NEP has worked alongside Talpa Entertainment Productions (TEP) on creating a new production workflow for its latest talent show, AVASTARS.
The production used technology from both NEP The Netherlands and NEP Virtual Studios divisions Halon Entertainment and Lux Machina Consulting.
The show, which premieres on SBS6 in the Netherlands today, brings the real and virtual world together through the combination of live motion capture technology and augmented reality.
NEP developed the workflow solution to fit within the production process of an entertainment programme.
AVASTARS’ producers wanted to develop a live-on-tape workflow that enabled live motion capture and augmented reality to be combined in a regular TV studio.
The show sees famous singers and dancers merged into a unique ‘Avastar’ by wearing a special suit and helmet. Their movements and facial expressions are captured by more than 30 cameras, with NEP’s technical solutions providing a real-time translation into a complete, unique Avastar that can be seen in augmented reality on stage in the studio.
“To bring this all together live-on-tape, we have worked closely with fellow NEP companies from the United States and England, including NEP Virtual Studios divisions Halon Entertainment and Lux Machina Consulting,” explains Arjan van Westerloo, managing director, NEP The Netherlands.
“Their extensive experience in the film and game industry has helped us with the refinement of the technique for a lifelike result. It has been a unique process where everything is custom-made from start to finish. We are very grateful to our people who have worked so persistently on this challenging project and we are proud that we succeeded.”
John de Mol, Talpa Entertainment Productions, added: “It really has been an intensive collaboration between NEP and TEP, with TEP involved creatively and NEP technically from the start, and where the technology and especially the skilled people have made this format possible.
“What started as a wild idea has grown into a spectacular entertainment programme with its own unique production process. We have not only developed a new format, but also a new technique. This allows us to develop multiple formats with this technology.”
