with Unreal Engine
Fox Sports will use a new virtual studio next year for its Nascar broadcasts. The studio is made with Unreal Engine 4 and enables the presenters to show 3D models of circuits and race cars, for example.

Fox Sports has put a demonstration video of the new studio online and Engadget has published an extensive article about the creation. Virtual studio sets are not new, but were often used in the past for cost savings, says the TV channel against the American website. With the new studio created in the engine of Epic Games, more should be possible than in a real studio. According to Fox Sports, realism and versatility are the main reasons for switching to the Unreal Engine for the virtual studio.

The American sports channel will start using the studio next year for its Nascar broadcasts, starting with the Daytona 500 that will take place mid-February. Fox Sports uses Zero Density software to integrate the Unreal Engine into its broadcast workflow. The actual physical studio consists of a space of about 15 by 14 meters that is fully equipped with green screens . 3D tracking and optical tracking are used to activate certain events on the set. The lighting automatically follows the presenters.

It is not the first time Unreal Engine has been used for a virtual studio. Epic Games tells Engadget that TV channels have been using the engine for about 18 months. A program for children to learn the French language on the Canadian channel TFO was the first to use the engine. Also the American The Weather Channel has been using the engine since May of this year. The weather station mixes 3D images with a physical decor . According to Epic Games, film studios also use them to test certain scenes before they are produced on a full scale.

Update, 15:02: As tweakers comment in the comments, Ziggo already uses a virtual studio made with the Unreal Engine for its F1 broadcasts. Epic published it in a blog at the beginning of this year.

Fox Sports uses Unreal Engine for Nascar studioFox Sports uses Unreal Engine for Nascar studioFox Sports uses Unreal Engine for Nascar studio