What started as a discussion concept between BBC and MOOV before the cancellation of Wimbledon 2020, developed into a full-blown project as a result of a drive to maximise the available time ahead of the 2021 Championships, bringing the focus onto the virtual facilities rather than BBC Sport to rethink the way the coverage was managed and so provide better stories, data and graphics.

Built around a green screen studio, the Wimbledon studio virtualisation effectively extended the space available far beyond its physical limits, providing new virtual spaces around the real desk, which in effect created a 360 studio. There were also new and alternative camera angles, more room to add infographics, and of course additional Wimbledon branding. The added bonus was the flexibility to change, adapt and make adjustments on demand that InfinitySet provided.

“We managed to create a virtual space that allowed for a dynamic coverage of the tournament which seamlessly combined real and virtual imagery in a way that significatively enhanced the story and audience engagement” says Nev Appleton, director and co-founder at MOOV. “This was a particularly challenging project, not only due to the time constraints, but also because of restrictions on people on-site as well as technical issues such as the requirements to re-purpose the studio for the daily highlights. But, despite the challenges, the really great results reinforced our commitment to use virtual technology for enhancing live events”.

The project had to be produced in record time, as the set designs were available only at the end of April 2021. MOOV worked closely with BBC Sport as well as with a team of talented artists, and also relied on Brainstorm’s InfinitySet to create the virtual set and AR tracking, using Unreal Engine. As the studio had five cameras, including pedestals, jibs and PTZ, to ensure the output quality required, each camera was equipped with a Brainstorm InfinitySet system with Unreal Engine. The final output combined the real set with a desk for the presenters, with actual windows looking out to show the courts, and integrating the virtual world to enable the graphics and AR information to be displayed on demand.

David Alexander, Brainstorm’s Commercial Director, adds: “Together with Paul Vanlint of Storm Broadcast, our reseller in the UK and Ireland, we’ve worked with MOOV on a number of projects but what was done at Wimbledon 2021 was at another level altogether! MOOV have a really talented team who have an in-depth knowledge of our products and how to get the most out of their rich feature sets and capabilities, whether it’s the InfinitySet or our Aston 3D motion graphics system, through to our Neuron, which integrates graphics and their management into NRCS systems. So, we were very pleased to work with the MOOV team on the BBC Sport project for such a prestigious and world renown sporting event”.

Brainstorm is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a MegaGrant from Epic Games for the development of Edison, a new Unreal Engine-based template and AR solution targeting the education sector. This new solution will further extend the already deep integration of other Brainstorm products with Unreal Engine, especially InfinitySet, for photorealistic virtual sets and augmented reality applications.

Edison is a new approach to education and the world of presentations as it is designed with ease of use in mind, giving non-expert users the flexibility and freedom to build highly advanced and visually engaging presentations. Edison enables presenters to use existing PPT or PDF files in immersive environments with photo-realistic backgrounds and augmented reality content. Key to the creative powers of the Edison is that it allows the presenters to also be included in such 3D environments with total ease.

Edison is the brainchild of 25 years of experience that Brainstorm has built up in broadcast quality virtual sets and real-time 3D graphics. This new audience is a wide-ranging user base consisting of teachers, lecturers and educators of all kinds and extends out to include those involved in live events and corporate presentations, and all the way through to YouTubers and internet entrepreneurs across multiple sectors. This breadth of user profiles have the same essential need – a sophisticated, yet simple to operate, toolset which will empower them to greatly enhance their presentations, with the objective of better informing and educating their audiences in captivating ways.

According to Ricardo Montesa, Brainstorm’s CEO and founder, “we are delighted with our existing partnership with Epic Games and the integration with Unreal Engine for our current product range, and so excited to receive this MegaGrant for developing Edison. We are sure this product will revolutionize education by using advanced, photorealistic AR, and will also provide new virtual presentation capabilities to other markets such as events, corporate and live presentations, which will benefit greatly from Edison’s advanced features, only previously available in large budget professional solutions.

MegaGrants are financial grants destined to fuel up creative, noteworthy, and innovative projects built in and around Unreal Engine or projects that enhance the open-source 3D graphics ecosystem, and cover a variety of endeavors from game development, architecture projects, and film production to academic uses and software tool development.