IDS Chooses Brainstorm Multimedia’s eStudio for Wimbledon Tennis Graphics

Information & Display Systems (IDS) of Jacksonville, FL, a provider of information and display technology for the sports industry, has created a high definition 3D graphics package with Brainstorm Multimedia’s “eStudio” 3D render engine for business partner IBM, the Official Information Technology Supplier and Consultant to the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), home to The Championships, Wimbledon.

The Wimbledon finals this year will be screened live in high definition 3D. The tailor-made TV graphics service for the BBC and international TV to provide on-screen information to hundreds of millions of homes around the world have been created natively by IDS in Brainstorm Multimedia’s eStudio – a real-time graphics software package for broadcasters and production companies.

Assisted by UNREEL, Brainstorm’s North American partner, IDS created a design specific for tennis based on a joint review with IBM of a new BBC Graphics design and subsequently produced a Wimbledon Graphics Reference Guide that was used to build the Brainstorm graphics package. In January this year IDS conducted parallel testing at the Australian Open, and a full technology test was conducted by the AELTC in late April 2011.The Brainstorm graphics package incorporates the full 3D design and animations used by the BBC but is adjusted to reflect the look, feel and colours of Wimbledon.

IBM contracts with IDS to work with them to provide a range of technology-related services including the provision of broadcast graphics as well as systems, software and staff to produce the graphics from multiple courts, live, throughout the fortnight of The Championships.

According to IDS President Rallis Pappas, “The Brainstorm eStudio engine is controlled by IDS TV interface and control applications. The systems are configured as ‘dual pipe or channel’ systems with two real-time outputs going live to air. The graphics have a good deal of movement and rotation and also utilise flares, reflection maps, etc. all of which were created natively in Brainstorm and do not use any movie files, or components built in other packages.”

IDS created a design specific for tennis based on a joint review with IBM of a new BBC Graphics design and subsequently produced a Wimbledon Graphics Reference Guide that was used to build the Brainstorm graphics package. IDS was assisted by UNREEL, Brainstorm’s North American partner. In January this year IDS conducted parallel testing at the Australian Open, and a full technology test conducted by the AELTC in late April 2011.

Brainstorm CEO Ricardo Montesa said, “We are delighted to again be working with IDS. Our graphics are often seen throughout the world in virtual sets, election graphics, weather, news, sports, and corporate presentations, but there are few simultaneously seen by the millions worldwide that will enjoy Wimbledon.”

UNREEL President and CEO Paul Lacombe said, “Our aim is to always provide the fastest real-time broadcast-quality graphics to generate reflections, complex textures, and shadows and we can only achieve this with Brainstorm’s eStudio engine.”

eStudio provides unlimited design capabilities for real-time broadcast graphics and drives Brainstorm’s complete product range. The eStudio graphics engine remains the fastest available on the market today because it is highly optimised for multithreaded programmes running on computer systems with multiple CPUs. eStudio is the only graphics system that enables design and real-time playout of virtual studios as well as an unlimited range of on-air graphics.