Paris 2024: Telemundo Deportes' Virtual Studio Combines High-Quality Tech, Creative Storytelling With Beauty of Paris Five-camera set anchors studio programming in Miami's Telemundo Center By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor Wednesday, August 7, 2024 - 10:27 am
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Prime real estate in a popular city like Paris is hard to come by, especially during the 2024 Summer Olympics. Telemundo Deportes shared a rooftop studio with NBC News for the Games' opening weekend but, since then, has opted for a virtual set in Studio L in Miami's Telemundo Center.
Telemundo Deportes' virtual set replicates the Trocad ro in Paris.
I couldn't imagine what this was going to be when our team started working on it, says Manashi Mukherjee, VP, technical production, Telemundo. [The final product] has exceeded everything that I could have imagined. It has been a labor of love, but our team enjoys innovating and being creative.
Controlled Environment: Crew Streamlines Programming With Cost-Effective, Improved Set Heading into this summer, Telemundo Deportes understood that highlighting the picturesque city of Paris was important. Unfortunately, with broadcasters from all over the world flocking to the French capital, available space in front of marquee monuments and vistas would be at a premium. This was part of the consideration as the Spanish-language broadcaster planned its studio programming, but, for providing the unparalleled views to its audience, the perfect solution was an existing virtual studio in Telemundo Center - along with the expertise of Director, Real-Time Graphics, Fabi n Albarrac n and his team: Technical Artists Osmany G mez, Edward Tejeiro, Jose Cruz, and Carlos Rivero; Real-Time Specialists Alberto Franca and Diego Soto; and Real-Time Programmer Manuel Romero.
Unreal Engine changes the lighting to match the position of the sun in the French capital.
If you had to build a set in Paris, says Mukherjee, there's a lot of cost involved with aspects like material, time, and labor. We already have this studio setup [in Miami], and Fabi n and his team did an amazing job of capturing a photorealistic environment. You feel like you're walking around a real-life set in Paris.
To achieve the high level of authenticity and realism, Albarrac n and his crew began work on the virtual studio five years ago. The space was brought online for Telemundo Deportes' extensive coverage of the postponed Tokyo Summer Olympics - for which the studio made a huge difference given the health and safety restrictions imposed by the city to curb the spread of COVID-19 in 2021. Workflows have been refined and improved over the past half decade, including recent activity during last year's FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The improved operations also allow other entities within Telemundo Enterprises, including the news division, to leverage the high-quality studio.
Sculptors were brought in to develop the statues seen on the virtual re-creation of the Trocad ro.
Our technology gives us the ability to show something that looks real without our audience noticing that we aren't in the host city, says Albarrac n. Since everything is in a controlled environment, we don't have to worry about inclement weather, like too much rain or sun. Telemundo Deportes has been our main client, and they've been very happy with it.
Replicating a Parisian Setting: Environment Corresponds to Time, Weather in France Though not physically in Paris, the crew nevertheless adjusts to conditions there. To mimic the setting, the atmosphere changes to depict current weather or time of day, which includes illuminating the Parisian skyline with its familiar glow. The accurate portrayal of the daily atmosphere in Paris, along with the actual execution of the virtual set, is achieved via Engine 5.3 (an upgrade from Unreal Engine 4.7, which was used for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup), Blackmagic Design's Ultimatte chroma keyer, Chyron PRIME VSAR (virtual set and augmented reality) graphics, stYpe's RedSpy for optical tracking, and four cameras: two hard, a Steadicam, and a jib.
We easily choose between different time zones - including 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m., 8 p.m., and late at night - and Unreal Engine will automatically change the lighting of the sun, Albarrac n explains. We were so focused on the details that we brought in a sculptor to build the statues that we're using to replicate the Trocad ro in Paris.
As day turns into night, the Parisian skyline is illuminated behind the Eiffel Tower.
Pulling off a virtual studio with hyper-realistic elements takes a fair amount of internal collaboration. This requires not only constant work by Mukherjee, Albarrac n, and their respective departments but also a close working relationship with Telemundo's set-design crew. In addition, features on the set have been altered to broadcast the best look possible.
We initially had some flowers that were put on set but looked a little strange on the air since they weren't moving with the background, notes Mukherjee. Within a day, Fabi n's team put them in virtually, which shows how versatile and nimble this set is with changes.
Certain buildings, such as the Panth on and Notre Dame on the right, can be seen in the background.
Not only does lighting or specific elements change, but the virtual set populates the background with the correct location of recognizable buildings, such as the Panth on in the 5th arrondissement or Notre Dame in the adjacent 4th arrondissement.
Breathtaking Realism: Technology Wows Both Viewers and Talent The space easily accommodates the cameras' movements because of the massive height and width of the set's green screen. There have been no glitches or delays, and the environment presente
