“The project focuses on the development and validation of Mixed Reality solutions to improve the interest and participation of the television audience as well as the generation of more attractive content”, says Francisco Ibáñez, R&D Project Manager at Brainstorm and Coordinator of AdMiRe. The project has been successfully completed and AdMiRe has been properly validated by the three participating broadcasters: NRK (Norway), TVR (Romania) and Premier Media (Ireland).

With a simple App installed on a cell phone, tablet or laptop, jointly developed by UPF University (Spain) and Brainstorm, the audience is captured perfectly. Their stream is sent to AdMiRe’s servers where the silhouette of the captured person is extracted. The AdMiRe project integrates, among others, the NVIDIA Maxine silhouette extraction algorithms to be able to capture the audience on any background (without the need to use green screen). The integration of the audience, guests, collaborators or presenters is done with the Brainstorm InfinitySet graphic solution, which requires the use of NVDIA graphics cards for its correct keying, and the background extraction and super resolution modules developed by EPFL University (Switzerland). The captured person can remotely participate in the TV shows as if they were physically there.

Javier Montesa, Technical Coordinator of the Project, explains that “AdMiRe incorporates highly innovative video capture, processing and transmission technologies, as well as super-resolution and background subtraction technologies in order to bring the viewers to the television sets in the most realistic and simple way possible, through the use of mobile devices”. Unlike the current technique that allows remote participation in television programs through a simple video, AdMiRe has achieved that the viewers can be perfectly integrated into the scene as if they were physically on the set, generating an excellent visual perception for the audience. AdMiRe also allows broadcasters to save costs by bringing collaborators and guests to TV sets and supports the European Commission’s “green deal” policies.

Francisco adds that “with the AdMiRe project, Brainstorm has taken the first step towards the future remote production of television programs by integrating presenters, guests and collaborators from different parts of the planet into the same program, interacting and participating as if they were all physically together and being practically imperceptible to the audience”.

Brainstorm has also integrated and validated AdMiRe with Disguise (UK) for XR (Extended Reality) studio technology based on LED screen. The whole validation process has been designed and developed by NTNU.

The progress of the project and the results obtained can be followed on www.admire3d.eu as well as on the project’s social networks.

At booth PD-53, from 1 to 3 June, the company will demonstrate InfinitySet’s advanced features for virtual production, including chroma sets and in-context augmented reality. Fully compatible with Unreal Engine, InfinitySet is the tool of choice for virtual content creation for News, Sports, Augmented Reality, Elections, Entertainment and even drama and film production. Brainstorm will feature live public demonstrations, always complying with all the safety measures required by Broadcast Asia and the Health authorities. Along with InfinitySet, the motion graphics solution Aston will demonstrate why is the designer’s choice for motion graphics creation and CG, including multi-channel options. This feature also offers multiple channel play out from a single or different workstations, and also allows for the compositing of large canvases in any resolution or aspect ratio, comprising different graphics or projects or layers that can be rendered in a single or several outputs with the desired aspect ratio to fill in the video wall as required.

Edison PRO, the company’s virtual studio-in-a-box product designed for live events and presentations, also benefits from some of the Suite 5 enhancements, plus its own features as a result of its upgrade to V5, and will be demonstrated as well at the booth. With the feedback of the worldwide users and early adopters, Edison now includes a wide range of new features aimed at simplifying live presentations and events, which open new possibilities for content creation. New features include workflow and IO enhancements, new virtual lights and actor improvements plus a new chroma keyer that vastly improves the integration of the actors.

“Broadcast Asia remains the indispensable trade show for the Asia & Pacific broadcast and audio-visual market and we are looking forward to meeting our customers and users in person again”, says Stanlly Loke, Brainstorm’s VP Sales for SE Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea. “Brainstorm has benefited from two record years of sales even during these harsh years and we are glad to be back and be able to perform live demonstrations and allow attendees to watch first hand how our products and solutions can enhance their graphics and virtual production and workflows”.

At booth PD-53, the company will demonstrate InfinitySet’s advanced features for virtual production, including chroma sets and in-context augmented reality. Fully compatible with Unreal Engine, InfinitySet is the tool of choice for virtual content creation for News, Sports, Augmented Reality, Elections, Entertainment and even drama and film production. Brainstorm will feature live public demonstrations, always complying with all the safety measures required by the CABSAT and the Health authorities. Along with InfinitySet, the motion graphics solution Aston will demonstrate why is the designer’s choice for motion graphics creation and CG, including multi-channel options. This feature also offers multiple channel play out from a single or different workstations, and also allows for the compositing of large canvases in any resolution or aspect ratio, comprising different graphics or projects or layers that can be rendered in a single or several outputs with the desired aspect ratio to fill in the video wall as required.

Edison PRO, the company’s virtual studio-in-a-box product designed for live events and presentations, also benefits from some of the Suite 5 enhancements, plus its own features as a result of its upgrade to V5, and will be demonstrated as well at the booth. With the feedback of the worldwide users and early adopters, Edison now includes a wide range of new features aimed at simplifying live presentations and events, which open new possibilities for content creation. New features include workflow and IO enhancements, new virtual lights and actor improvements plus a new chroma keyer that vastly improves the integration of the actors.

“We are delighted to meet our clients and users again at such an essential venue for the Middle East broadcast and audio-visual market, as CABSAT is,” says David Alexander, Brainstorm’s Commercial Director. “Brainstorm has enjoyed two record years of business, even in these difficult times, and we are looking forward to showing live demonstrations once again, and allow attendees to see, in person, what our solutions can do to enhance their virtual production and workflows.”

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.

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”.

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.

The new H2020 5G-PPP Phase 3 project 5GMediaHUB “5G experimentation environment for 3rd party media services” began its activities in January 2021 with a kick-off meeting held virtually, in which the 17 consortium partners from 11 European countries, comprising of large companies, SMEs, Universities and Research Centers, discussed the plans regarding implementation of the project over the next three years, acknowledging the significant role and potential of 5G. The project is coordinated by the Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) from Barcelona, Spain, a leader in 5G research in Europe.

The 5GMediaHUB project’s objective is to develop a testing and validation environment over two existing 5G experimental platforms located in Barcelona and Oslo, in order to create the 5GMediaHUB Experimentation Facility which will constitute an elastic, secure, trusted, all-in-one and multitenant service execution and Network Applications (NetApps) development environment.

5GMediaHUB will offer 3rd party application developers, such as service providers, the opportunity to experiment, test and validate their media applications by using the 5GMediaHUB Experimentation Facility. This will reduce the time needed for an enterprise to make its services available to end-users. The outcomes of the project will benefit the European media industry considerably, particularly SMEs, enabling it to become a force to be reckoned with at a global level.

“In 5GMediaHUB we capitalize on the experience from previous 5G projects in network slicing and orchestration. Existing well-established 5G platforms will be extended during the project in order to test 3rd party media services to enable the EU to achieve its goal of becoming a world leader in 5G”, stated 5GMediaHub Project Coordinator Christos Verikoukis, Research Director at CTTC.

The use cases that will be tested are Immersive Augmented, Virtual and Extended Reality applications; smart media production; and smart media content distribution. The outcomes of the experiments will offer valuable information and insight regarding the 5GMediaHUB Experimentation Facility performance.

“The 5GMediaHub project will allow Brainstorm to use, test and validate 5G technology with its virtual reality and augmented reality graphic applications for the broadcast sector,” adds Francisco Ibáñez, R&D Project Director at Brainstorm Multimedia.

Learn more on this project visiting www.5gmediahub.eu/