Avid Platform Powers Immersive Viewer Experience for EURO 2016

Avid® (Nasdaq: AVID) today announced that numerous broadcasters embraced Avid Everywhere™ to enhance their coverage of Europe’s biggest football tournament, Euro 2016. By relying on Avid Studio Suite powered by the Avid MediaCentral™ Platform, Avid customers created eye-catching content for millions of viewers across the globe, helping to boost fan engagement and viewer ratings.

Several broadcasters relied on Avid’s sports graphics solutions for coverage  of Euro 2016—the quadrennial men’s football championship that took place from June 10 to July 10 in France—including TF1 and M6 in France; CCTV in China, Match TV in Russia; VTV in Vietnam; and RTP in Portugal. By using Avid’s unique sports graphics solutions, these broadcasters were able to achieve stunning reality moments of this world-wide event.

National French TV channels TF1 and M6 both used Avid graphics solutions for augmented reality applications in their studios. With a wide range of Studio Suite solutions, including Maestro, 3DPlay and PowerWall, M6 showcased its cutting-edge on-air graphics capabilities during the tournament when presenter Nathalie Renoux in M6’s Paris studio appeared to walk inside a TV to speak to fellow presenter Carine Galli on the sidelines in Nice. M6 also used Avid solutions to create a hologram effect, “zapping” interviewees from a studio in the stadium to the M6 studio in Paris.

CCTV5, the sports channel of China’s national broadcaster CCTV, relied on Studio Suite solutions to power its Euro 2016 live broadcasts and special programs. Avid partner, EarthMountain Technology, provided a team of graphic designers and engineers to CCTV5 for graphic design, production and technical support services during the tournament.

Using Avid’s graphics and augmented reality solutions, CCTV5 made a highly detailed model of the Arc de Triomphe appear in the studio for the opening game, enabling viewers to “walk through” the Paris landmark. For the special program Giant Feasts, CCTV5 was able to make four off-site presenters appear as though they were in the studio.

CCTV5 also used Digital Sand Table—a professional football application developed by EarthMountain and based on Avid’s augmented reality technology—for pre-match predictions and analysis before each daily live broadcast. All 32 participating teams and their players were built into the application in advance. CCTV5’s presenters were able to discuss the game to be played that day using different colors and effects on a touchscreen embedded on the anchors’ desk. When presenters dragged the players’ names across the screen, viewers saw 3D models of the players running across the screen.

“Throughout the world, sports broadcasters relied on Avid’s game changing Studio Suite solutions for one of the world’s biggest football tournaments, boosting fan engagement and ratings through compelling content,” said Jeff Rosica, senior vice president, chief sales & marketing officer, Avid. “It’s exciting to see the stunning effects that customers like M6 and CCTV5 create with Avid graphics and augmented reality solutions, wowing millions of viewers across the globe—and sometimes even the presenters themselves.”