AR visuals from Vizrt and AE Live (AE) bring impressive Euro 2020 coverage to ITV Sport

Vizrt, the leading provider of software-defined visual storytelling solutions (#SDVS) for media creators, today announced ITV Sport, one of the U.K.’s top national broadcasters, is using Vizrt XR (Extended Reality) Set solution for the Augmented Reality graphics in partnership with AE Live (AE) for UEFA European Championship 2020.

AE worked together with ITV to create a unique set of core graphics and augmented reality (AR) graphics that blend with their physical and virtual studio and enhance coverage of the 2020 Euros. The AR graphics which are rendered using Vizrt’s Viz Engine and controlled using the Vizrt XR Set solution, include player profiles, group table, country banners, with hero banners and floor maps. The workflow is designed to give producers an easy tool set to customize the graphics for each game as well as visualize the latest stats and data.

Paul McNamara Senior Director and executive producer at ITV, said, “The AR graphics added greatly to the studio, providing us with complete editorial flexibility at all times.”

Mark Crawley, Project Manager at AE, said, “For the long-awaited Euros 2020, the production and graphics needed to engage with our audience across the nation. In addition to the core presentation and highlights graphics, augmented reality content such as banners, player profiles, tables, lineups, etc. needed to be produced. With Vizrt’s technology, ITV Sport has flexibility to use these graphics in any environment, providing unique visual storytelling capabilities for the championships.”

The Euros 2020 were postponed last year due to COVID-19, and with fans eagerly awaiting the start of the Championship it was important that the visuals were impressive from the start. In a recently broadcasted game between Scotland and England, ITV saw over 20 million viewers tune in.

Jonathan Roberts, SVP, Global Sports and Virtual Advertising of Vizrt, said, “Sports championships making their return to the global stage is the kind of “big moment” creative challenge that we are always looking for. Using our solution, ITV Sport’s production team is able to showcase unique graphics from hero and country banners to floor maps with an unparalleled ease of use – allowing ITV Sport to produce captivating stories for all viewers.”

For a variety of indoor and outdoor productions, Vizrt XR Set’s augmented reality, virtual set and video wall tools enhance viewer experience by working within one workflow. This is one of Vizrt’s five software Solution Suites made available exclusively through Flexible Access, allowing customers to adapt and scale their production software up and down to meet rapidly changing production needs. BCS Bureau