Slapshot’s New AI Slashes VFX Drudgery to Minutes

AI toolkit Slapshot has launched a new camera tracking feature for A/V teams that cuts a day-long visual effects task down to under ten minutes, aiming to eliminate one of the industry's most tedious jobs.

• No 3D degree required: The software is built to be fast and simple, opening up advanced tracking to artists who don't necessarily live and breathe 3D. Co-founder and CEO Jon Mason said the goal was to make the intimidating process "as simple yet powerful as possible," noting the tracker can generate a usable track from the footage alone, though artists can still provide camera data.

• Tackling the grind: Slapshot is positioning the feature for the everyday grind of VFX—background replacements, screen comps, and sky swaps—not as a replacement for specialist tracking on major CG sequences. “But for those medium-difficulty shots where a 2D track isn’t enough, this is going to save artists hours, if not days, on every job,” Mason said.

• Production-ready pedigree: The tool joins Slapshot's growing AI suite and outputs in standard formats to fit existing 3D pipelines. The company is led by founders Jon Mason, Varun Parange, and Ben Stallard, a team whose résumés include work on Oscar-, Emmy-, and VES-winning productions.

Slapshot's new feature is part of a larger strategy to ease production bottlenecks, building on the work of its parent company, the Hotspring VFX outsourcing platform. The company's leadership has also outlined a broader vision for its full AI toolkit, aiming to make a suite of advanced effects more accessible.