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The Virtual Production and AI Tech Behind the Olympics

The Virtual Production and AI Tech Behind the Olympics

BTS with MrBeast

August 06, 2024

In partnership with

Anyone else keeping the Olympics on non-stop in the background?

In today’s VP Land:

Behind the tech the broadcast tech inside the Olympics
The hardware powering MrBeast’s hundreds of cameras for his YouTube competition videos
BTS of Those About to Die

And more - let’s jump into it!

The VP & AI Tech Behind the Olympics

Behind the Cyberpunk Sharp Shooting, pre-competition naptimes, and Snoop Dog Dressage, we’ve got some amazing new broadcast tech coming out of the Olympics that’s producing new and innovative coverage.

Here’s a look at some of it:

Pop-Up StageCraft

Imaginary Forces used ILM StageCraft's cutting-edge volumetric screen to film key scenes for NBC Sports' 2024 Paris Olympics title sequence.

Imaginary Forces' creative director Alan Williams filmed key scenes using a pop-up version of ILM StageCraft
Production took place on the portable dynamic volumetric screen during a six-day event on the Universal Lot in Los Angeles.
The team integrated archival footage and historic moments with current athlete footage, employing rotoscoping and color grading techniques to create visual cohesion and connect the past with the present.

360 Replay, Powered by AI

Alibaba Cloud partnered with Olympic Broadcasting Services to power a variety of broadcasting services in the cloud - the most notable of which has been the 3D replay system.

All the multi-camera replay systems used at Paris 2024 will be provided by Alibaba Cloud. These include 17 systems across 14 venues covering 21 sports and disciplines - including rugby sevens; badminton; athletics track and field; basketball; beach volleyball; table tennis; wrestling; tennis; judo; breaking; BMX freestyle; and skateboarding. The footage will be sent to the cloud, where Alibaba Cloud’s AI-driven computing capabilities enable live spatial reconstruction and real-time 3D rendering, before the chosen moments are shared as a replay through live or non-live feeds. The seamless reconstruction of the most exciting moments only takes seconds to get ready in the cloud and integrated as part of the live coverage.

BTS by Sport

SVG has a great collection of broadcast setup photos from various venues/sports at the games.

Here are their galleries so far:

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Inside MrPetabyte’s Media Operation

MrBeast's Director of Photography, Jason Elliott, shared behind-the-scenes details on how the YouTube star's team captures his ultra-viral videos, including the recent '1-100' video where 100 people competed for $250,000.

The project involved rigging 300 cameras and 100 tablets, recording petabytes of data.

Behind the Scenes

The team used GoPro Hero 12s with media mods, Marshal POV cameras, ceiling and perimeter cameras, and handheld operators to capture every moment.
Atomos Shogun Studio 2s were used to record the cameras remotely, reducing physical media on set. In total, 46 units were used.
The post team spent hundreds of hours processing footage and crafting the story, as everything was unscripted and captured in real time.

🗣️ Meta is pursuing deals with celebrity talents to secure distinctive voices for its AI assistants, potentially paying millions of dollars and showcasing the technology at the upcoming Meta Connect conference

🗺️ Google Maps introduces a new AR feature that allows users to visualize iconic landmarks in their historical context, providing an immersive and educational experience

🏙️ Pixotope's virtual production, virtual studios, and set extension solutions enabled JioCinema to create eye-catching visuals and photorealistic graphics for the TATA IPL 2024 broadcast

🤖 University of Bristol partners with Lux Machina to install cutting-edge virtual production technology in new £30 million creative hub, set to open in Autumn 2024

🌌 Brainstorm's partnership with XD Motion enables a single-workstation solution for managing set extension, color correction, camera inputs, AR graphics, and interactive elements, crucial for production environments with space or personnel constraints