James Cameron’s Lightstorm Scoops Up AI-Powered 3D Tech Company Outsyders

James Cameron has long loved 3D. Now he’s added an AI-powered 3D tech company to his collection.

Cameron’s Lightstorm Vision has purchased Outsyders, a technology company focused on boosting the 3D production and post-production pipeline with the help of AI and machine learning to create “premium stereoscopic content.” Founded in 2024 by Paul Becker, Jared Sandrew and Chris Harvey, Outsyders has worked on films including “Blue Angels,” Disney’s 3D version of “Lilo & Stitch,” Doug Liman’s XR “Asteroid” and more. and Moana, and other films.

As part of the acquisition, Outsyders will work with Lightstorm to help tap into content libraries to produce new 3D versions of films, a measure the companies said could be done “in a fraction of the time and at significantly lower cost than traditional conversion” through Outsyders’ AI models.

The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, though their partnership is not entirely new: Lightstorm and Outsyders worked together on Paramount’s “Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D),” which Cameron co-directed with Eilish.

“At Lightstorm we’ve been working with Paul Becker and his team for almost two years, and really enjoyed the collaboration,” Cameron said in a statement. “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,” Becker added. “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.”

The acquisition follows Lightstorm’s purchase earlier this year of Stereotec, a 3D camera company, and its 2024 deal with Meta to produce 3D content for its Meta Quest devices.