Al-Nahar TV to install Hybrid camera heads for sports and more
Egypt-baed entertainment and news provider Al-Nahar TV has purchased Hybrid 3D virtual studio solutions and robotic cameras, to be installed in two studios used for daily live sports, news and entertainment programming for its Al-Nahar Entertainment and Al-Nahar Sports channels.
Each studio will employ the same configuration of Hybrid products: two Silver II PTZF robotic camera heads, a Cobalt control panel with Mercury control software, and one camera in the ceiling for beauty shots using Hybrid’s Neon trackless virtual set solution.
“We’ve been extremely thorough in our review of the available virtual studio systems,” says Amr El-Kahky, the head of Al-Nahar TV Network. “We feel confident that the Hybrid virtual studio solutions and robotic camera support will meet our needs. We’re looking forward to all of the design and operational benefits they’ll provide our network.”
The sale agreement was finalized at the 2013 CABSAT Show. Systems Design and Technology KAR— two systems integration firms and Hybrid technology partners based in Egypt—facilitated the sale and will manage the installation. Al-Nahar TV, which operates a total of five satellite channels in Arabic and English, is currently designing the virtual sets.
The trackless virtual set Neon is based upon the same core engine as Hybrid’s higher-end Krypton system, but it allows for virtual camera movements in real-time from fixed cameras on set. It requires only a PC and software and operates with a simple drag-and-drop process. It creates the illusion of sophisticated camera moves within a virtual set without use of a tracking system, chroma keyer or other accessories – enabling Neon to be a fully portable virtual studio system. Neon can import 3D scenes and models from all common modeling software, such as 3D Max, Maya, Softimage.
Al-Nahar TV also ordered two Hybrid Silver II robotic pan/tilt/zoom/focus (PTZF) camera control systems for tracking virtual studio camera moves, such as zooms from wide to close-up. A fixed camera will be mounted at ceiling height for dramatic camera tracking effects during live shows, such as camera moves that start from the studio entry and zooming in toward the talent.