Mo-Sys Engineering has revealed that its StarTracker technology was a key component of the virtual studio production for BBC Sport’s coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The virtual production was hosted by dock10 at MediaCityUK, with UK-based sports and events graphics specialist MOOV responsible for all of the virtual graphics production. The virtual reality workflow used five Mo-Sys StarTracker camera tracking systems, along with remote camera heads.
“We are so proud of the central role that StarTracker played in this landmark production of the events from Tokyo, and it was a pleasure to work with MOOV and BBC Sport once again,” said Michael Geissler, CEO of Mo-Sys Engineering and TVBEurope 2021 Watch List member. “The StarTracker system was vital in helping MOOV pivot from its pre-pandemic plans to locating the studio in the UK and in maintaining a smooth integration between CGI and live elements. In fact, it was so seamless that viewers complained because they thought the studio was actually on location in Tokyo instead of in Manchester!”
MOOV began work on implementing the concepts and designs before the pandemic, with the initial plan have the studio on location. However, with the arrival of the pandemic, the virtual studio design and workflow had to pivot to re-locate at dock10’s Manchester facility.
“We own and have used Mo-Sys technology for a few years now, and StarTracker is our go-to system because it works, and so ticks every box for us,” explained Nevil Appleton, director and co-founder of MOOV. “We pick best-in-class technology for the types of projects that we work on and thanks to StarTracker, camera tracking is the thing we have to worry about least; that is invaluable for us and our clients. The BBC Sport team was already familiar with the power and reliability of StarTracker from Match of the Day and its coverage of Wimbledon, so they knew what it could do and trusted that the system would perform as we needed it to.”
