Focus on Vi[z]rt

Background

Vi[z]rt became involved in the streaming media space through the interest of its client, Launch.com, which ultimately purchased a high-end broadcast virtual set system. This opened the door of opportunity for vi[z]rt to evaluate its role in the streaming industry.

Approximately nine months ago, vi[z]rt brought the first PC-based virtual set system to market at a price point attractive to webcasters, while maintaining broadcast quality.

The FinanceVision production team met with vi[z]rt representatives at last April's NAB conference to evaluate the system, and soon thereafter integrated the virtual studio into its production environment.

Benefits

First and foremost, the virtual environment adds depth and style to the FinanceVision set while reducing the burden of compression by maintaining a fixed, digitally generated background.

Because the virtual set environment is truly 3D, it can be linked to new camera locations without re-rendering a scene in another piece of software — a common limitation of straight, 2D chroma-key composite systems.

Vi[z]rt's Role in FinanceVision

The virtual set environment generates smooth, anti-aliased, perspective-correct 3D backgrounds and abstract graphics based on the camera's position in the studio.

Yahoo! runs the three camera outputs and viz output channel video through Ulimatte 400 keyers — one per camera — to composite the talent on top of the virtual set graphics.

Other vi[z]rt Clients

United States: Tribe Studios; Grace and Wild Productions

Europe: The UK's Granada Television Internet group; Bluetrix; and several other traditional media entities experimenting with streaming.

For more information, visit: www.company.com

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