Brainstorm, UWIN Provided Hyper-Realistic AR For PyeongChang Winter Games Opening Ceremony

Brainstorm and UWIN were involved in the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang. The show included advanced, hyper-realistic 4K augmented reality in the ceremony, where Brainstorm’s InfinitySet was used to seamlessly combine Brainstorm’s eStudio render engine graphics features with hyper-realistic content coming from Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. This is achieved by using the Combined Render Engine feature of InfinitySet, which combines both render engines to deliver the best of both worlds.

The Opening Ceremony displayed live hyper-realistic effects, produced and broadcasted in 4K, including a dome made of stars which first appeared on the floor and then went up to create a dome, virtual fireworks and other AR elements perfectly synchronized and seamlessly matched with the real footage, converting the live performance into a stunning piece of art available for the audience worldwide.

The setup included two Ncam-tracked cameras and a SpyderCam, which allowed for long-travelling tracked shots flying all around and above PyeongChang’s Olympic Stadium. InfinitySet used this live footage to include the AR elements showing seamless integration between the real and synthetic footage, creating an eye-catching result which was enjoyed all over the world.

“The experience has been extremely positive, as we were able to create a complex, visually overwhelming live event which was watched all over the world with the enhanced AR imagery. We are delighted to have created a visually stunning material overcoming all the issues of such complex setup,” Mr. Kim, chief director for AR at CJ E&M says.