3rd March 2013. A TV production in studio can vary greatly in complexity and budget called into play are obviously crucial in determining the overall level and the "look" of the program being recorded or broadcast. It ranges from a few static cameras to a good number, with remotely controlled movements or even to complete studio robotics. In general there are always plenty of camera movements that result in lively presentations with background animations synchronized with the "real" presenter delivery in the foreground. Today it is crucial to work on a totally interactive stage, in which all the elements of the set are "mobile" and "modified" in coordination with what the presenter or journalist is telling.
The most flexible solution is the so called "virtual studio", which allows to modernize the tv production workflow. Here the bottom set is replaced entirely with 2D or 3D environments recreated synthetically with obvious economies of scale. It is often a decisive factor in news and sports as it allows to follow the order of the services that can often change at the last minute.
SKY Italy, the satellite broadcaster super sports specialists continues his extensive research into emotionally engaging forms of expression in order to make sport programs even more spectacular and attractive to their subscribers.
Sky Sports Channels, with the support of Studio Broadcast Operations and Engineering, has developed a solution for active and dynamic sets that replace the classical static.
Studio and Broadcast Operations Engineering are two divisions of the Broadcast Division. Studio Operations manages the business of the studies, and Broadcast Engineering has been designing and putting into production the systems.
Sky Sports HD channels are affected by this interesting news involving the UEFA Champions League group stage matches and, on the occasion of the first day, the new virtual studio of pre and post match was inaugurated; a progam conducted by Fabio Caressa together Gianluca Vialli and Paolo Rossi.
By using an innovative technology called "Video Mapping", live images can be projected on large surfaces and also irregularly shaped; they may be computer graphics, video and television signals and live footage.
Specifically, for the new Champions League set made up in Milan studios of Sky, up to 8 HD video projectors of great power were used, subservient to a series of graphics engines that reproduce a synchronized and perfectly aligned graphics series of images, and live signals inserts on an area of about 175 square meters.
The management is due to a software graphics engine that can adjust the geometry of the projected images in real-time even on non-linear surfaces. In this case the projection surface has two wide curves to form a screen of 180 degrees so as to fill all the background.
The animated graphics are made through a complex process of production of creative elements in high resolution in both 2D and 3D. Once imported into graphics engines, the control software allows management through a "timeline", to recall sequences of control of the direction and triggered according to the topics of conversation.
With regard to the study site in the Virtual Sky Milano Santa Giulia, the choice when it comes to cameras fell on models already very well known and used in sport, ie Grass Valley LDK8000, 6 total.
Thanks to the use of this projection technology that realizes a dynamic space virtual continuously changing according to the topics covered, it is then able to create sets where the usable area remains free and wide, the graphics allows prospective of great effect and the scene that surrounds guests in the studio, it is always in motion and changes with the theme of the run. This flexibility allows the reconfiguration of the TV sets with a simple change of the graphic scenes, allowing for flexibility and creativity never reached so far.
The virtual studio after his debut with the group stage of Champions League past, consolidates given the success and returned in mid-February with the second round. The conductors and the rest remained unchanged.
