To promote and popularize virtual production technology, iQiyi significantly reduces system usage prices.
The oppressive "Wufeng Headquarters" in "Cloud Feather" and the sudden storm "Great Wilderness Seaside" in "Great Dream Return"... these exquisite "famous scenes" that blur the line between reality and illusion have been highly praised by the audience, further drawing attention to the "what you see is what you get" on-site virtual production technology from more and more film and television production teams.
Currently, the rental price for film-grade virtual studios and software services is 160,000 yuan per day. Considering that the high price is not conducive to the promotion and popularization of new technology, iQIYI announced that starting from June 1, 2025, they will significantly reduce the usage price of the virtual production system for a limited time. Depending on the specific project match, the full set of software and hardware systems without digital scene production will be priced as low as 35,000 yuan per day.
"This move aims to lower the threshold for using virtual production technology," said Liu Yuning, Vice President and General Manager of the Production Management Center at iQIYI. iQIYI will promote and popularize virtual production technology to help more content creation teams achieve higher quality creations and improve efficiency.
As a leading content platform in China, iQIYI has long invested heavily in building virtual production technology capabilities, continuously promoting the industrialization and intelligence of the film and television industry. As early as the end of 2020, iQIYI invested in the construction of an integrated XR virtual production system in Dachang, Hebei, and later built a 2,400 square meter virtual studio in Hengdian, Zhejiang in 2022.
In 2024, iQIYI will upgrade Studio 13 in Hengdian Film and Television Industrial Park to a virtual photography flagship studio. The studio features a 500 square meter immersive LED wall with a pixel pitch of 1.95mm, supporting over 200 FPS low-gray no-scan-line high-speed shooting. iQIYI's domestically pioneered hundred-ton art set electric rotating platform allows the crew's commonly used "reverse shot" filming to no longer be limited by the LED screen, making it easier to switch camera angles and greatly reducing the workload of set design.
In terms of system construction, iQIYI's IQStage technology platform, which integrates more than 20 patents and computer software copyrights, has received major awards from Beijing Smart Broadcasting. Self-developed patent technologies such as virtual-real depth matching, virtual-real color and ground matching, and virtual-real lighting matching have presented extreme virtual-real fusion effects in multiple project shootings. The virtual engine linked lighting system, combined with self-developed virtual-real fusion algorithms, has enabled iQIYI to achieve high-difficulty shooting such as virtual scene light delay matching, virtual-real rain and snow effect matching, large-area water surface reflection shooting, and high-speed slow-motion shooting, reaching movie-level creation that "fakes the real." The producer of "Great Dream Return" once stated that 95% of the footage shot with IQStage required no post-production effects. IQStage also designed a more intelligent interface, making it easier for creative teams to operate and quickly get started.
It is worth mentioning that iQIYI's virtual production technology team has extensive experience in virtual production across multiple projects, fully understanding the process and actual needs of film and television creation, and can provide comprehensive and systematic technical services, allowing creative teams to focus on realizing their ideas without being hindered by technical issues.
Currently, iQIYI's virtual production system has reached a leading level domestically and is world-class internationally. The first domestic drama series to go online using virtual production technology, "Cloud Feather," and the drama series "Great Dream Return," which has the highest difficulty in virtual production, the most scenes, and the highest ratio of virtual shooting footage, both come from iQIYI. Over the past year, the number of projects using virtual production at iQIYI has increased by 50% year-on-year. In April 2025, the iQIYI World Conference released virtual production highlights of several new works such as "Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Wang Quan Chapter," "With Jin Chang'an," "Tang Dynasty Strange Stories: Chang'an," "Yun Xiang Chuan: Will Enter Wine," and "A Pillow of Spring Blossoms." These imaginative scenes are the report card that iQIYI's virtual production team presents to the audience, further convincing the industry that new technology can bring infinite possibilities to creative expression.
As an internationally recognized frontier technology in film and television industrialization, virtual production is in a critical stage of steady implementation and poised for takeoff in China. "iQIYI's virtual production has entered the mass production phase, and I believe it has great potential in the future," said Liu Yuning. "We sincerely welcome all kinds of image content creators to experience iQIYI's new virtual production system and work together to create a new highland for China's film and television industrialization."$iQIYI(IQ.US)
The copyright of this article belongs to the original author/organization.
The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not reflect the stance of the platform. The content is intended for investment reference purposes only and shall not be considered as investment advice. Please contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the content services provided by the platform.
