In Broadcast - May 2021 - 22

22

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 11 - Issue 5 | May 2021

InStudio

Immersive Real-Time
Production
Affordable virtual production techniques
and technologies are enabling augmented
and mixed reality presentations in
broadcast, reports Adrian Pennington...

T

he pandemic has prevented many
creative directors from making
content in the traditional way, forcing
them to explore alternatives. This
has coincided with a coming of age
for the next generation of virtual set
technology, with increasingly powerful
photorealistic real-time rendering.
The key drivers towards adoption are
space, budget, and participant location.
" Increased virtual set utilisation
has taken on two forms, " says Liam
Hayter, Senior Solutions Architect,
NewTek. " The first is bringing remote
participants via chromakey into a
virtual environment, especially where
presenters and guests alike are unable
to travel to a studio. The second is for
a set extension from smaller studio
spaces, where budget and space are
at a premium but the look and feel of a
full studio environment is desired.
He adds, " AR/MR particularly come
into their own for remote or at-home
audiences where a live event space can
equally be expanded. Whether this is
broadcast or streamed is immaterial.
Combining camera and robotics
tracking data with on-stage or on-set

video walls and virtual set extensions
provide visually engaging, dynamic
content. "
Demand for virtual sets is soaring
across
all
markets,
including
broadcast, corporate communications,
advertising and events. Using LED
screens rather than greenscreen
enable realistic reflections and
refractions that actors and camera
operators can easily see and explore.
" Allowing the performer or presenter
to see what's happening around them
instead of just a blank screen located
behind them, creates a more natural
flow to a production, " says Lanz Short,
Technical Solutions Manager, disguise.
" [LED volumes] also remove the need
for chroma keying, which can be
challenging when working in a small
studio, and people can wear any colour
clothing when on set. "
disguise xR workflow has undergone
intensive field testing and refining
in collaboration with creative and
technical partners. The recent public
release the software is claimed by
disguise to " significantly reduce
the barrier of entry to cutting-edge
productions, unlocking the power to
create any world, from one location. "
The r18 release will also debut a
Panasonic's virtual production
concept for broadcast pulls together
a number of leading technologies,
including its own PTZ cameras

disguise virtual production software
includes a cluster rendering feature for
delivering photorealistic scenes to large
scale displays plus support for the ACES
cinematic standard
Images: Framestore, XR Stage, All of it Now

cluster rendering feature for delivery
of photorealistic scenes to large scale
content displays and support for the
ACES colour management standard.
" It unlocks the limitations of a virtual
production studio by scaling out
real-time content up to an unlimited
capacity, " Short says.
Disguise technology has been
incorporated by White Light for
its SmartStage system. When the
pandemic hit it saw a surge in demand
for corporate and education use. It
has managed more than 500 hours of
live corporate presentations from a
SmartStage at the Mermaid centre in
Blackfriars since Spring 2020.
Technical Solutions Director Andy
Hook, says, " With this technology
you can broadcast to a remote
audience, globally, in a more
compelling way than traditional video
conferencing. Everyone is turning into
a broadcaster. "
White Light made a broadcast
version for by Eurosport, including
at this Summer's Tokyo Olympics.
This features 'teleportation' in which
athletes are filmed live at the venue
and displayed in full body 3D as if
standing next to the presenter in the
virtual studio. This technique has also
attracted corporates to 'teleport' CEOs
and keynote speakers into the virtual
space.
Enabling this are remote controlled
pan-tilt-zoom cameras (and 'virtual'
PTZ cams).
The application of
tracking data to PTZ cams looks set
to democratise the use of AR for
broadcast.

Panasonic's
virtual
production
studio concept pulls together a
number of leading technologies,
including its own PTZs. The AW-UE150
PRO PTZ remote camera is claimed as
the first robotic camera on the market
to provide Position Data Notification
(PTZF). It's ability to be used in virtual
sets is only one of many features that
makes it the ideal choice for robocam
needs. It features a massive wideangle of view, 4K / 60p video, and
versatile video outputs.
To be able to incorporate realistic
VR or AR studio sets in your live
productions,
accurate
camera
positioning data is imperative.
Panasonic says its AW-UE150 PRO PTZ
camera features the FreeD protocol,
which provides the option to output
PTZ and Iris information via Serial
(RS 422) and IP (UDP) directly to your
tracking system. FreeD is a protocol
that sends camera positioning data
directly from the camera to a virtual
reality production system and is
supported by vendors with VR/AR
and virtual set solutions including
Brainstorm eStudio, The Future Group
Pixotope, Vizrt Viz Virtual Studio, Ross
Xpression and Zero Density.
" It
enables
productions
to
incorporate realistic virtual studio
sets and elements into their live
video workflow without the need
for additional sensors or encoders, "
Panasonic say.
Many vendors incorporate Unreal
Engine into their virtual set solutions
http://www.inbroadcast.com https://pro.sony/en_GB/products/broadcastpromonitors/pvm-x3200 https://pro.sony/en_GB/products/broadcastpromonitors/pvm-x3200 https://business.panasonic.co.uk/professional-camera/news-and-events/panasonic-shows-virtual-and-augmented-reality-capabilities-at-ibc-from-its-latest-technology https://business.panasonic.co.uk/professional-camera/news-and-events/panasonic-shows-virtual-and-augmented-reality-capabilities-at-ibc-from-its-latest-technology
In Broadcast - May 2021

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