TVBEurope talks to the team behind a proof of concept looking at a standardised data pipeline allowing content makers to create 3D animated content quickly and collaboratively
By Jenny Priestley
Published: January 26, 2022 Updated: January 27, 2022
TVBEurope talks to the team behind a proof of concept looking at a standardised data pipeline allowing content makers to create 3D animated content quickly and collaboratively
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
During its upcoming Production Technology Seminar, the European Broadcasting Union will be revealing more details of its proof of concept around using remote production for real-time animation.
As part of the IBC Accelerators programme, the proof of concept team developed a solution that explores a standardised pipeline that enables users to employ everyday technology such as smartphones and web cams as well as real-time render engines to create 3D animated content quickly and collaboratively.
The project has been led by the EBU's senior project manager Paola Sunna alongside RT motion graphics designer Ultan Courtney. Early last year they came up with the idea of building and designing a low-cost pipeline for computer generated characters, leveraging game engines, AI tools and off the shelf equipment.
We got in touch with other broadcasters, including RAI, YLE, and VRT and told them about the project and what we wanted to try and test, explains Sunna. They came on board and then we submitted a proposal to the IBC Accelerator programme, it was accepted and so we started working with other champions and participants.
Just before the team submitted their PoC, Nvidia launched Omniverse, a scalable, multi-GPU, real time reference development platform for 3D content creation. So we agreed with the other broadcasters to develop two pipelines, continues Sunna, one based on the beta version of Omniverse, and the other based on Unreal Engine. The team at RAI focused mostly on the Omniverse platform, which includes a solution called Machinima that is for cinematics, so animation, manipulation of the CG characters using high-fidelity renders. They also used Audio2Face, which allows you to generate facial animation from just an audio source. You record the audio clip and it's used to animate the face of the CG characters.
data-src=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RADICAL_MOCAP_WEBCAM_IPHONE_v1-726x408.jpg alt= width=445 height=250 data-srcset=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RADICAL_MOCAP_WEBCAM_IPHONE_v1-726x408.jpg 726w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RADICAL_MOCAP_WEBCAM_IPHONE_v1-353x199.jpg 353w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RADICAL_MOCAP_WEBCAM_IPHONE_v1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RADICAL_MOCAP_WEBCAM_IPHONE_v1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RADICAL_MOCAP_WEBCAM_IPHONE_v1-241x136.jpg 241w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RADICAL_MOCAP_WEBCAM_IPHONE_v1.jpg 1920w data-sizes=(max-width: 445px) 100vw, 445px />The team wanted to decentralise the production pipeline by relying on what audiences had already in their homes or have access to. A lot of our project, believe it or not, involves saying no to potentially better and more expensive technology, states Courtney. By sort of building on the model of almost having a connected series of home offices, we were able to connect all of the artists who were working internationally on the project. Often you're expected to have a kind of generalist skill set when you work with a broadcaster and some of this required some specialist knowledge. *But at the same time, we also needed almost to have access to a few specialists and when we came together we realised we had everything we needed to form a very well educated team.
The focus on collaboration and remote workflow meant the team was spread right across Europe, with 3D modellers in Belgium, an FX artist and vocal performer in Finland, innovators in Italy, and a sound designer in Ireland. One of the team at the EBU set up a live working mechanism for cloud based workflow through a system called Perforce, adds Courtney, RT were directing and doing performances as well and then RAI were testing tools and refining and cleaning motion capture data.
Even though we all had a generalist skill set, each one was able to kind of push it slightly enough towards a specialisation without it turning into a full Hollywood pipeline. It was essentially trying to find a way to create a usable pipeline within the skill sets of broadcasters and also making it as accessible as possible to talent who would be digitally captured and then perform using their voices.
data-src=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AUDIO2FACE__RECORDING_TALENT_v1-726x408.jpg alt= width=461 height=259 data-srcset=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AUDIO2FACE__RECORDING_TALENT_v1-726x408.jpg 726w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AUDIO2FACE__RECORDING_TALENT_v1-353x199.jpg 353w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AUDIO2FACE__RECORDING_TALENT_v1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AUDIO2FACE__RECORDING_TALENT_v1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AUDIO2FACE__RECORDING_TALENT_v1-241x136.jpg 241w, https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AUDIO2FACE__RECORDING_TALENT_v1.jpg 1920w data-sizes=(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px />Once recorded, the voices were entered into a solution called Audio2Face which was employed in the Omniverse pipeline. We were able to take in people's voice data, it would animate the face and then we were also able to use a participating company called Resepeec
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...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
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...
01/06/2026
SBS confirms its broadcast sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2026
1 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has secured Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Com...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
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 ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
TVBEurope talks to the team behind a proof of concept looking at a standardised data pipeline allowing content makers to create 3D animated content quickly and collaboratively
