PROCASESTUDY
Yavuz Bahadiroglu, Global Partner Manager, Zero Density.
provided consultancy on a wide range of topics, from the optimum size of the cyclorama to the ideal position of the lights and picking the right physical studio materials, in order to elevate the storytelling. The final studio was built to include a 4.2m by 11.79m cyclorama painted with ChromaLight green basecoat and topcoat paints. The studio featured four Grass Valley LDX8000 cameras with Canon HDXS lenses, Stype technology for tracking and ARRI lights for cyclorama lighting. For the horsepower behind the production, Alkass opted for four Reality Engines running on RE AMPERE machines.
Isabelle Denis, Sales Manager, DreamWall
“We did everything in a short time, but we never settled for anything less than the best quality. We wanted top-notch results, or we would not do it, and it turned out the way we imagined it. As we warmed up to virtual studio production and with the trust that Zero Density’s support engineer
“Local coverage of the World Cup was … an opportunity to
represent Qatar on a massive scale and raise the bar for broadcasting in the country”
Ali Majed, Director of the Creative Services Department, Alkass Sports
Before unveiling the virtual studio, the design teams gathered copious references on each material, then used Unreal Engine’s texturing and shading capabilities to add subtle imperfections to enhance photorealism.
22 | www.broadcastprome.com | March 2023
Ali Majed, Director of the Creative Department at Alkass Sports.
would be present, our teams kept pushing the envelope and adding more and more virtual elements and features to each show.” It was later decided that AR elements would help to further enhance Alkass’ coverage of the event. Green screen together with AR had been rarely used in the region. After the initial conceptualisation stage, AR elements were created. All green screen and AR elements were then controlled from the same interface on RealityHub. The Alkass team then used real-time data integration for team lineups and player names through Excel data that was fed into RealityHub. Alkass was also keen to have its anchors teleport from one location to another. To do this, the remote location set up a small green background, adjusted the angle of the view so it was the same one used at the main studio, then sent the sound and picture to the studio. All input was placed in a plane object using Zero Density technology linking the render engine to the tracking system, allowing the Alkass team to have a photorealistic augmented guest on their set that could be transmitted from anywhere in the world. Alkass believes that its coverage of the World Cup was a huge success, paving the way for even more virtual elements in regional sports