Live From Tokyo Olympics: NBC, Ross Video Take Primetime AR to New Level By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, August 5, 2021 - 4:52 am
Print This Story
The NBC Olympics efforts around HDR are taking augmented reality to a new level. NBC's graphics-design team and Ross Video's Rocket Surgery Virtual Productions team have worked closely to bring new realism to AR elements integrated into the primetime set on the terrace of the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba.
NBC and Ross Video are making sure AR elements pop for HDR viewers.
One of the coolest things we've done is getting the AR to look so good in HDR, says Michael Drazin, NBC Sports, director, production, engineering, and technology. We can fully integrate AR and HDR. Ross is supporting the NBC LUT [look-up table], and they've been working with AR lighting in the scene.
According to Bo Cordle, Ross Video, senior designer, virtual production, it took a good bit of development effort by NBC's graphics team and Ross as they dialed in a way to correctly pass NBC's HDR camera feeds and properly represent the AR graphics in both HDR and SDR.
The Voyager engine, which is Ross Video's build of the Unreal Engine, plays a key role in bringing features like glass simulation/refraction, reflections, ray-tracing, and real-time shadows generated by accurately geo-located simulated sunlight. Ross's Lucid interface enables the operators to quickly and efficiently call up and adjust the AR elements at a moment's notice. Stype RedSpy camera tracking is configured on a Technocrane and Steadicam on the set.
Ross Video's Chris Brown (left) and NBC Sports' Bo Cordle can manage AR elements at the primetime set from the IBC.
Cordle says the two-rack flypack was built specifically for the Olympics. It houses three Voyagers, a couple of Xpressions, a Carbonite, an Ultrix, and Opengear. He adds that the kit provides plenty of flexibility to do whatever a graphics team dreams up.
The racks are located at the IBC, about a mile from the hotel, and a protected data path ensures that the AR data is secure and reliable.
It's not normally the case where you have a tracked camera so far away from the rendering engines, says Cordle. We're doing all the rendering here at the IBC.
A return path allows the camera operator to see where the AR elements are placed in their shot.
The camera guys are incredible and can bring creativity into compositions, says Chris Brown, Ross Video, technical designer. That is what I am most excited about. We're creating a more flexible tool so we can be responsive to the needs of the producer and director.
Shadows bring new realism to AR graphics on the NBC Olympics primetime set.
He notes that tools built into Voyager and the Unreal Engine allow lighting and shadows to reflect the location of the sun. The system can also simulate cloud cover and even the shadows cast by clouds passing overhead.
It knows where the set is in terms of longitude, latitude, the day of the year, Brown explains. It knows exactly where the sun is in the sky in real life. When we're lighting these elements, we can ensure that the shadows match up with the real shadows that [host] Mike Tirico is casting.
The work gives the AR elements more realism, which also means they look more natural and are less jarring.
Cordle says the NBC design team aimed for a tasteful note with the AR graphics. They're believable, and they maintain the prestige of the Olympics as they're tastefully done.
Besides working with NBC on workflow, the Ross Video team also worked on improving the realism. Brown says the progress in the last three months took things like refractions to a new level.
Three months ago, he says, we were kind of faking refraction. But, in the last month, we've been able to dial that in, and there is just a tiny bit of refraction like you would have with a real glass panel.
Also vital to the development process was the use of a to-scale model of the set, which was brought into Voyager to allow the team to preview the graphics inside a virtual environment months before the actual set was built.
Says Brown, We were able to figure out how we would eventually use these graphics before we even got here, which was enormously beneficial.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Live From Tokyo Olympics: NBC, Ross Video Take Primetime AR to New Level By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
