04-15-2026 - News
Sony Launches XYN, Taking Spatial Content Creation from Photo to Digital Asset
By: SonyCine Team
Virtual Production can allow filmmakers to safely capture dangerous shooting scenarios and historical moments without the need for costly period-accurate props. And while it can reduce cost by avoiding on-location shooting, crafting and managing the assets to replace those locations can be its own challenge.
With the launch of XYN (/Zin/), a spatial capture solution made up of three software options, Sony aims to support the capture, generation, and utilization of 3DCG (3D Computer Graphics) assets optimized for virtual production, whether for film or commercial productions. Future plans also include expanding the applications beyond virtual production, aiming for broader adoption across fields such as gaming, animation, architecture, manufacturing, digital twins, and cultural heritage archiving.
Understanding XYN: Tools and Workflow
The trio of software options that make up XYN fall into three categories: capture, generation, and utilization.
The smartphone app, XYN Spatial Scan Navi, assists creatives in shooting photos for generating spatial content, while the cloud application XYN Spatial Scan uses that captured data to generate high-quality 3D CG assets of real-world spaces. Finally, the XYN Spatial Renderer Plugin is used to achieve high-quality, stable image display on LED walls.
Photos can be captured with a compatible Alpha camera and smartphone. A list of supported cameras can be found here.
Key Features of XYN Spatial Scan Navi
XYN Spatial Scan Navi is a smartphone application that provides real-time AR (Augmented Reality) navigation functionality to assist creatives in gathering scan data. By connecting to a compatible Sony Alpha camera and smartphone, the application visualizes the required shooting position and angle using AR and guides users to the optimal shooting position. From there, creatives capture the necessary photos that will go on to generate a complete, high-quality 3DCG asset.
The real-time preview feature visualizes the shooting status to minimize missed shots and allows users to view and confirm shooting locations from a bird’s-eye view. Completed sections are clearly highlighted in real-time, preventing missed shots and reduces overall production time.
Spatial Scan Navi controls camera settings and capture parameters based on the subject, enabling consistent, high-quality photography even without specialized knowledge of spatial content creation. Additionally, by automatically recording shooting information, lens data, and camera metadata, it improves quality and accelerates the subsequent 3DCG generation process.
Key Features of XYN Spatial Scan
After all necessary photos are captured, XYN Spatial Scan takes over. Using Sony’s proprietary algorithms, it generates production-quality 3DCG assets optimized for virtual production.
Even when 3DCG assets are displayed on the large LED screens commonly used in virtual production, the Spatial Scan generation algorithm faithfully reproduces details such as reflections, gloss, and the atmospheric quality of distant scenes in high resolution. By generating data compatible with the color management workflows required for HDR (High dynamic range) displays, the system achieves rich tonal expression with minimal clipping in highlights and shadows.
Rendering is also performed in the cloud, enabling the system to be deployed without a dedicated production environment. High-quality data can be generated and reviewed in the cloud, while on location, or even while on the go.
XYN Spatial Scan adapts to creators’ existing workflows and supports input from standard mirrorless camera footage. This generated data can then be integrated into standard workflows using tools such as Unreal Engine.
Key Features of the XYN Spatial Renderer Plugin
The third step in the XYN pipeline is displaying the generated assets. Here, the XYN Spatial Renderer Plugin steps in to provide production-quality real-time rendering for virtual productions. This Sony-developed rendering plug-in enables production-quality playback of the 3DCG assets generated with XYN Spatial Scan and maintains high image quality on LED backgrounds regardless of distance or angle, which increases efficiency and flexibility in virtual production environments.
During virtual productions, XYN Spatial Render Plugin enables adjustments to depth of field, matching lighting between live subjects and LED backgrounds, color correction of any area on the LED background, and CG overlay, supporting the execution of the creator's creativity.
Because it’s compatible with the widely used Unreal Engine as well as media servers and software such as Disguise (used for integrating, outputting, and controlling video playback data), the XYN Spatial Renderer Plugin can seamlessly integrate into existing production environments. Sony’s Virtual Production Tool Set can also be used to enable pre-shoot simulations and color calibration for both the actual footage displayed on LED screens and the footage captured by cameras, further increasing efficiency.
Explore the World of XYN
XYN is expected to be available to professional customers in the United States starting summer 2026. To learn more about the full toolset and to see how the technology will thrive in different media, visit our website here.
Sony will also be showcasing this spatial capture solution at the NAB Show 2026 at Sony’s booth, C8401, from April 19-22, in Las Vegas.
