David S. Perkins

Bio:

David S. Perkins is the founder and lead architect at Imaginary Labs, a company dedicated to redefining live event design through real-time visualization. Its flagship product, Carbon, is a revolutionary tool for collaborative design built on Unreal Engine and powered by a custom in-house DMX plugin and asset library. Carbon enables high-fidelity, real-time visualization through an intuitive, team-friendly interface. Under David’s leadership, Imaginary Labs continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in previsualization across concert touring, broadcast, and immersive experiences.

David began his career in non-profit theater in the late ’90s, hanging and programming lights for musicals before discovering how to blend his design instincts with a newfound love of CGI to craft more compelling visual pitches. In 2010, he joined Silent House Productions at its inception as a draftsman and rendering artist, helping shape visual workflows and bring designers’ visions to life. He later served as a Visualization Specialist at VER, where he honed his real-time rendering skills to support multi-disciplinary digital rehearsals using off-the-shelf previz software. After returning to Orlando with his family, David founded Imaginary Lights to focus exclusively on visualization. When existing tools fell short of his needs, he began developing a real-time workflow using Unreal Engine—work that ultimately led to the creation of Carbon.

David is a frequent speaker and instructor at major industry tradeshows including LDI and frame:work, where he’s known for delivering highly approachable and insightful sessions on visualization workflows, real-time rendering, and collaborative design. Drawing from both deep technical knowledge and hands-on production experience, he’s especially skilled at teaching across a wide range of skill levels—from newcomers to seasoned professionals. His ability to distill complex ideas into practical and relatable examples has earned consistent praise throughout his career.