Lightcraft Spark Story Puts Browser-Based Previs Into Every Filmmaker's Hands

Eliot Mack shows off a collaborative virtual shot system that runs entirely in the browser, links to an iOS camera app in real time, and costs roughly $30 a month.

Lightcraft's Spark Story enters beta as a browser-based previs tool designed to give small teams the kind of shot planning capability previously reserved for ILM-level budgets. Co-founder Eliot Mack walked through the system at NAB 2026, demonstrating real-time collaboration between a web browser and an iOS device on a convention floor with spotty Wi-Fi.

Script-driven database. Spark loads Final Draft scripts, parses them for locations and characters, and builds a database that ties every shot to a specific scene. Filmmakers drop in environments from Gaussian splats, photogrammetry scans, or prompted 3D from partners like World Labs and Megascapes.

Live iOS camera. The Spark iOS app links directly to the browser session over the internet, not a local network. Filmmakers can walk through a 3D environment on an iPad or iPhone, frame shots in augmented reality, and save takes that appear instantly in the browser timeline without file transfers.

USD throughout. All objects live in Universal Scene Description, so previs decisions carry downstream into Maya, Unreal, Houdini, and the rest of the production pipeline. Mack showed a fully animated dragon pulled in from Houdini via USD layering.

Camera and lens accuracy. The system simulates specific camera bodies and lens sets, so framed shots translate to accurate on-set positions. The goal is previs that actually matches what gets shot.

Jetset integration coming. Mack confirmed that Lightcraft's on-set tracking tool Jetset will roll into Spark over time, along with the Autoshot post-processing application. The vision is a unified pipeline from previs through production to final composite, all connected through the same database.

Pricing and timeline. Public beta at SIGGRAPH 2026, commercial release in fall 2026. Target price is approximately $29.95 per month per seat.

We previously covered Spark's full platform architecture when it was announced.