China Media Group introduces extended reality with Ross in special New Year program

The Chinese network CCTV, together with China Media Group (CMG), used extended reality (RX) for the first time in a New Year's Eve special using technology from Ross Video.

While Chinese communities traditionally look forward to their New Year festivities in February, the Chinese network CCTV continues to celebrate the Western New Year with a high-profile show featuring variety, music and dance acts. One of the highlights of the New Year's Eve gala Set Sail in 2021 was Peacock, a musical show designed for the visually impaired that included songs, stories and narrations, all set in five different virtual worlds.

El espectáculo fue innovador tanto para el público como para los productores, China Media Group (CMG), ya que era la primera vez que se utilizaba la realidad extendida (RX) en un programa de televisión chino. En este caso, el plató constaba de un gran videowall LED con un suelo de LEDs delante, de modo que los gráficos podían representarse y mostrarse tanto detrás como debajo de los actores e invitados.

Además, se incluyeron elementos de realidad aumentada alrededor de los actores en el plató, y el tracking de cámara garantizaba que todos los gráficos se movieran y parecieran naturales a medida que las cámaras giraban y se inclinaban. La tecnología de Ross Video logró un espectáculo visualmente único.

“This was an incredibly complex project, and we began the planning process several months before filming,” he notes. Feng, technical engineer at CMG. “The planning really involved everyone: the director had to know the scope and limits of the virtual scene to better design the scene and shooting angle, the LED screen team had to precisely align the video signal with the pixel points on the screen to ensure that the XR scene was not distorted or affected by perspective, the camera operators had to know the subject position and depth of the “XR had to make sure that the scenes were perfectly connected to the edge of the LED screens based on the camera positions to achieve the best visual effect.”

For the production of this program, CMG opted for the graphics rendering solution Voyager the Ross video.

"We couldn't be happier with the results. This has been one of the most technically difficult shows I've ever worked on, but everyone has been amazed by the final visual effects, which are absolutely stunning. (the most watched television program in the world) and we hope to offer our audiences even more amazing images thanks to our great collaboration with Ross,” concludes Feng.