critical that live and virtual content was stitched together seamlessly in these content packages. PLG’s acquisition workflow relies on URSA Broadcast G2 cameras, with live signals fed over SDI into virtual environments created in Unreal Engine – and using DeckLink cards to maintain low latency and sync. “When we started looking at virtual production at the beginning of 2021, we soon realised that designing environments in Unreal, then rendering them out in real-time, would be a more dynamic solution. The biggest investment we have made outside the studio itself is in virtual production.” Cameras and virtual environments are fed through Aximmetry virtual studio software, working alongside Blackmagic Ultimatte 12 employed as a hardware chroma key. PLG has also brought aboard the StarTracker from Mo-Sys to track camera crane movement, focus and zoom in real-time. Jonsson is hopeful about the future of PLG, but also pro gaming in the Middle East. “We’ve seen esports teams in the region – the likes of Nasr, Yalla and more – achieving success in global championships across a host of titles over recent years, all qualifying from programmes that originated in the MENA,” Jonsson concludes.
“No game has the same solution in terms of production. They are watched through the game itself on a PC, spectator software or console – if it is a console title. That adds a lot of complexity,” explains Jonsson. “We use a host of converters and I/O cards to take those in-game feeds out into the switcher, then back into a main in-game production machine, where a PGM is produced from all the observers. That in-game PGM mix is then supplied to the main desk and an instant replay operator. “Remote talent interacting with a host on-set and keeping that live interaction synced was another challenge – particularly through the pandemic. Feeding the casters’ gameplay from the studio in real-time around the region and syncing the coverage is a delicate job to master.” WINNING THE VIRTUAL STUDIO GAME With expectant brands and eagle-eyed gamers demanding the highest production values, it was
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