creative angle, combining live-action performance, stylized visuals, and AI-generated environments into one real-time workflow.
They generated sci-fi inspired 3D worlds in Marble, then filmed live actors on green screen. Using toon shading stylization, they matched the characters to the tone of each world and composited them directly into the generated environments.

The final result was a visually striking sequence that blurred the line between animation and live action — proving how Marble and Mars can bring stylized, high-end visuals to life without post-production bottlenecks.

Why Marble

Both partners share a vision of making virtual production faster, simpler, and more accessible.
Marble provides the generative backbone: it converts an idea, described through text or imagery, into a fully explorable, realistic 3D world in PLY format.

When paired with Mars Nova, these AI-generated worlds become immediately filmable. Mars Nova imports Marble’s files directly, automatically optimizes them, and prepares them for real-time compositing — skipping the multi-step pipeline required by traditional 3D engines like Unreal or Unity.

The result is a seamless, accessible system where creators can experiment and shoot without needing a technical background in VFX or 3D.

Creative and Technical Process

Each studio used the workflow differently but achieved the same result: real-time filmmaking.

Moonshine Studio XR focused on immediacy, generating and staging scenes in Marble and Mars Nova with no pre-built assets or 3D prep. Matt and Eric used the same process for stylized compositing, filming actors on green screen and placing them inside AI-generated sci-fi worlds.

This flexibility proved how Marble’s environments adapt to different production styles — whether shooting in-camera visuals, doing live compositing, or working with LED volumes.
Creators could move fluidly from idea to finished footage without switching tools or breaking the creative flow.

Results and Impact

The collaboration demonstrated how AI-generated environments can be used in real production scenarios:

• Over ten unique environments were generated and filmed in one afternoon.
• Prompt to live-action composite in minutes.
• No 3D modeling required.
• High-quality visuals suitable for cinematic or social content.
• Accessible workflow usable by creators, educators, and small teams.

By reducing both time and cost, the Marble + Mars workflow allows small studios and individuals to produce virtual content that once required major technical resources.

Looking Ahead

The success of these early projects points to a new creative model for real-time production.
Both HTC VIVE and World Labs plan to continue refining the integration — focusing on faster performance, tighter calibration, and educational programs to help creators adopt the workflow.

Future initiatives will include film challenges and creator workshops, expanding access to the Marble–Mars Nova pipeline and gathering feedback from real-world users.

Ultimately, the collaboration aims to accelerate the virtual production workflow — where any filmmaker, student, or storyteller can generate, composite, and film inside a new world in minutes.