ESL and Ross Video’s division, Rocket Surgery Virtual Productions work together to convert in-venue sport to a virtual studio set.
ESL has converted a series of in-person Drone Champions League (DCL) events to a fully virtual alternative, with the competitors competing remotely.
ESL worked with Ross Video’s dedicated virtual productions division, Rocket Surgery Virtual Productions (RSVP), to transition the physical in-venue sport into a visually-inspiring virtual studio set.
Together, ESL and RSVP used Ross’s Voyager graphics product and Ross UX virtual solutions control software to show up to six live inputs in the virtual set at any time. The XPression graphics package was used for scoreboard/character generation.
The main production hub was at ESL’s facility in Katowice, Poland, while RSVP worked on the two-day event via home offices in the USA.
RSVP remotely configure the Voyager systems, built virtual Trackless Camera moves and refined the talent keyers to enable seamless transitions from the drone races to the on-set talent without leaving the game world.
Mike Hoehsl, CEO of Drone Champions League, said: “Each environment in DCL – The Game takes up to 2,000 hours to build and Ross RSVP has created a virtual studio set that works seamlessly with these environments and our racetracks. We’re engaging with our fans in a way we never have before.”
Jim Doyle, director of creative services for Ross Video, added: “We’ve worked together to harness the power of Voyager, which is based on the Unreal engine from Epic Games. Voyager enables us to offer the most dynamic virtual production solutions available in the world today.”
The next virtual event is at the Virtual Drone Grand Prix in Proptown, USA.