[rperez333]

Netflix acquired one high-end VFX studio recently - Scanline. A lot of the compositing work is edge integration, so this could in theory translates in cost savings on their pipeline.

Also, this research is under the supervision of Paul Debevec, who spearheaded more than 20 years ago the image-based lighting and high dynamic range workflow used in virtually every single production now. If we see chrome balls in film sets, it is because of him!

That said, I don't think this will find its way on sets, mostly because DOPs/directors are very precious about the way they capture their images. The alternative they offer in the paper, using a reduced shutter speed and adding synthetic motion blur, is also a big ask - with the added problem of syncing the cameras to the lights, which would slow production.

In my experience, extracting the alpha is not an issue - compositors can get close to the GT using old tools/algorithms. However, getting the original colour around the semitransparent areas is the biggest hurdle - and each artist uses a bunch of approximations and local fixes, which are very time-consuming. Recoloring the edges would be enough to revolutionize this workflow. Given their virtual stage + deep learning technology, they are in a good position to make this happen.