ESL expands and upgrades Polish production facility for REMI with Blackmagic Design By Adrian Pennington
Monday, September 27, 2021 - 10:03
Print This Story
ESL Katowice has quadrupled in size from one studio and control room to four new control rooms and three multipurpose halls
While the pandemic forced the shutter down on spectator attendance at esports events, unlike regular sports the live action continued unchecked.
For players, the shift to playing remotely was not a big adjustment as they were already used to playing online and from home. Most talent were also already outfitted for online streaming, as many had their own content channels and had already invested in the kit needed to broadcast online. It was up to esports producers to quickly pivot to this new reality.
Perhaps the world's biggest is ESL Gaming, part of digital entertainment group MTG, which operates international leagues and tournaments under the ESL Pro Tour umbrella, including Intel Extreme Masters, ESL Pro League and other pre-eminent, stadium-size tournaments such as ESL One.
ESL Gaming also operates production facilities (Burbank, Sydney and Cologne among them) which host its own branded events as well as white label content for other tournaments or events.
The Katowice, Poland hub for ESL is among its most prestigious. In the past year it has quadrupled in size from one studio and control room to four new control rooms and three multipurpose halls, including ESL's existing arena space. Design and specification began in March 2020 with the last studio/control room finished and operational in June of this year.
Blackmagic Design ATEM Constellation switchers and Universal Videohub are at the heart of the facility
Head of engineering Krzysztof Pawlus explains that flexibility was the key element when designing the production workflow and control infrastructure.
We produce a huge variety of live events, including ESL-branded formats, he explains. With that in mind, the entire workflow is reconfigurable to meet those needs and demands. Recently most of the talent has been remote and we also have to ensure the production teams continue to stay safe. We've made sure the studio infrastructure can bring in multiple external sources alongside signals from the studio floor, without any latency issues. It's imperative that our streams are accurate.
The entire facility - built at a new site just 100m away from the original studio is now fibre connected. Each interconnected control room has a 288 288 router with 24 fibre in and out, as well as a bank of SDI cards for converting PC desktop signals to SDI. It enables the team to distribute any incoming source to anywhere in the facility, depending on the production's requirements.
Blackmagic Design sits at the heart of the complex, which relies on multiple ATEM Constellation switchers and Universal Videohub for content production.
A new green screen virtual production set has camera tracking from RedSpy, chroma keying courtesy of Ultimatte (part of the Blackmagic Design stable) and rendering in Unreal Engine.
The halls are equipped to host a wide range of events, including space to accommodate up to 64 PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds mobile players.
Content is vision mixed on a variety of ATEM switchers. The largest control room has been furnished with an ATEM Constellation 8K switcher, which has been deployed across several high-profile events, including the Gamers without Borders charity tournament, where dual language programs were delivered simultaneously. All productions are delivered in 1080p 59.94 and streamed to Twitch and YouTube or via live video cloud to other platforms.
Other gear includes EVS replay machines and the Dyvi vision mixer, AJA signal conversion cards and Sony FS7 and Sony 4000 series studio cameras. All video equipment was delivered by local distributor Wamm Video Solutions.
EVS replay machines and the Dyvi vision mixer, AJA signal conversion cards and Sony FS7 and Sony 4000 series studio cameras have been installed
Communications can be an issue, and making sure everybody is on the same page is a lot more problematic in a decentralised production, says Pawlus. The amount of communication, split-second decisions, and the speed at which the in-game production takes place makes remote operation a challenge, for sure, especially when we aim to improve on last year's event, not go down in production value.
Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2020 tournament had to be played without fans in attendance at the 11,500-seat Spodek Arena as the Polish government forced the country into quarantine. That may have helped the final of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive IEM Katowice 2020 set a viewership record.
Esports Charts pegged the final's peak viewership at 1,002,132, which it says is a new record for the IEM series.
Earlier this year, the 2021 tournament was also forced to play behind closed doors. With more than 20,500,000 hours watched across multiple distribution platforms, IEM Katowice saw hundreds of thousands of fans tuning in to catch the action with peak concurrent viewers (digital platforms, excluding China) surpassing 580,000, according to ESL figures.
ESL Gaming is now selling in person stadium tickets for the February 2022 IEM Katowice event but, even if fans are permitted back to the arena, many of the remote workflows implemented during the past couple years are here to stay.
Many more production personnel who would have been involved in an outside broadcast at the studio prior to the pandemic can now operate remotely. These include observers (in-game camera operators). Also, we're just starting to expand the features for our virtual studio. We want to introduce more video feeds, for example, reveals Pawlus.
The availability of Blackmagic's SDK allows us a high level of work
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
14/11/2026
Marcelo Dai's Live Session Captured with URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton November 14, 2026
0 Comments
Artist takes viewers on an immersive journe...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Newest Lenses, Horizon Anamorphic Seminar & Guided Lens Character Experience Highlight Creative Possibilities
At the 2026 Toru CAMERIMAGE Film Festival, ZEISS...
14/11/2026
Sonnet Announces Black Friday Sale on Select Products
Brie Clayton November 14, 2026
0 Comments
WHAT: Sonnet Technologies is having a sale on a select...
14/11/2026
Berklee Alumni Shine at the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards This year's winners included songwriters, engineers, and performers who contributed to acclaimed reco...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Studer-inspired 500-series PWM compressor unveiled
The HLabs range already includes a couple of Studer-inspired offerings in the form of the PRE169 and EQ16...
13/11/2026
Download Now!
To view the white paper, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name
Company*
Country* Please select your countryA...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
Beginning today, November 13, Apple HomeView is available for purchase at Apple Store locations, on the Apple Store online, and in the Apple Store app in select...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
ESL expands and upgrades Polish production facility for REMI with Blackmagic Design By Adrian Pennington 
