disguise xR Delivers Defining Moment in Broadcast With Katy Perry Performance On American Idol' Finale posted: 03/06/2020
XR Studios and visionary partners push the boundaries of storytelling and create new possibilities for remote virtual production.
Technology pioneers XR Studios leveraged the latest technology from disguise to bring the future of broadcast to primetime American television when pop sensation Katy Perry performed her new single Daisies' on the season finale of American Idol. The project relied on the collaboration between the creative and technical teams led by XR Studios, with content by Silent Partners Studio using Notch VFX, direction by Silent House Productions and PRG North America as the Production Vendor.
Started on the #AmericalIdol stage, ended up in a whole new world , as Katy Perry wrote on her Instagram, the performance has since been watched by over 9 million viewers around the globe with over 2 million Youtube hits on top of the 7.3 million strong viewers on the night. The broadcast has left many asking how was the performance achieved?'
Having disguise for delivery of this content was crucial... theres simply no other solution out there that I would trust with this. explains JT Rooney of Silent Partner Studios, who was the Screens Producer and led all the creative content creation.
At disguise, we are building the technology platform to enable creative and technical professionals to tell stories in new and innovative ways for the world's leading brands and artists. This show was just the beginning of disguise and xR - we can't wait to show you what's next. says Ed Plowman, Chief Technology Officer at disguise.
Beginning in an American Idol-branded studio, the physical walls around Katy Perry suddenly dissolve away, bringing viewers with the Daisies' singer into a fantastical world where she interacts with virtual elements such as oversized props, a pair of giant hands and masses of floating daisies.
From a creative perspective, the actual look and feel of the piece was a deceptively difficult effect to achieve. The graphics' solid flat colours and simple textures actually made it difficult to complete the illusion of making the physical LED [backdrops] disappear and magically combine with a virtual environment, explains JT Rooney.
Sitting at the heart of the set up, disguise xR seamlessly integrates with an array of technologies including camera tracking and real-time content engines, directing each element with power and precision, extending the physical space into a virtual world delivering a truly unique visual experience.
The seamless extension of the real-world LED screens to the virtual world environments could only be done by disguise's xR camera registration workflow, allowing switching between camera perspectives and the LED content. Multi-Camera switching between perspectives also allowed us to switch cameras, and the LED content explains Scott Millar, a disguise xR Workflow Specialist who provided creative technology support under XR Studios and Silent House Partners, and overall technical direction for PRG on the shoot.
Using disguise xR Spatial Mapping, the teams were able to accurately keyframe the position of real and virtual worlds into one coherent place where choreographed action could take place.
Conceived as a live music video performance, the unique project had a narrative from the start where the world would change in time with the song and lyrics. The visual content was created and rendered in real-time with Notch, the industry standard graphics tool for live performance. Combining the rendering power and flexibility of Notch with disguise technology, the team could edit the XR content over a network while it played back live on stage.
Using Notch as the render engine, and being able to embed that into disguise for seamless integration is a huge benefit. We get all of the power, support and control a disguise server brings, with the ability to render in real time, across multiple synchronized machines. adds Scott.
disguise xR also made it possible for teams to collaborate in a social distancing environment at PRG Studios' custom-built xR stage in LA. The disguise xR workflow is perfect for avoiding non-essential contact, mitigating the risks posed by traditional approaches to filming immersive visuals which would involve high-level, real-time in-camera shoots, green screen and other VFX. Combined with carefully co-ordinate working processes established by XR Studios, everyone involved in the project was able to work safely together and apart.
The disguise team also provided support and guidance every step of the way. The disguise support team went above and beyond to ensure the experience went off without a hitch. We consulted on workflow, investigated issues, during testing and then provided completely remote support for the shoot using remote machine control and video calls throughout set up, calibration and the shoot itself to get all the information needed just as if we were onsite in LA , says Jamie Sunter, Senior Support Specialist at disguise.
The ground-breaking performance was produced by XR Studios, with direction from long-standing Katy Perry collaborators Baz Halpin of Silent House Productions. Content creation was led by Screens Producer J.T. Rooney of Silent Partners Studio and PRG provided production resources and technical collaboration at their Studios in LA. Cory Fitzgerald was the Lighting Designer for Daisies' with Charles Dabezies the Video Programmer and David Fafard the Video Creative Director. xR Technical Director: Scott Millar. Choreography was by The Squared Division.
About disguise
disguise is the platform for creative and technical professionals to imagine, create and deliver the world's most spectacular visual experience
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/06/2026
Tennis Channel has completed a transition from satellite-based distribution to a...
02/06/2026
Daktronics has announced the 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day educational event for high school educators and student production teams, taking place Jun...
02/06/2026
Fandango will bring Telemundo's live Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA W...
02/06/2026
All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) has announced the live television schedule...
02/06/2026
Spalk, a cloud-based multilingual commentary and production platform, has announced three new partnerships: Ligue 1 (English and Portuguese highlights), Eurolea...
02/06/2026
NHL Network's 2026 Stanley Cup Final coverage began June 1 with NHL Tonight: Stanley Cup Final Media Day from the Carolina Hurricanes' Lenovo Center at ...
02/06/2026
Matrox Video has announced the Maevex MGX Series, a lineup of IPMX-ready video e...
02/06/2026
Marshall Electronics will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7521), showcasing a lineup of 4K and HD compact POV cameras for corporate, education, hospitality, wo...
02/06/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated have...
02/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C50...
02/06/2026
Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced the promotion of Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO. In his new role, Marchitto will oversee system design across ...
02/06/2026
The NHL has announced that Brothers Osborne will headline a free outdoor concert...
02/06/2026
CP Communications has announced the appointment of its first two female executives in the company's 40-year history. Tabitha Coleman has been named Vice Pre...
02/06/2026
The Lighting Design Group (LDG) has announced the completion of Studio C at Yahoo's headquarters at 770 Broadway in Manhattan. The studio launched April 24 ...
02/06/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (Z) has announced a partnership with FIFA to broadcast FIFA World Cup 2026, FIFA World Cup 2030, FIFA Women's World Cup 2...
02/06/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
02/06/2026
The department is broadcasting NCAA Baseball Super Regionals at Plainsman Park this weekend
Broadcast and production crews at Division I institutions are busy ...
02/06/2026
The initiative is extends beyond the league's arenas to team training rinks,...
02/06/2026
Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Pen lope Cruz, and Edward Norton appear in The Invite by Olivia Wilde, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Co...
02/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
02/06/2026
Powerful new vocal-production tool announced
Described as a vocal performance station , Klevgrand's latest plug-in combines pitch-correction with harmo...
02/06/2026
Launched alongside Go Green sale extension
McDSP have just released the latest addition to their APB line-up, DC-2 Dual Compressor, and have also announced ...
02/06/2026
Create custom tools for Ableton Live 12 Suite
Ableton have just introduced a new open JavaScript toolkit that allows anyone to create their own custom tools...
02/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
02/06/2026
Plus UAD Half Yearly Sale now live
The latest arrival to the Universal Audio range delivers a new native pitch-correction plug-in that's capable of deli...
02/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to present comprehensive performance, conformance and spectrum-m...
02/06/2026
BTL Laboratory becomes Taiwan's first test house with a CTIA Certification c...
02/06/2026
blueCORE standalone processors headline solutions designed to simplify the trans...
02/06/2026
If you've kept up with this article series, you know by now where to start w...
02/06/2026
With new DSP configurations and flexible licensing options, Calrec is removing the barriers to virtualised audio, giving broadcasters the freedom to scale produ...
02/06/2026
The TV agency was one of the earliest adopters of Nielsen's local television...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Grass Valley today announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP to transform its newsroom produc...
02/06/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, announces its new Model 385 Mic/Intercom Beltpack. The Mode...
02/06/2026
The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 2...
02/06/2026
More signals, higher quality, and outstanding ingest and streaming flexibility deliver professional results in a small, all-in-one footprint...
02/06/2026
farmerswife will be featured on the Modena Media & Entertainment stand at this year's Mediatech Africa 2026, giving visitors an opportunity to explore the l...
02/06/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17 19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Praise for series three:
The Times - sun-dappled pleasure
The Daily Mail - The Homes Counties' Charlie's Angels
The Sun - 4* this [is an] enjoya...
02/06/2026
Wuppertal June 2, 2026
Gudrun Scharler Appointed CEO of Riedel Networks The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel N...
02/06/2026
Back to All News
Discover Your Next Book-to-Screen Obsession With Our New Dedicated Hub
Product
02 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Dear most vor...
02/06/2026
New LinkedIn Data: 90% of C-Suite Leaders are Continuously Building Skills to Lead in the AI Era Published on Jun 2, 2026 Categories: Data and insights
Lin...
disguise xR Delivers Defining Moment in Broadcast With Katy Perry Performance On American Idol' Finale posted: 03/06/2020 
