As LED-based XR is becoming increasingly used, Brainstorm has developed new features that allow for easier, faster and more integrated creation of immersive XR content specifically designed to be displayed on large LED videowalls. With these features, Brainstorm’s clients will see their XR content creation significantly accelerated when creating in-context AR in LED walls, XR Set extensions, or even backgrounds for film and drama production. Suite 5 has a dedicated interface for creating XR installations, which allows for modelling any kind of video wall, including curved, shaped and corner installations, and map the desired 3D content in such model. This facilitates the creation of virtual AR content to be directly displayed and seen by the camera with the correct perspective at all times. Also, by taking advantage of the Layers and Stacking features of InfinitySet, different renders, even with different resolutions and aspect ratios, can be mapped in a canvas of any size and aspect.

In addition, the unique integration of InfinitySet and eStudio with Unreal Engine is now even tighter, allowing for the inclusion of fully editable Brainstorm scenes and templates within an Unreal project, and vice-versa. This is especially useful when creating AR projects within Unreal, which benefit from Brainstorm’s advanced data-driven graphics and broadcast workflows compatibility. This is coupled with the acclaimed UnrealControl feature which supports editing the Unreal Projects directly within InfinitySet’s familiar interface with total ease and control of blueprints, objects and parameters. Suite 5 also features a new, redesigned internal chroma keyer that includes a new mode that embeds the Unreal Engine chroma keyer directly into InfinitySet. Brainstorm Suite 5 is fully compatible with Unreal Engine 4.27 and will be with UE 5.

“Brainstorm has been deeply involved with Augmented Reality and Virtual Production for decades now, and Suite 5 is the result of applying our expertise to the new display methods that broadcasters and filmmakers are introducing into their workflows” says Hector Viguer, Brainstorm’s COO and Engineering Director. “The advanced features of Suite 5 will allow any user to comply with any kind of VR/AR/XR requirement, regardless of how complex it is, and leaving them free to choose the production workflow they feel is best for their production, whether LED walls or chroma keying. We want to be agnostic so we can provide a solution for any requirement.”

Some other features are included, like improved HDR workflows, and better integration with robotic heads from manufacturers such as Panasonic or Sony. Also, Edison, the company’s virtual studio in a box product designed for live events and presentations, will also benefit from some of the above plus its own features as a result of its upgrade to V5.

Brainstorm Suite 5 will be available on March 1st, and will also be demonstrated at NAB 2022 at the Brainstorm booth N2608.

Despite delaying the decision in the hope that NAB  2021 would be the opportunity to again meet with customers, partners, providers, and the market in general, the current situation is so uncertain in terms of travel bans, social distancing, and other health and safety measures, that Brainstorm has reluctantly decided to withdraw from the exhibition. For Brainstorm the well-being of its staff, visitors and others involved in the Show is of paramount importance, for which the decision, although extremely difficult, was made with everyone’s health and safety uppermost in mind.

Brainstorm appreciates the enormous efforts that the NAB committee has made to ensure a safe show, however we must face the fact that the situation in the wider world is outside of their control.

According to Ricardo Montesa, CEO and founder of Brainstorm, “It is with great regret that we announce this decision not to attend NAB 2021, but the safety of our staff, customers and partners is the driving force behind it, despite the new features and announcements we had in mind for the Show. Since 1995 we have been exhibiting with great success, and as members of NAB we are very much looking forward to exhibiting at NAB 2022.”

Brainstorm is already beginning to work on its participation at NAB 2022, in the hope that it will represent the return of the shows as we know them.

Ricardo Montesa is passionate about innovation. His studies in Industrial Engineering culminated in a graphics proposal for the audiovisual world. Little time was needed for that inner strength to become Brainstorm, a pioneer in the world of graphics, data visualisation, 3D objetcs and, more recently, augmented reality and the optimisation of resources with virtual sets.

“Thank you very much for this distinction, which surprises me personally” said Montesa, moved by the distinction.

Ricardo, university professor, project leader, a man of our time and our corridors, is undoubtedly a pillar of innovation in this industry, who uses his ideas, and shows them from virtual sets, with amazing scenarios created by software , to add – who would say – much more magic to TV.

Ricardo Montesa (Valencia, 1960) is the CEO of Brainstorm, a provider of real-time interactive 3D graphics solutions. He achieved an Industrial Engineering degree from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. After his final degree project, he founded Montesa Grafics, a company dedicated to the development of specific software for real-time 3D and 2D rendering of graphics, mainly aimed at contests and elections.

In 1993 he founded, with other partners, Brainstorm Multimedia, a company of which he has been CEO and Director of Development ever since. Under his direction, Brainstorm presented and began marketing the software called eStudio in 1994, currently the world’s reference for the generation of real-time 3D graphics and virtual scenery, including applications for sports and electoral events.

Between 1996 and 1997 he joined George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) company in San Rafael, California, as a software developer for special effects. After his American experience, he returned to Spain to retake the technical direction of Brainstorm, directing the design and development of the applications created by the company, applications that are used today in many of the largest and most prestigious television networks around the world such as BBC (UK), NHK (JP), KBS (KO), NBC (USA), RTL (DE) and TVE (ES).

Ricardo Montesa is an experienced speaker with outstanding teaching experience at the University, and his vision has led Brainstorm to be awarded for its innovative work on numerous occasions”.

*Extracted from the PRODU news piece.

*The awards show was entirely produced using Edison PRO, Brainstorm’s brand new product for live virtual events and presentations. Watch following the whole PRODU Tecnología Awards Ceremony.

Based on Brainstorm’s real-time 3D technology, Edison PRO allows broadcasters, corporate, live events, education, houses of worship, influencers and online content providers to turn a simple presentation into a complete interactive show through an affordable and easy-to-use platform that does not require expensive hardware or a studio setup. A complete standalone system featuring future-proof hardware, Edison PRO is ready to work out of the box — all that is required is a camera and a portable chroma set to include the presenter in the virtual world with the presentation.

By using drag-and-drop operation, Edison can be used by anyone, and ships with a library of pre-defined templates, scenes, furniture, pointers, screens, and other objects to populate the scene, plus a number of interactive templates for quizzes and polls to further customize the event. It is also fully compatible with Unreal Engine, allowing Unreal’s photorealistic scenes to be used as 3D backgrounds for a presentation, enhancing the looks of your presentations. An optional Edison UC (Edison Unreal Control) plugin allows for controlling and editing the blueprints, objects, and properties of the UE scene directly from Edison’s own, user-friendly interface.

Installation, training, and support are straightforward, ensuring a rock-solid operation even in highly demanding live production environments. Edison PRO can be customized with options to match any customer requirement, present or future.

“By coupling advanced technology with extremely easy operation, Edison PRO helps users to bring their live and online presentations to a whole new level,” comments Brainstorm CEO, Ricardo Montesa. “It has been developed to bring the high-end quality of broadcast shows to users at a whole new price point, leveraging our more than 25 years of broadcast experience to create impactful presentations using pre-existing content, without requiring the expensive and time-consuming ad-hoc generation of new assets.”

More specifically, JB&A has initially been assigned the distribution of Edison PRO, which will be launching imminently. Through Edison PRO Brainstorm offers an affordable and easy-to-use high-end presentation tool that quickly transforms any live, online presentation, or conference session into a fully immersive experience using Augmented Reality (AR) and virtual environments.

“JB&A provides a unique approach to product and service distribution, acting as a value-added distributor,” comments Ruben Ruiz, EVP, Brainstorm, US & Canada. “They have been able to create best-of-breed product workflows at the distributor level with an extensive list of value-added channel partners, and we look forward to working with them to greatly expand Brainstorm’s footprint across North America.”

“We are delighted to add Brainstorm to our roster of channel partners,” comments Jeff Burgess, JB&A CEO. “Virtual production and 3D graphics in AR/VR/XR are technology trends in high demand in the industry across a growing number of sectors, and Brainstorm’s best-in-class product range is an excellent fit at many different levels for many different use cases.”

About JB&A Distribution
JB&A is a leader in the fields of Video, Broadcast, Production, and Pro AV. They are dedicated to bringing the most innovative and complete solutions to market including: Digital Media Management, IP Streaming, Digital Projection, and Connectivity. JB&A is staffed by industry experts, and is a unique mix of Consultant, Channel Partner, Solutions Provider and Distributor with an ecosystem of certified, tested and proven products and workflow solutions.

For more information about JB&A, please visit https://jbanda.com.

InfinitySet can receive the video and tracking information from the Sony cameras and render the virtual scene or the AR objects in real-time, even using photorealistic rendering and Unreal Engine, which creates a stunning visual experience for the viewers, affordable at the same time for any kind of production facility or broadcaster. On top of that, Brainstorm allows the Sony camera remote control RM-IP500 to direct InfinitySet’s virtual cameras. InfinitySet is the only virtual set and AR solution that allows this feature, allowing operators to run complex 3D virtual scenery in a familiar production environment.

In combination with InfinitySet, the BRC-H800 and X1000 are a powerful solution for enhancing storytelling and providing in-context AR graphics from external data sources, due to the advanced features of InfintySet, resulting from Brainstorm’s experience of more than 25 years in the development of real-time 3D graphics, virtual set and augmented reality solutions. The resulting workflow brings advanced AR to companies of any size and budget, by providing a PTZ tracking workflow that avoids the hassle of more complex tracking systems.

“Many of our products and solutions are built with modality and integration in mind so we’re always delighted to see them integrated in new and innovative workflows that broaden creative possibilities for producers and operators. Brainstorm has a series of truly distinctive software for virtual and AR set ups and we’re glad to be partnering with them here”, commented Norbert Paquet, Head of Live Production, Sony Professional Europe.

According to Thierry Gonzalo, Brainstorm’s Product Manager, “Our seamless integration with the Sony BRC camera line-up provides companies of any size to accomplish projects involving virtual sets and AR requirements, by using the PTZ tracking data and exceptional image quality from such cameras. Also, our ability to allow the Sony camera control to command InfinitySet’s production mode permits live production operators with no experience in virtual environments to run any virtual or AR show with total ease”.

Brainstorm and Sony will demonstrate this integration in a public webinar scheduled for March 5th, 2021, so anyone that wants to know more about this advanced workflow can register here.

UNITEL decided to carry out a technological migration in favour of Brainstorm in 2019, which culminated in the electoral process of the same year. In the 2020 Elections, InfinitySet and Aston have been key to the generation of the graphics based on real-time data and their representation in the form of augmented reality shown in interaction with the channel anchors.

“Brainstorm’s technology, with InfinitySet and Aston, allows us to inform and deliver the data in an accurate, didactic and entertaining way with virtual elements, augmented reality and on-air graphics in real time with data of the result of the surveys and the official counts of the day of the election. Once again, UNITEL is a leader in the development of election graphics with the help of Brainstorm technology. We are proud to have been able to present the information in an attractive and understandable way to our audience,” says Andrés Guerra Vergara, Director of Production and Programming at UNITEL.

According to Sergio Amuchastegui, Brainstorm’s Sales Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, “UNITEL’s process in Bolivia began in March 2019 when, after more than 10 years of using a technology that is now out of the market, the Interdisciplinary group made up of UNITEL producers, engineers and, of course, administrators, decided to give Brainstorm their trust for their stations in Santa Cruz, La Paz and Cochabamba. This pandemic has not taken us away from our clients, but on the contrary, it has brought us closer every day and we continue with projects of this level that we will soon discolse”.

Despite the pandemic caused by the COVID-19, Brainstorm had the opportunity to provide online support to UNITEL’s excellent team to ensure that the latest technologies presented by the Spanish brand were used to their full potential, thus providing the best possibilities for this electoral coverage.

Brainstorm se ha erigido como una pieza fundamental en los contenidos del nuevo magazín de la cadena pública valenciana À Punt, “A la Ventura”, creando múltiples piezas en realidad aumentada para ilustrar los contenidos del programa.

“A la Ventura” es un espacio conducido por la periodista Marta Ventura, que cada viernes por la noche recoge la actualidad semanal tratando los temas más destacados de los últimos días. En su estreno del pasado viernes 11 el programa contó con entrevistas y reportajes de temas de actualidad, incluyendo, cómo no, las últimas noticias sobre la pandemia o la vuelta al colegio, todo ello ilustrado con rótulos y gráficos 3D generados a partir de datos externos, presentados como realidad aumentada y creados con InfinitySet de Brainstorm.

Para Josep Pitarch, Jefe de Imagen de À Punt, “Desde À Punt siempre hemos apostado por la tecnología de vanguardia para presentar nuestros contenidos a los espectadores. En ese sentido la implementación de la realidad aumentada como un elemento novedoso y eficaz para complementar el discurso informativo es un reto que abordamos de nuevo en ” A la Ventura”, nuestro recientemente estrenado programa semanal que repasa la actualidad con información y debate. Nuestra voluntad es seguir creciendo a nivel tecnológico y ser capaces de ofrecer desde nuestras diferentes ventanas contenidos cada vez más atractivos, también desde el punto de vista audiovisual. Estamos seguros de que nuestra colaboración con Brainstorm seguirá dando buenos frutos en el futuro y nos ayudará a superar retos profesionales cada vez más ambiciosos.

Mónica Víctor, directora de servicios de producción de Brainstorm y responsable comercial para España afirma que “Nuestra relación con À Punt ha sido siempre muy estrecha, y ambas empresas hemos colaborado en la creación de contenidos de alto nivel de gráficos y realidad aumentada, tanto en programas diarios, informativos, elecciones y muchos otros. A la Ventura es una muestra más de cómo la creatividad y la tecnología consiguen un resultado atractivo y novedoso.”

La realidad aumentada se ha consolidado como un elemento fundamental en la creación de contenidos de televisión, mejorando la presentación de contenidos y la comprensión de datos complejos por parte de la audiencia. Brainstorm, por su parte, cuenta con más de 20 años de experiencia en la creación de este tipo de contenidos con toda su gama de productos, desde eStudio hasta Aston, pasando por supuesto por InfinitySet.

InfinitySet, Brainstorm’s award-winning virtual set and augmented reality solution, performs at its best by using the camera view plus the tracking data provided by the different Spidercam systems. Such systems not only provide creative camera angles, but by using InfinitySet for adding advanced, real-time 3D AR content, allows for new and impressive ways to deliver Sports and other live events’ content to a worldwide audience.

“Brainstorm seems the perfect combination for Spidercam” says Jan Peters, CEO of Spidercam. “The camera angles and flies Spidercam provide can also be enhanced with the real-time 3D augmented reality graphics by InfinitySet, providing an enhanced storytelling to impress an increasingly demanding audience”.

Brainstorm and Spidercam enjoy a considerable track record of mutual co-operation and have successfully deployed installations in events such as the coverage of the WWE season, including Royal Rumble and other events. With the advanced rendering capabilities of Brainstorm’s InfinitySet, including the Combined Render Engine with Unreal Engine, real-time ray tracing or PBR materials, the photorealistic results provided can be as real as reality itself.

According to Miguel Churruca, Marketing & Communications Director of Brainstorm, “Working with Spidercam has always been a pleasure because of the way they track big spaces allows for our augmented reality elements to stand out thanks to the wide camera movements they can provide. The willingness and vast experience of their staff makes the collaboration seamless on a human level. At Brainstorm we are always pushing the envelope when it comes to technology, and integrating with Spidercam seems only natural since they’re on the cutting-edge of robotics camera technology”.

“Our clients have increasingly demanding requirements for graphics and virtual reality, and we found Brainstorm the perfect partner to fulfil such needs” says Nevil Appleton, Director and Co-founder of MOOV. “Along with its flexibility, reliability and clever integration of Unreal Engine, Brainstorm also has proven and robust data integration which allows us to further expand the system’s capabilities and match our requirements.”

With arguably the most advanced real-time 3D motion graphics feature set, Brainstorm’s Combined Render Engine with Unreal Engine is unique in the industry as it seamlessly combines the most advanced data-driven graphics creation with the photorealistic backgrounds rendered with Unreal Engine, all in a simplified workflow involving a single workstation. Also, the ability of Aston to render PBR materials allows for CG and motion graphics to matching the hyper-realistic results obtained with Unreal Engine, which results in a seamless integration between the different objects from different applications.

According to David Alexander, Brainstorm’s Commercial Director, “Our heritage and experience of over 25 years in developing advanced real-time graphics and virtual sets applications were crucial in achieving this agreement. In essence, Brainstorm’s solutions, providing state-of-the-art, photorealistic results combining on-screen graphics and augmented reality objects in hyper-realistic virtual sets that are indistinguishable from reality, were key factors in reaching a decision to cement a long-term partnership between our two companies”.

Founded in 2000 by Duncan Foot & Nev Appleton, MOOV is a sports and events graphics company that delivers a high-quality, all-round graphics solution coupled with excellent multi-skilled operational staff. The company is recognised for its innovation and design, participating in high-profile sporting events including Wimbledon, The Grand National, Commonwealth Games, Winter and Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. MOOV provides services to UK and International broadcasters such as BBC, BT Sport ITV, and Channel 4, to name just a few.