XR Studios selects disguise as central technology hub for 2020 MTV VMAs

XR Studios selects disguise as central technology hub for 2020 MTV VMAs posted: 07/09/2020

The first major awards show in the US to be broadcast since the pandemic was held Sunday, August 30, when the socially distant MTV Video Music Awards were telecast from New York City. XR Studios selected the disguise xR workflow, powered by the latest disguise gx 2c media server, as the show's central technology hub.

The project was successful on a level of scale in terms of the size of the stage, the number of Stype-tracked cameras and the ambitious number of live performances and awards presentations, says JT Rooney of Silent Partners Studio, who worked together with XR Studios to deliver the complex show in Extended Reality.

XR Studios, who pioneered the application of xR in live entertainment, was brought in by Paul Caslin, Creative Director for the VMAs, to help create a virtual stage where the awards presentation would take place. Additionally, XR Studios produced and enabled creative teams to craft performances for multiple artists like Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas, Doja Cat and Da Baby in Extended Reality environments. Notch VFX played a key role in the production as the main real-time rendering engine for the awards stage and performances from Miley Cyrus, The Black Eyed Peas and Doja Cat. Meanwhile, Unreal Engine provided real-time rendering for Lady Gaga and Da Baby, utilising disguise's newly launched RenderStream video-over-IP protocol.

disguise's xR workflow allows for a traditional workflow of media server and content creation while adding on the layers of Augmented and Mixed Reality. This allows for flexibility and dependability for live entertainment, Scott Millar, Technical Director at XR Studios explains. disguise's camera calibration workflow also enables virtual set extension and the ability to blend LED with virtual environments to create whole new worlds.

The disguise gx 2c powered real-time generated graphics from Notch onto the LED video screens as well as the virtual set extension content outside the LEDs, creating a vast and immersive virtual world on camera that fans could view from their screens at home.

This was the largest and most complex xR show that we have had to support so far, says Jamie Sunter, disguise Senior Support Specialist who was involved in the project. We had Support and Development teams working in LA and UK to ensure that we could get the most coverage with both timezones. We utilised the newly built xR stage in London HQ to then be able to verify fixes and reproduce issues that were being seen on site. In LA we had frequent presence on site as well as at the homes of the support team based in LA.

For the VMA show disguise software was key not only to the camera calibration, but also to colour balancing and overall compositing of real-time content tools. This project marks yet another successful collaboration between XR Studios, Silent Partners and disguise, after having delivered ground-breaking virtual productions for performances from Katy Perry and The Black Eyed Peas earlier this year.

Credits:

VMAs Creative Director: Paul Caslin

Extended Reality Producers: XR Studios

Content Creation Studio for Awards Stage, Miley Cyrus, Da Baby, and Black Eyed Peas: Silent Partners Studio

Lady Gaga Content Creation: Possible Productions

Doja Cat Content Creation: Blink INC

Technical Equipment Partner: Fuse

Camera Tracking: Stype

Realtime Rendering for Awards Stage, Miley Cyrus, Black Eyed Peas, and Doja Cat: Notch VFX

Realtime Rendering for Lady Gaga and Da Baby: Unreal Engine

XR Studios Technical Director: Scott Millar

XR Studios Technical Integrator: Smasher Desmedt

Disguise programmer: Ben Ryle

VMA Screen Producer: Trevor Burk, Visual Noise Creative

VMA Screens disguise Programmer: Kirk Miller

About disguise

The disguise technology platform enables creative and technical professionals to imagine, create and deliver spectacular live visual experiences at the highest level.

With a focus on combining real-time 3D visualisation-based software with high performance and robust hardware, disguise enables the delivery of challenging creative projects at scale and with confidence.

With the recent halt of live events around the world as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, disguise has released an Extended Reality solution to its workflow, empowering the world's leading brands, artists and production houses to bring to life compelling visual experiences in virtual production that inspire and engage remote audiences everywhere.

disguise xR has already powered virtual productions for Katy Perry's performance at the American Idol Finale 2020, the Black Eyed Peas' Translation' album launch, SAP's Sapphire Now' 2020 virtual conference, Dave's performance at the 2020 BRIT Awards and HP's Omen Challenge esports tournament 2019.

With an ever increasing global partner network and working alongside the world's most talented visual designers and technical teams in live events, TV broadcasts, films, concert touring, theatre, fixed installations and corporate and entertainment events, disguise is building the next generation of collaborative tools to help artists and technologists realise their vision.

About XR Studios

XR Studios is a digital production company that specializes in producing cutting edge content for the live entertainment industry. XR Studios is a resource for producers, agencies, and creative directors to help facilitate stunning live XR broadcasts, performances, and events.

XR Studios mandate is to push the boundaries of XR technology to new heights. Our bespoke workflows and expert technologists strive to create new possibilities for live performance and entertainment in an XR world. We work closely with artists, producers, creators and creative directors to deliv

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