Disney, ESPN Send Virtual-Production Tech Into Sports Stratosphere With New Catalyst Stage' in Bristol

Disney, ESPN Send Virtual-Production Tech Into Sports Stratosphere With New Catalyst Stage' in Bristol XR studio builds on concepts and technologies pioneered in Disney+'s The Mandalorian By Jason Dachman

Monday, June 26, 2023 - 12:32 pm

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Since the eye-melting release of the first season of Disney+'s The Mandalorian, virtual-production technology has been the hot new innovation in the Media & Entertainment sector. Now the technology has taken center stage for sports with the launch of Catalyst Stage at ESPN HQ in Bristol, CT. The first studio of its kind to enable both live multi-camera productions and cinematic-quality projects, the new immersive studio blends the physical and virtual worlds to unlock almost infinite possibilities for studio production.

Using Unreal Engine, Disney and ESPN are able to create ultra-realistic set environments.

This is truly a game-changer for us when it comes to creativity, scalability, flexibility, and innovation, says Joseph Ferretti, director, studio design and development, ESPN. I can't overstate its impact. I think the flexibility and the ROI are unprecedented when you consider the turnaround time and the creative possibilities. Using Catalyst Stage, we can do a high-end studio show and then do a cinematic commercial shoot the same day and, the next morning, be ready for a plate shoot or a content-enhancing feature for SportsCenter. Simply put, this is huge.

The 11-million-pixel Catalyst Stage is capable of producing day-to-day live, multi-camera AR and XR productions in 1080p or UHD, as well as cinematic-quality and advertising projects in 4K. The studio is powered by proprietary software developed by the Disney Entertainment and ESPN technology teams, including the GRACE [graphics real-time automation and control environment] platform. Other key technologies deployed are Ghostframe, Unreal Engine, Disguise XR, Pixotope, and Mark Roberts Motion Control robotic camera systems.

Years in Development: How Catalyst Stage Came To Be In 2021, ESPN opted to refresh Bristol's Studio F, the first-ever HD SportsCenter studio. Two-thirds of the space was converted into a set for ABC's college-football coverage, leaving a third available for something new.

We started doing a lot of research into virtual production, says Ferretti. Then I saw Katy Perry do Daisies on American Idol, and that really caught my eye. We started exploring if we could do something like that here in Bristol, and the ball got rolling pretty quickly. We got executive buy-in and brought in folks from across ESPN and Disney to see what we could do in that space.

The new XR studio creates a canvas for a wealth of creative possibilities.

In September 2021, ESPN conducted a technical shootout for the LED panels, processors, cameras, compositing, and other technology, and NEP came out on top as primary integrator. From there, Disney and ESPN technology, production, and creative teams got to work.

This was truly a dream project for our team, says Christiaan Cokas, director, Creative Automation + Studio Technology, Disney. It's exactly what we've been wanting to do for a long time. The timing was perfect. We felt like the tech was finally ready, especially Ghost Frame, which got us really excited. We could look production [teams] in the face and tell them this is significantly better than green-screen studio [technology] because you've got live multi-camera cutting. We can basically deliver your standard production workflow while making it film- and commercial-ready as well.

Inside ESPN's new Catalyst Stage in Bristol

Ferretti sees the launch of Catalyst Stage as the next step in a long progression of virtual-studio technology: from its use of depth monitors at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg through the launch of the Around the Horn virtual studio at ESPN's Seaport Studios in NYC in 2018. This is just the next logical step.

Infinite Possibilities: XR Studio Opens the Creative Floodgates With Catalyst Stage, limitations attached to the access, building, and changing of physical environments are eliminated so that complex sets, which once took weeks or months to stand up or alter, can come together in days or even hours. Production teams can blend physical space with virtual elements to visually place talent in any location, real or imagined - from making Catalyst Stage a digital twin of an existing studio or stadium to a scenic hilltop or alien planet.

Catalyst Stage allows ESPN to create a digital twin of existing sets, allowing more flexibility and creativity in its studio-show operations.

We have a huge spectrum of flexibility in terms of creating [sets], says Cokas, going from the Full 3D immersive environment that can be built in Unreal all the way to simple plate shoots that can be turned around quickly.

Although the team is working in a virtual realm, Ferretti says, his team went into the initial studio-design process with the same sensibilities as for a physical studio. The team worked with top set designers like Jack Morton, Kramer, and MPKscenic to build these immersive environments.

Says Ferretti, We were looking to create new environments for our XR stage that had the typical sensibilities in terms of scenic design and set elements and build past that because we have a whole virtual world where you can go almost anywhere. We can create an entire lobby, locker room, or practice facility, which we obviously wouldn't be able to build on campus physically.

The Hilltop set will be a primary environment used by Catalyst Stage.

The Catalyst Stage production team is able to cut to four cameras live while simultaneously shooting four different backgrounds between the wall and the floor. For the talent, the environment can be isolated to a single

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