Euro 2024: How (and why) BBC Sport opted for a mixed reality presentation studio for its tournament coverage

One of two UK rights holders, BBC Sport is based in Berlin for the duration of Euro 2024.

The corporation’s live and highlights coverage is helmed from two mixed reality presentation studio areas installed in a BMS (Broadcast Media Solutions) temporary studio complex opposite the Brandenburg Gate: one on the roof terrace (pictured below) and one inside (pictured above).

Both make use of extended reality (XR), augmented reality (AR) and LED screens to provide a museum-themed look and feel that compliments the local architecture, and engaging on-screen visuals to showcase match data and statistics for viewers.

BBC Sport design director John Murphy spoke to SVG Europe during the group stages about the origins of the idea, how the studios came to fruition, and how it has played out so far.

“The beauty of this whole setup, for the talent, and for editorial, is that they get the amazing location by the Brandenburg Gate but with the full suite of AR and editorial graphics that they get in a permanent studio.”

“We’ve been working with virtual studio production for a long time now,” he says, discussing the back story.

“We used LED screens at the Russia World Cup in 2018 and it was tracked but it wasn’t extended reality or anything like that. We have been on the fringes of going with LED XR for a couple of years but there are various factors to consider and this just felt the perfect project for it.”

“Equally,” he continues, “The space wasn’t really set up for green screen in the studios and once we knew we could make the LED concept work than there was no requirement for green screen anyway.”

Following a discussion with ROE Visual, the developer of LED screen technology, the team came to an agreement that would allow them to use LED screens.

Design

Once it was confirmed that the team had two presentation spaces, allowing for both good and bad weather, and dual match coverage when two games are playing simultaneously, thoughts quickly turned to the look and feel of the sets.

“We’re at the Brandenburg Gate,” says Murphy. “There’s lots of history. So we started thinking about adopting a virtual Euros museum based on the architecture of the Brandenburg Gate. We did some research and a visit to the Berlin Neues Museum [New Museum], this building suffered severe damage in the Second World War. What they’ve done there is kept a lot of the old features, including the pillars that are similar to the Brandenburg Gate and then rebuilt it with modern architecture. That was then taken as a reference but also we then had to consider the pinball design that forms our promo campaign and titles. The blending of the bright, colourful pinball graphics we have created and the more traditional museum feel works because it brings colour and vibrant reflections into the VR spaces.”

“In the interior studio, we created a museum look using extended reality elements in the LED walls. We then masked that off with virtual reality for the full 360 degree effect. We put AR not only in front of the presenter and pundits but also inside the screens as well. This includes data-driven graphics, Player Idents and Team Formations.

“But the terrace is where it gets really interesting. We thought it’d be cool to link the two studios together with the architectural theme. As the terrace is on top, that is when we considered using an LED floor.”

LED Floor

The graphics displayed on the LED floor provide TV viewers with a glimpse of the architecture within the inside studio that is, in virtual terms, directly below it.

“During the daytime, it just looks like a glass floor,” acknowledges Murphy. “You don’t get to see what’s underneath it as much. But at night time is where it really pops. The beauty of this whole setup, for the talent, and for editorial, is that they get the amazing location by the Gate but with the full suite of AR and editorial graphics that they get in a permanent studio. And the presenter and the pundits can sit there and be looking in the screens and actually see what’s being shown on television. And it’s all linked together creatively.”

3D designers Paul Kavanagh and Peakash Patel modelled the virtual world based on the initial concept. AE Live then implemented and delivered the virtual extensions in Unreal Engine and continue to manage and playout, all the graphics. [You will be able to read more about AE Live’s role in Euro 2024 in a forthcoming article.]

“The terrace is where it gets really interesting. We thought it’d be cool to link the two studios together with the architectural theme. As the terrace is on top, that is when we considered using an LED floor.”

Jens Weber completed the physical set design and construction while Faber Audiovisuals from the Netherlands did the set installation, supplied the screens, and are providing on-site support. Two optical camera tracking systems from stYpe, called Follower and RedSpy, are being used.

Everything is working well two weeks into the tournament, according to Murphy, but it took quite a bit of testing to ensure that the team successfully got this far.

“Our tech team, led by OB engineering manager Andy Underhill have done a great job in bringing it all together.

“We did a test week at Production Park in Wakefield. This is a venue where touring music acts rehearse their stage shows. ROE have an office there. We did a test setup with them and it worked really well. I was amazed at how robust the LED floors are. They are weatherproof, and any concerns we might have had were brushed aside.”

Camera Spin

One of the signature camera moves being used during the BBC’s output is a camera spin on a jib from the presenter to a live video wall, through the extended reality museum that houses avatars for the team line-ups (pictured above).

“Editorially, it’s similar to something we did in Russia,” says Murphy. “Obviously, technology-wise things have moved on since then which enables the VR extensions to look more realistic. UEFA provide us with a 4K 180-degree stadium feed, which gives us the ability to take the viewer into the match action which you can go in really close as you move in with the camera.

How it is used depends on how long the team have got available before kick off or before the second half starts.

“For [some] games, we have come off a VT and gone straight to the reverse camera to do the team line-ups and then cut to the players getting off the coach. So they didn’t do the actual turn. But then, on other programmes, we’ve gone from presenter Gary Lineker and done the turn, or we’ve gone straight to the team line-ups and done the turn back to the presenter. There is lots of flexibility.”

The directors also have the option to cut to full-frame graphical team formations that can be added to the LED screens on the left and right of the set.

“We’ve even mixed it up with a bit of both on some programmes. It’s given production a box of tools and how they want to use is up to them. There are lots of options,” he says.

Augmented Reality

AR is used throughout, but in a considered way.

In the interior studio, foreground AR is Player Profile banners, Group Tables and Statistics. These can also be used in the left and right LED screens. The same foreground AR is available on the terrace too.

“The big thing about the terrace is that less is more,” explains Murphy. “We realised this early on. If you’re up there, and you’ve got the beautiful Brandenburg Gate lit you’ve got the lovely floor underneath, you’ve the team badge floor tiles that sit in the squares in front of the presenters, then a bit of AR is nice. But we don’t clutter it because we don’t need to. The visual speaks for themselves.”

While everything has gone very smoothly, there has been the odd bump in the road.

“We’ve been on this LED journey for a while and we knew what initially it was going to look like on paper. But until you actually start getting that camera on it, in proper rehearsal time, with talent and everything else you’ve got that trepidation.

In the first couple of days of Euro 2024, when the sun finally came out, the LED panels on the terrace started to overheat.

“The Faber team who are monitoring the LED tiles flagged that they were overheating. Luckily, we were not on air as the panels have an automatic switch off if they get to a certain temperature. To solve it, because the whole floor structure was already built, the BMS team on-site had to take some panels out, drill some holes underneath and install mini fans. We were in the tournament proper at that stage. That was scary at first but is all fine now.”

“I have become a bit of an expert in air conditioning and fan systems as a result,” he jokes.

Giving his overall verdict on the BBC’s presentation areas, Murphy concludes: “We’ve been on this LED journey for a while and we knew what initially it was going to look like on paper. But until you actually start getting that camera on it, in proper rehearsal time, with talent and everything else you’ve got that trepidation. Luckily, fingers crossed, it’s gone really well so far without any major hiccups. It has been a great project with a great team to be involved with.”

BBC Sport’s coverage of Euro 2024 continues on BBC1, BBC2 and BBC iPlayer until (and including) the Final on 14 July.