Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

How broadcasters can use local technology to build an international animation pipeline

26/01/2022

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

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
LINK: https://www.tvbeurope.com/production-post/using-local-technology-to-bu...
See more stories from tvb

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

21/08/2026

Indiana Pacers Selects DAZN As Exclusive Streaming Partner

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

Chyron To Showcase Newsroom Advancements At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

Broadpeak to Launch Multiview as a Service at IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

University of Maryland Deploys Sony FX30 Cameras

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

Study: FAST Sports Programming Surges

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

Spectrum SportsNet LA Launches in Former Cox Markets

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

ESPN Airs Its Most-Watched WNBA Game

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

Wisycom Wireless and DPA Microphones Support Pope Leo XIV...

When hundreds of thousands of people gather to hear a single voice, there is no room for compromise. Every word must be delivered clearly, every wireless transm...

21/08/2026

Telestream and ScorePlay Turn Live Sports into Immediate...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, today announced a strategic partnership with ScorePlay, the AI-powered media infrastructure that spo...

21/08/2026

NUGEN Audio Launches New Post and Producer Subscription P...

NUGEN Audio announces the launch of its new Post Plan and Producer Plan, two flexible subscription offerings designed to give audio professionals short term acc...

21/08/2026

Join the Screen Currency 2026 Ask Me Anything (AMA) Online

Join the Screen Currency 2026 Ask Me Anything (AMA) Online 20 August 2026 (L-R): Adrian Coates, Grainne Brunsdon, Deirdre Brennan, Rachael Perkins Got questio...

20/08/2026

NEP's Summer of Soccer Didn't End at World Cup: 1,100+ Domestic Productions Follow the Final

From host-broadcaster and rightsholder support in June and July to MLS, NWSL, US...

20/08/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 27: San Jose Sharks' Emily Garner - Production Tales From the Shark Tank

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

20/08/2026

IBC 2026: Veritone To Showcase Enterprise AI and Media Supply Chain Automation

At IBC this year, Veritone (14.A56) is bringing two connected themes to the booth: architectural independence in enterprise AI, and the automation of the media ...

20/08/2026

Telestream and ScorePlay Partner to Connect Live Sports Ingest with Media Management

Telestream and ScorePlay have announced a partnership combining Telestream's...

20/08/2026

Grand Slam of Curling and Rock League Sign Multi-Year Deal with ESPN

The Grand Slam of Curling and Rock League have announced a three-year agreement with ESPN, bringing more than 300 hours of live curling coverage to U.S. audienc...

20/08/2026

Nielsen Announces Measurement Enhancements Ahead of Fall TV Season

Nielsen has announced a series of enhancements to its Big Data + Panel currency measurement methodology, taking effect August 31. The updates were developed in ...

20/08/2026

ORF Deploys Net Insight Nimbra Platform for Nationwide IP Contribution Network

Net Insight has been selected by service provider Big Blue Marble (formerly ORS Group) to provide its Nimbra platform as the core media transport solution for a...

20/08/2026

2026 US Open Launches Fan Activations Across New York City

The 2026 US Open will bring a series of free fan activations across New York City ahead of and during the tournament, which runs August 23-September 13. We...

20/08/2026

Bridge Technologies Adds TS Playout to VB330 and VB220 Monitoring Probes

Bridge Technologies will announce a transport stream (TS) playout feature for its VB330 and VB220 compressed monitoring probes at IBC2026 (Booth 1.A71). The fe...

20/08/2026

IBC 2026: ENCO To Showcase AI and Automation Solutions

ENCO will demonstrate solutions across captioning, translation, AI production tools, automation, and virtual production at IBC2026 (Stand 7.A34, Amsterdam RAI, ...

20/08/2026

IBC 2026: MultiDyne MRMC To Exhibit for First Time as Part of MultiDyne Organization

MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will demonstrate camera robotics and mot...

20/08/2026

IBC 2026: Chyron Showcases Newsroom Workflow Solutions

Chyron will demonstrate news workflow solutions at IBC2026 (Stand 7.A23), marking the company's 60th anniversary. Highlights include updates to PRIME HTML, ...

20/08/2026

Spectrum SportsNet LA Now Available to Customers in Former Cox Markets

Spectrum SportsNet LA, the exclusive television home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is now available to Spectrum customers in former Cox markets following the clos...

20/08/2026

IBC 2026: swXtch.io Launches Expanded SRT Distribution and Native Multicast Services

swXtch.io will unveil expanded Global SRT Distribution and native multicast tran...

20/08/2026

Transformation Church Deploys Riedel Artist Intercom System

Riedel Communications has announced that Transformation Church in the United States has deployed a communications system built around the Artist intercom ecosys...

20/08/2026

Apple at 50: Author and CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent David Pogue on How a Tech Giant Became a Media Powerhouse

The bestselling author and longtime Apple observer explores how product launches...

20/08/2026

Orlando Magic's David Storm Reflects on the Franchises First Year With Its New ST 2110 Control Room and Massive Center-Hung Videoboard

The Orlando Magic entered last season with a dramatically upgraded in-venue prod...

20/08/2026

Indiana Pacers Name DAZN Exclusive Streaming Home Beginning 2026-27 Season

Pacers Sports and Entertainment has announced a partnership with DAZN, making it the exclusive streaming home of Indiana Pacers basketball. A team-branded strea...

20/08/2026

Ratings Roundup: Scotty Scheffler Win Tops the Week, ESPN Posts Most-Watched WNBA Game Ever on Cable

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...

20/08/2026

NHL Announces Germany Expansion with FC Bayern Partnership and 2027 Global Series Games in Munich and Cologne

The NHL has announced two major developments tied to its Germany growth strategy...

20/08/2026

SoundBridges TURN server tutorial

Set up your own private remote collaboration infrastructure SoundBridge have recently put together a tutorial video that provides users with a step-by-step ...

20/08/2026

Neyrinck revive Avid D-Control surfaces

New V-Control Pro features restore basic functionality Neyrinck's V-Control software has long been keeping older Avid control surfaces compatible with n...

20/08/2026

ROSE AYLING-ELLIS BEGINS FILMING SERIES TWO OF ITVS BAFTA-WINNING THRILLER CODE OF SILENCE

TV, BritBox and Mammoth Screen have announced that filming is now underway on th...

20/08/2026

Nielsen Incorporates New Enhancements To Improve Its Data Measurement Leading Into The New Fall TV Season

New York August 19, 2026 Nielsen today shared a number of key enhancements t...

20/08/2026

FAST Sports Programming Surges at More Than Twice the Rate of Sports Channel Growth

New Gracenote Data Hub analysis finds sports program titles up 31.2% and individ...

20/08/2026

Charter Completes $34.5 Billion Cox Acquisition

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/08/2026

SubtitleNEXT makes a significant leap in localisation eff...

At IBC, Profuz Digital will showcase at stand 8.A88 the SubtitleNEXT platform delivering innovative AI transcription integrations and stunning new features boos...

20/08/2026

Transformation Church Elevates Production Communications...

Riedel Communications today announced that Transformation Church, one of the fastest-growing and most influential digital ministries in the United States, has d...

20/08/2026

QuickLink Showcases New 4K Capabilities Across StudioEdge and StudioCall at IBC 2026

QuickLink Showcases New 4K Capabilities Across StudioEdge and StudioCall at IBC ...

20/08/2026

The Boys Season Five Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio

The Boys Season Five Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton August 20, 2026 0 Comments Colorist Siggy Ferstl uses Depth Map to bring a three ...

20/08/2026

Adobe Firefly expands its creative AI studio: generate music, speech, and sound effects in one place

Adobe Firefly expands its creative AI studio: generate music, speech, and sound ...

20/08/2026

Broadpeak launches Multiview as a Service to accelerate m...

Multiview available via SaaS for streaming platforms and operators through broadpeak.io, with live demonstrations at IBC2026 Broadpeak , a leader in streaming ...

20/08/2026

Techex Appoints Stuart Almond as Chief Revenue Officer

Techex, a leading provider of live broadcast infrastructure solutions, has appointed Stuart Almond as Chief Revenue Officer, further strengthening its executive...

20/08/2026

MediaCity Studios upgrades with Avid

Avid today announced that MediaCity Studios has upgraded its production infrastructure with an enhanced end-to-end Avid production ecosystem, including the dep...

20/08/2026

MS Now to Launch $7.99 DTC Service

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/08/2026

Nielsen Details Improvements to Audience Measurement Capabilities

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...