A local firm brought football’s biggest stars to life during last night’s Super Bowl.
Ross Video partnered with broadcaster NBC Sports on “volumetric augmented reality,” a process that would see 3D renderings of key players appear in graphics during the game. Six players from the competing New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, including Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, received full-body scans earlier in the week, which were then superimposed onto the broadcast by Ross Creative Services’ team on-site.
The AR technology is powered by Ross’s Frontier product, developed in collaboration with the Future Group. Frontier runs the same graphics engine that powers some of today’s most advanced video games and works in tandem with XPression, another Ross Video product, which renders elements in the foreground of animations.
The result sees 3D infographics slide onto the field or creates the effect of falling snow on Christmas Day broadcasts. NBC Sports has been using the graphics system throughout the season with two-dimensional player renders.
Ross Video has been to the Super Bowl nearly as often as Brady, but the local firm always seems to walk away with a victory.
The Ottawa firm’s trucks have been on-site at the Super Bowl for numerous years now, producing coverage on and off the field during football’s biggest weekend.
Photos and notes courtesy of Sports Video Group.
