Top 5 in Tech: OpenAI’s Big Budget Movie, Seedance 4 Competes with Nano Banana

VP Land Staff

VP Land is a newsletter & YouTube channel covering the latest updates in creative technology for M&E professionals.

Here's a quick roundup of the most significant developments in media and entertainment technology this week:

👾 OpenAI-Backed Critterz Aims to Slash Animation Costs by 80%

OpenAI is producing Critterz, an animated feature made with heavy assistance from AI tools and targeting a 2026 Cannes premiere. The project claims to cut animation budgets and timelines by about 80%, costing under $30 million and finishing in nine months instead of the $150–200 million and three years typical for studios. It uses a hybrid model where artists sketch, AI enhances, and human animators handle final work.

ᯤ Volinga, XGRIDS Fast-Track LiDAR to 3D Splats

Volinga and XGRIDS built a pipeline that turns LiDAR scans into production-ready 3D Gaussian Splats in Unreal Engine within hours. XGRIDS’ multi-SLAM capture tech pairs with Volinga’s Unreal plugin for direct import and real-time rendering of photoreal environments. The integration brings spatial precision plus pro tools like re-lighting, ACES color, and full support for nDisplay, VCam, and Depth of Field.

🌆 ByteDance Launches Seedream 4.0: 4K Images in Under 2 Seconds

ByteDance unveiled Seedream 4.0, a pro-grade AI image generator that creates 4K images in under 2 seconds—over 10x faster than its predecessor—while keeping pricing at $30 per 1,000 generations. It supports up to six reference images for consistency and has excellent image editing from prompt adherence, challenging the features of Google’s new Nano Banana. 

🫱🏼‍🫲🏽 Bending Spoons to Acquire Vimeo for $1.38B

Vimeo is being acquired by European software company Bending Spoons for $1.38 billion. The company, which also owns Evernote, WeTransfer, and Meetup, plans to finalize the deal later this year.

🔴 New Cameras from RED 

RED unveiled the V-RAPTOR XE, an 8K cinema camera priced at $14,995 that packs the same large-format global shutter sensor as its $30K flagship. Targeted at indie and mid-tier productions, it delivers pro-level image quality, flexible lens options, and high-frame-rate recording—without the extra features smaller crews rarely use.

Also from RED, in the first new product launch since their acquisition by Nikon, Nikon is launching the ZR, the first camera in its Z CINEMA series, bringing RED’s R3D RAW recording to a $2,200 body. Weighing just 540 grams, it shoots 6K/60p with 15+ stops of dynamic range, 32-bit float audio, and a modular design for gimbals and drones.

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