THE 148TH OPEN ROYAL PORTRUSH WITH SKY SPORTS
At the 148th Open Championship, MRMC in partnership with Dimension launched Polymotion Stage.
LESS TIME WITH TALENT, MORE TIME CREATING
The 148th Open saw the premiere of the unique 4k capture studio environment for the creation of Volumetric video, stills and avatars. Polymotion Stage is available as a Stage Dome or as a Stage Truck solution that can be transported globally to wherever the talent is (such as film sets and sports arenas) enabling the quick and efficient volumetric capture of talent and artists on location.
FIRST USE AT THE 148TH OPEN
‘Sky Scope’ by Sky, created digital replicas of the likes of Rory McIlroy, John Rahm and Dustin Johnson in the Sky Sports Open Zone Studio, giving the Sky Sports team the ability to track, pause and analyse every aspect of their swing. Featuring an incredible use of volumetric capture technology, it allowed pundits to analyse golf like never before to the delight of their viewers at home.
‘Sky Scope’ by Sky, created digital replicas of the likes of Rory McIlroy, John Rahm and Dustin Johnson in the Sky Sports Open Zone Studio, giving the Sky Sports team the ability to track, pause and analyse every aspect of their swing. Featuring an incredible use of volumetric capture technology, it allowed pundits to analyse golf like never before to the delight of their viewers at home.
THE CAPTURE STAGE DOME
The Dome was set up over 5 days on the course itself so players could easily access the Stage. Players such as Matt Fitzpatrick, Francesco Molinari and Henrick Stenson visited Sky’s mobile capture facility (Polymotion Stage) during practice session downtime to have special filming sessions. Inside these soundproofed capture stages, 106 video cameras capture everything in the performance space at up to 4k resolution, making assets flexible for use across immersive and traditional media formats. The assets were captured and were transmitted to broadcast less than 48 hours later. The footage was used to create the lifelike Volumetric videos which were then transported to Sky’s Open Zone studio, allowing the Sky Sports team to analyse, track and pause the players movements in 360 degrees.
The Dome was set up over 5 days on the course itself so players could easily access the Stage. Players such as Matt Fitzpatrick, Francesco Molinari and Henrick Stenson visited Sky’s mobile capture facility (Polymotion Stage) during practice session downtime to have special filming sessions. Inside these soundproofed capture stages, 106 video cameras capture everything in the performance space at up to 4k resolution, making assets flexible for use across immersive and traditional media formats. The assets were captured and were transmitted to broadcast less than 48 hours later. The footage was used to create the lifelike Volumetric videos which were then transported to Sky’s Open Zone studio, allowing the Sky Sports team to analyse, track and pause the players movements in 360 degrees.
WORLD FIRST SWING ANALYSIS
Sky Sports Golf coverage was presented by Nick Dougherty where he was able to analyse the swing of the world’s top golfers from angles that were previously not possible. Nick was able to expertly dissect the swing from every conceivable angle including the never seen before face-on view. The Volumetric video asset allowed the camera to transition around the golfer so Nick could give his unique assessment of each golfer’s
technique and what makes each swing successful. The assets were also of interest to the players with many planning to use them for training and continuous improvement.
“THE TECHNOLOGY THAT MRMC HAVE PROVIDED WILL ALLOW US TO ANALYSE THE GOLF SWINGS OF THE WORLD’S BEST PLAYERS IN A WAY THAT HASN’T BEEN POSSIBLE BEFORE.”
PARTNERSHIP WITH DIMENSION STUDIO
Since launching in 2017 as a Microsoft Mixed Reality capture partner, London-based volumetric capture studio Dimension has seen demand from across entertainment, media and sport. Their illustrious portfolio includes filming Anthony Joshua for Sky Sports, capturing cast for the new War of the Worlds immersive theatre production, and more recently creating Madonna’s holograms for the 2019 Billboard Music Awards live broadcast. Polymotion Stage is raising the bar for entertainment, with huge opportunities for a number of industries, pushing the frontiers of image capture, mobile technology and immersive viewing.
A TRIPLE AWARD WINNING, INNOVATIVE GAME CHANGER
In 2020 Polymotion Stage won 3 prestigious Industry awards for the work that was done on the Sky Scope project, alongside our partner Dimension Studio, Sky and Sky Creative Agency. We picked up the top prize for the Technical Innovation in a Sports Broadcast category in the Broadcast Tech Awards, SVG award for Innovation in A Sports Broadcast and Polymotion Stage won Product of the Year at the NABshow awards. The judges were incredibly impressed with the technical innovation of the product as well as the ability to create digital replicas of the players at the 148th Open Golf Championship, which gave the Sky Sports team the ability to track, pause and analyze every aspect of the golfers swing!