PLAZAMEDIA, a production house that serves sports producers in Ismaning, near Munich, Germany, has demonstrated a new real-time HD virtual studio for its clients.
The demo of the HD studio and HD master control last month was a result of a collaboration between PLAZAMEDIA and Vizrt, whose gear was used in the studio. Instead of seeing the usual flat TV picture, Vizrt’s real-time renderers created stereoscopic images that were used to create an illusion of depth.
Using special 3-D glasses, the guests could see moving 3-D content on a typical TV screen. The installation was done without the special stereo cameras normally needed for 3-D demonstrations. Vizrt’s stereoscopic rendering ensured that the on-camera talent remained properly situated within the 3-D scene.
PLAZAMEDIA’s HD virtual studio was based on two Vizrt products: Viz Virtual Studio and the Viz Engine real-time rendering engine. Both systems are capable of creating real-time graphics both in SD as well as HD. In addition, PLAZAMEDIA worked closely with other leading virtual studio vendors including Thoma, Technocrane and Infitec.
Vizrt said its customers, such as ESPN, NFL and BSkyB, have already been on the air with stereoscopic 3-D content, and the company sees it as a future growth market.
