It helped to create the reveal of the NFL’s 100 All Time Team
The Future Group has revealed its virtual production system, Pixotope, was used in the creation of a seven-minute mixed reality production at the 2020 Super Bowl.
Six installations of Pixotope were provided for the segment – about the NFL’s 100 All Time Team – along with technical expertise to liaise with the other aspects of the production. Fan experience company, The Famous Group, designed and choreographed the content.
Producing the end product involved multiple moving cameras with augmented virtual stages and graphics. Multiple virtual assets such as stages and screens were also necessary, and were designed to fit the stadium exactly.
In addition, the cameras were tracked in real time and their lenses aligned so virtual elements could be created to accurately match real-world positions. Lighting was measured to be recreated in the virtual world too, and in-stadium screens were marked out to avoid visual feedback.
100 million viewers tuned into the 2020 Super Bowl in the US, with more watching from around the world.
David Stroud, Pixotope product specialist, explained: “Although the virtual scene had been set up “offline” from scans and measurements from the stadium, there are inevitably adjustments that can only be done on site. We used our Pixotope virtual production platform to receive images and tracking data from each of the cameras, one of which was a Skycam “wire-camera”, and augment onto those the virtual elements designed by The Famous Group.”
“This allowed everyone to see the results in real time, making adjustments and improvements as we rehearsed the show in the days leading up to the Super Bowl.”
“We helped the camera operators visualise how the preshow would come together, as understandably, they were more used to following the unscripted action of a football game than reacting to very specific time cues.”
“Pixotope has the capability to continuously output the final result, even while editing the graphics – a great tool for directors following rapid changes and updates because it’s always live.”
“We also worked closely with camera tracking specialists SMT, and in fact, we were able to improve our data exchanges to further perfect the virtual camera motion. And we worked with both the broadcaster (Fox) and the companies providing in-stadium displays to ensure the very highest visual quality possible.”
Andrew Isaacson, executive vice president, business development, for The Famous Group, added: “Needless to say, the best creative ideas rely on solid technological platforms and expertise to deliver them. This could not be truer for a live event on the scale of The Super Bowl.”
“We needed to know, without any shadow of a doubt, that what we planned would be delivered faultlessly, accurately and to the highest quality.”