Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1505114
28 cgw j u ly • a u g u s t • s e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 3 W hat if you could reduce both setup and production time? Save time in post production? Give your talent real con- tent to perform to instead of a fatiguing pure green screen environment? Make your crew comfortable with high-end workflows without the need for additional hardware or losing pro- cessing and pixel capacity? What if you could work in a zero-laten- cy environment with multi-camera capability for recording and live broadcast? GhostFrame's Virtual Content Multiplication makes the impossible possible. GhostFrame is based on a patented technology that enables LED display panels to show multiple hidden images simultaneously. Al- though invisible to the naked eye, these can be seen by other imag- ing devices to create multiple "realities" in a single video wall. These hidden realities can then be used to power applications such as virtual production, extended reality, camera tracking, green screen overlay, multi-language broadcast, and other innovative pro- duction techniques in feature production, live broadcast, e-sports, and more. The GhostFrame firmware is implemented in the LED processor and wall, and enables precision alignment of video subframes (or slices) with the camera shutter. By controlling the LED panels' light- wave output at the subframe level, GhostFrame enables cameras to synchronize frame rate and shutter angle and capture the desired image such that the sub-frame is only visible to that camera and not visible to the naked eye. You choose which element is visible to the human eye and which is visible only to the camera. The ability to show a slice of an image and then immediately delete it by showing the inverse of that image (the negative of the subframe) is key to what GhostFrame has solved and other frame remapping systems have not. The lightwave emitted from the wall in sync with the camera shutter creates multiple frames that do not flicker, bleed, or exhibit any visual artifacts. This proven process opens several ground-breaking applications. The broadest use case is for broadcasters wanting to create com- pelling, visually rich studio shows by having more than one live cam- era available. Imagine a broadcast studio where you can provide the presenter with their autocue, instruction markers, an AR object, and visible eye contact with a reporter. At the same time, the viewers at home see only the intended environment image. This year Fox Sports won an Emmy for its production of NFL Sun- day using GhostFrame. At Fox, the technical director or vision mixer can see the different 'realities' of four cameras at a time and decide which of the dynamic images they wish to cut into the live transmis- sion. Zac Fields, senior vice president of graphic technology and inte- gration at Fox Sports, commented, "One of the key technologies we are using is GhostFrame. It allows multiple cameras to see their own image on the LED wall. GhostFrame is sort of like the secret sauce to SHOWCASE VIRTUAL CONTENT MULTIPLICATION UNLOCKING VIRTUAL PRODUCTION CREATIVITY WHILE HALVING COSTS. BY PETER ANGELL