On Wednesday May 10th we had a business visit to Media Pro in Barcelona. I was very excited going to this business trip because Media Pro is the best broadcasting station in Spain and possibly Europe. This specific branch in Barcelona covers everything soccer related. They were even the main provider for the World Cup and the Olympics.
We first started the tour off inside of a studio set up. Inside of this setup they had a giant greenscreen wall to project anything they wanted to their audience. The most interesting part is they create their backgrounds using Unreal Engine 5. If you are unfamiliar or have not heard of Unreal Engine 5, it’s a program designed to make video games and three-dimensional characters. With the latest software of Unreal Engine, they can create backgrounds that looks almost identical as if you were to see it and film it in the real world. I would have never thought of using a gaming engine to replace filming B-roll.
They also use this same concept as a hologram feature when interviewing soccer players after a game. They get their camera and bring it to the stadium and the interviewer is actually in the studio doing a live interview with the player. It is somewhat similar to what newsrooms do in the United States, but the interviewer doesn’t have to leave the studio. So far they are the only known production studio in the world to use Unreal Engine and the hologram technique.