Pixera media servers from AV Stumpfl were used to created a virtual production spectacle involving the Audi SQ8 Sportback e-tron, at Vienna’s City Hall Square, in Austria. It can now be revealed that Pixera media servers were at the heart of the presentations for the 29th season of Wiener Eistraum (“Vienna Ice Dream”), which took place over two months, ending in March.
The highlight was a transparent LED screen behind which the silhouette of the Audi SQ8 Sportback e-tron awaited its grand entrance, orchestrated by the “brain” of the installation, the Pixera media server. Pixera’s Unreal Engine, used in video game productions and increasingly in Hollywood films, was the main technology behind the virtual production, enabling targeted changes depending on lighting conditions and times of day.
Tom Erlinger, team leader at media production company Pansound, which orchestrated the production, said: “With Audi-Animatics, we created a new, three-dimensional world of surprises. This multimedia artwork utilised the advanced Unreal Engine to create stunning, dynamic scenes that spanned three levels.”
To control all three levels of the virtual production – transparent screens, car, and LED wall – Pansound relied on Pixera to manage all content. “It was precisely timed and distributed to the LED levels and played back according to cue commands,” explained Erlinger.
There was a lot of technology behind the visual spectacle with the end result being a visual experience that embedded the real vehicle into a virtual world, adding a new dimension to the open-air skating rink.
Bernhard Loos, head of marketing and sales, Audi Austria, at Porsche Holding, explained: “The Audi SQ8 Sportback e-tron was at the centre of this staging, where the virtual and real worlds merged in a unique way.”
Horst Damoser, head of global business development for AV Stumpfl, concluded: “The installation at Vienna’s City Hall Square impressively demonstrated how technology and creativity come together to explore new dimensions of presentation.”
