NAB Show Preview: Virtual production becomes a standard workflow for creative storytelling

Virtual production and augmented reality graphics have moved well past their novelty phase in broadcast.

The tools are in regular use across news, sports, entertainment and live events, and the conversations at NAB Show 2026 are expected to reflect a more mature set of concerns: how these systems integrate with the rest of production infrastructure, how they scale across multiple shows and environments, and how the workflows supporting them become more repeatable and sustainable.

“Real-time graphics and virtual production are now core to live workflows, not experimental add-ons,” said Kevin Cottam, vice president of sports and entertainment at Ross Video. “GPU-accelerated rendering, precise tracking integration, and frame-synchronous performance deliver scalable, broadcast-grade AR and virtual environments — turning complex data into compelling, on-air storytelling in real time.”

The early appeal of virtual production was largely visual, the ability to place talent in photorealistic environments without leaving the studio. That capability remains, but the operational focus has shifted toward reliability and repeatability, particularly in multi-show environments where the same virtual setup needs to perform consistently across different productions.

“Virtual and augmented production now relies on seamless coordination between camera movement, tracking data, and real-time rendering rather than treating these as separate layers,” said Paddy Taylor, head of broadcast at MRMC. “As these workflows mature, teams are increasingly placing more emphasis on repeatable camera motion and precise alignment with graphics, especially across multi-show environments. This is driving a more unified approach with robotics, tracking, and graphics systems designed to work together from the outset.”

The integration of real-time graphics into live production has followed a similar trajectory, from showcase deployments in high-profile broadcasts to routine use across a wider range of programming.

“Virtual production, AR and real-time graphics are now commonplace, not just in news and sport but also in magazines and entertainment, to capture attention while displaying complex data and concepts clearly and engagingly,” said Miguel Churruca, marketing and communications director at Brainstorm. “To do this seamlessly and securely in a live production demands graphics engines which automatically draw in data from external sources including databases, spreadsheets and RSS feeds, while working with the virtual environment, including the Unreal Engine.” 

The Unreal Engine, of course, enabled a lot of this shift. It is now standard across the industry with many solutions built on top of it, or integrating it as a render option. 

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Practical applications and emerging standards

Beyond the live broadcast use case, virtual production has changed how location-dependent content gets made.

For productions where reshoots, specific lighting conditions or controlled environments are required, virtual production stages offer a level of control and cost efficiency that location shooting cannot match.

“Virtual production has changed the concept of location shoots forever. When reshoots or extended lighting conditions are needed, only virtual production can offer the solution. The cost-effectiveness cannot be underestimated for smaller studios when producing high-end content,” said Duncan Beattie, market development manager at Tuxera.

Beattie also pointed to OpenUSD (Universal Scene Description) as a development worth watching in the space.

Released as an open-source project by Pixar, OpenUSD is a framework for describing complex 3D scenes that enables different applications and studios to work with the same assets without destructive edits. Its adoption across virtual production pipelines is growing as productions increasingly draw on assets and environments built in different software environments.

The integration challenge identified by Taylor, bringing robotics, tracking and graphics into a single coordinated system, points to where much of the practical development in this space is headed.

As virtual and augmented production tools become standard components of broadcast infrastructure rather than specialized additions, the expectation is that they will behave with the same reliability and interoperability as the rest of the signal chain.

NAB Show 2026 opens April 18, with exhibits running April 19-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Make sure to check out the latest NAB Show News in our dedicated section or visit the NAB Show website to register for the show.