MONTROGUE, FRANCE—Egypt’s Al-Nahar TV has purchased Hybrid 3D virtual studio solutions and robotic camera heads to transform two studios used for daily news, entertainment and live sports programming for Al Nahar Entertainment and Al-Nahar Sports.
Each studio will employ two Silver II PTZF robotic camera heads, a Cobalt control panel with Mercury control software, and one camera in the ceiling for beauty shots using Hybrid’s Neon trackless virtual set solution.
Al-Nahar TV has been among the top three TV networks since the Egyptian revolution, earning a dozen awards since its June 2011 launch. The broadcaster’s management chooses technological solutions it believes will help it top the ratings charts.
The sale agreement was finalized at the 2013 CABSAT Show in Dubai, U.A.E. Egyptian systems integration firms and Hybrid technology partners Systems Design and Technology KAR facilitated the sale and will manage the installation. Al-Nahar TV, which operates five satellite channels in Arabic and English, is currently designing the virtual sets.
The trackless virtual set Neon is based upon the same core engine as Hybrid’s Krypton system, but it enables virtual camera movements in real-time from fixed cameras on set. It requires a PC and software and operates with a drag-and-drop process, creating the illusion of sophisticated camera moves within a virtual set without a tracking system, chroma keyer or other accessories. Neon can import 3D scenes and models from common modeling software, including 3D Max, Maya and Softimage.
Al-Nahar TV also ordered two Hybrid Silver II robotic pan/tilt/zoom/focus camera control systems for tracking virtual studio camera moves. A fixed camera will be mounted at ceiling height for camera tracking effects during live shows, such as camera moves that start from the studio entry and zoom in toward the talent.
“They’ll be able to save money they would have spent building physical sets, plus they’ll be able to easily modify the scenes whenever necessary,” said Ahmed Gamal, managing director of Systems Design. “With their Hybrid virtual studio solutions, they’ll be able to produce shows with greater creativity and flexibility.”
