Al Jazeera Excels in Creative Production
with MRMC’s StudioBot XL Robotic Arm
MEETING AMBITIOUS REQUIREMENTS
To celebrate its 25th anniversary Al Jazeera wanted to continue in its objective to push the boundaries in storytelling. When they came to build a new studio infrastructure that integrates technology at the cutting edge of broadcast, Al Jazeera chose MRMC’s StudioBot XL robotic arm to replace its manual dolly/crane-based workflow.
The Technical team at Al Jazeera, based out of Doha Qatar, was seeking a solution that can address the issues they were having with a crane’s limited range of motion, and manual operability, which inevitably led to inconsistent shots.
Situated within the U-shaped Set-3 of the flagship Studio-5 of Al Jazeera Channel (Arabic), the StudioBot XL brings flexibility to the production, shooting instantaneous, pre-programmed shots via powerful software tools.
MRMC’s StudioBot XL proved to be the perfect solution. MRMC has a rich history in developing camera motion technology that has become the de facto for the film and commercial industries. The StudioBot XL is the first of its kind to be deployed at Al Jazeera. With a large operating envelope that offers superior visual creativity to traditional dolly systems and high payload capacity with the ability to carry full-size teleprompters, the XL allows the team to develop vivid shots that are aired in practically every show.
Take Content Capture To New Levels
Having gone through the operation & technical requirements of the project, the following factors were taken into consideration:
• Range of motion
• Programmability/repeatability
• Integration with automation system
• Integration with our existing VR system
• Ease of use & integration with the studio robotic system
• Safety feature (collision avoidance)
Having gone through the operation & technical requirements of the project, the following factors were taken into consideration:
• Range of motion
• Programmability/repeatability
• Integration with automation system
• Integration with our existing VR system
• Ease of use & integration with the studio robotic system
• Safety feature (collision avoidance)
DESIGNED FOR COMPACT STUDIO ENVIRONMENTS
The precisely smooth 9-axis-based movement is described by the Al Jazeera team as breath-taking while being intuitive and useful enough for the operators to adapt seamlessly to the system.
One of the key advantages of MRMC’s robotic arm solutions is that they can be operated by a manual user giving complete creative freedom or they can be controlled by a studio automation system, in the case of Al Jazeera it is Mosart.
This provides the best of both worlds for Al Jazeera as they have the ability to create stunning moves for their marquee shows but they also have impressive camera movement at other times when manual operators aren’t available by using Mosart to recall the presets and in the time of Covid this has been particularly beneficial.
The precisely smooth 9-axis-based movement is described by the Al Jazeera team as breath-taking while being intuitive and useful enough for the operators to adapt seamlessly to the system.
One of the key advantages of MRMC’s robotic arm solutions is that they can be operated by a manual user giving complete creative freedom or they can be controlled by a studio automation system, in the case of Al Jazeera it is Mosart.
This provides the best of both worlds for Al Jazeera as they have the ability to create stunning moves for their marquee shows but they also have impressive camera movement at other times when manual operators aren’t available by using Mosart to recall the presets and in the time of Covid this has been particularly beneficial.
The Technology team’s market research confirmed the superior quality of MRMC’s services to Al Jazeera, which demonstrated how pioneering they are in their line of work. We are looking forward to seeing more products from MRMC that will enrich and unearth new possibilities in news production.
Al Jazeera
Integration into VR and AR Productions
Within the impressive set, the team also leverages the StudioBot’s ability to provide tracking data that is used to produce eye-catching AR/VR shows and segments.
The tracking data that is being passed to the GFX systems is accurate enough to produce hassle-free tales, stimulating the crew to use MRMC as an integral part of their everyday operations.
The impressive space is equipped with several video walls and is adjacent to the newsroom. Set-3 allows Al Jazeera to unleash the potential for a much more participatory story-telling production and brings the audience closer to the genuine experience.