Pixotope to showcase new extended reality tool at IBC

Pixotope will debut its XR Edition for extended reality productions at IBC in Amsterdam on 9-12 September.

XR Edition, which has been developed in response to the growing trend of LED volume use in virtual production and the need for hardware optimisation, includes a range of tools to simplify setup and operation by reducing the technical complexities and associated resource costs of XR workflows and environments.

Beyond workflow simplification and innovation, XR Edition makes virtual production more sustainable by optimising hardware usage. This is achieved via multi-wall support, which features one input and three outputs to render one virtual scene, enabling users to drive several large LED volumes from a single server/workstation; and in-software camera switching to synchronise AR elements and LED walls without a hardware-based switcher.

Pixotope is aiming to remove a major barrier to the adoption of virtual production adoption by addressing challenges that have historically made it difficult to leverage XR outside major productions. Its purpose-built tools address common operator problems, while removing the need for proprietary hardware, in effect bringing users an off-the-shelf XR solution.

A colour matching tool enables users to quickly and easily match the colours of in-camera visual effects and those appearing through the LED volume for seamless AR/XR workflows and effects. This is particularly useful when AR is used alongside XR for set extension, or when adding virtual elements to a scene, as colour reproduction is affected by both the camera and LED volume, making it difficult to accurately colour match.

By combining procedural geometry creation tools and tracking technology, users will be provided with an automated method for converting CAD and geometry representations of LED volumes to virtual LED projection surfaces. These will be further refined using computer vision to ensure perfect registrations for XR and AR set extension, which will significantly reduce setup time.

Comprehensive health and diagnostics monitoring enables users to quickly troubleshoot any issues that might arise and, in the case of a system failure, seamlessly failover to a back-up machine.

Pixotope chief revenue officer David Dowling said: “In the past, XR productions have been limited to select teams with highly specialised technical resources. With the XR Edition, Pixotope has developed an easy-to-use solution that enables wider adoption with tools specifically designed to address pain points such as colour matching; LED meshing and alignment; camera switching; hardware consolidation; and system resilience. As a result, XR is no longer limited to a small group of specialists. It’s a viable option for productions of all sizes.”

For more information about XR Edition, visit the Pixotope stand (7.Do8) at the RAI in Amsterdam.