The interest of the audience for the 2017 General Elections in Chile was matched by the competition between the different channels to provide the Election’s results in the most attractive manner.

Because of this, TVN, Chile’s National Television, decided to go for the most advanced production, including Augmented Reality and 3D graphics interacting with the presenters, for which they counted with the collaboration of Brainstorm. The Spanish company, leading provider of real-time 3D graphics solutions, Augmented Reality and virtual sets, used with TVN its more than 25 years of experience in producing Elections coverage.

The setup was designed to use Augmented Reality graphics provided by InfinitySet, Brainstorm’s advanced virtual set and augmented reality solution, which included real-time mapping over real surfaces and data-driven graphics, using data directly coming from the official Election sources. Several cameras were used, including a tracked crane to generate fully realistic and spectacular flies and travelling over the scene, which maintained accurate perspective at all times. Also, different templates were created, to be filled in in real-time with external data, and scheduled to be played out on-demand as per the production requirements.

To know more about this project, please download the case study or the case study in Spanish.

For its 60th anniversary in 2016 TVE started a project to further develop and enhance the outcome of the virtual set technology to bring in live Augmented Reality, Projection Mapping and Virtual tele-transportation.

TVE decided to further develop its long-lasting relationship with Brainstorm to explore new ways to push the limits of the most recent virtual technology available to create the most visually compelling output. TVE also required to use the same hardware available at their premises’ virtual studios. This decision also required the use of the latest version of Brainstorm’s virtual set and 3D graphics solution InfinitySet, powered by the eStudio render engine, which included several features that perfectly matched TVE’s requirements. TVE and Brainstorm worked together to further develop Brainstorm’s patented TrackFree technology to achieve the results the broadcaster required.

To know more about this project, please download the case study

A Brainstorm’s eStudio user since 2006, in 2014 CNBC celebrated its 25th Anniversary completing an ambitious project: the modernization of their installations, along with the full migration to 16:9 HD broadcasting and the redesign of their on-air looks to take advantage of this new structure.

One of the key elements of the redesign was to achieve a closer integration between the different on-screen graphic elements and the live content of the program. This required the fluid integration of live video, interviews, live talent and data driven graphics.

CNBC worked closely with a dedicated team from Brainstorm Production Services Department integrated on site for the project duration with their Real-Time Graphics Department which proved to be a winning combination of technical knowledge and designing talent. In addition, a separate Brainstorm solution was integrated into the control room system flow to create a transition from live video to breaking news alerts and other high alert animations in a way that a switcher alone could not accomplish.

For Brainstorm, teaming up with CNBC for this project meant to be as close as possible with the most advanced real-time graphics in the market. CNBC’s seasoned team was capable of extracting the most from the Brainstorm eStudio engine, and in response, Brainstorm pushed the boundaries of technology and innovation to new limits to facilitate the work.

To know more about this project, please download the case study.

Brainstorm has partnered with Antena 3 since its very beginning. Already in 1993 the weather virtual set was a relevant accomplishment, as it presented in real time 3D worlds, complex animations with continuous camera movements, etc. A show so advanced that could still run effectively even today, because of the intense usage of the virtual reality and its advanced graphics. This collaboration meant the democratisation of Virtual Reality in live shows, in real time.

This collaboration extended later to other shows such as the first virtual set on the presentation of “Shows from the Distant Earth” with Mike Oldfield. Later, in 1996, the coverage of the general elections was done with Virtual Reality and live on-air 3D graphics, and shows such as “Desesperado Club Social” and “Espejo Público” had made intensive usage of the Brainstorm toolset to achieve a distinct image and fully exploit the possibilities of today’s audiovisual technology.

The year 2011 was a convulsive year in Spanish politics, as in a matter of months the country faced both local, regional and general elections, what meant that, in practice, almost any political position could change its holder, as it happened in many cases. This, along with the interest of most of the audience in the process, meant that the coverage of those events were a first level informative event to which the broadcasters had to give the importance required. Antena 3, the oldest private television channel in Spain, just finished an important refurbish of its News installations.

According to Jesús Lozano, Image and Production Manager, they looked to “create an open space, directly communicated with the more than 90 persons of the News department, and at the same time flexible enough to create various environments while optimizing the space”. This flexible set, located at the very heart of the newsroom, consist of different multifunction revolving circular podiums that could include the presenter’s tables, coupled with giant, wall-sized LED screens that provide different still and moving backgrounds to the set.

The proposal to the News director to produce the elections programs contemplated the utilisation of all the possibilities of those spaces to “create a new way to cover the elections”, adding value and spectacularity. The idea was to increase the use of technology to add value to the real-time information, avoiding empty brightness while building up a rich speech that provides detailed data presented in a format accessible to all audiences and built around the data itself. The co-ordination between the News direction, program managers and technical department is essential in this project, and they were all finely aligned in the concept and final production.

The final concept contemplated a set with powerful visual scenery that used all the space available in the News set taking the most out of it. Visually, the scenery conception required all graphics to be clearly seen, providing all the information and supporting the presenter that also interacts in real time with the continuously changing data. Also, interactive and virtual graphics were prepared for the wall screens as supporting data. The program used on 3 main set stages, apart from the external connections:

• Presenter space, with 3D Augmented Reality graphics.

• Virtual graphics displayed in the giant LED wall screen.

• Debate space, an expert panel table supported with virtual graphics of Augmented Reality displayed on the table.

To know more about this project, please download the case study

“Wheel of Fortune” was created in 1973 by Merv Griffin, responsible of many other successful TV formats such as Jeopardy, was firstly broadcasted in 1975 by the NBC. The show is still produced today by Sony Pictures Television and distributed by CBS Television Distribution. Wheel of Fortune is the TV contest with the longest duration in the US television history, and reached the 5.000 programmes in 2009.

The format has been licensed and adapted in more than 30 countries. With different presenters and originally named “La Ruleta de la Fortuna”, the show had its great first period in Antena 3 TV, a second one in Telecinco and a third round back in Antena 3 TV since 2006, changing its name to “La Ruleta de la Suerte”. Since then the production company, Martingala, owner of the “Wheel of Fortune rights” for Spain, started the challenge of improving the contest adapting it to the latest technology. At that time the physical panel changed to a fully virtual one created with eStudio.

The title of the program is a reference of the giant roulette with different options that the players spin all over the game to uncover boxes from an enlightened panel, a word puzzle, to uncover the hidden words or sentences. The panel originally consisted on turntable elements that illuminated and turned to display the letters they contained as required, but step by step started to incorporate virtual and digital technology to flexibilize its options and give the game further possibilities.

To know more about this project, please download the case study or download the case study in Spanish