SIMPLESET™ IS THE NEW INTELLIGENT WAY TO BUILD AN ANIMATED VIRTUAL VIDEO SET WITHOUT COMPLEX SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE, PROVIDING FAST PROTOTYPING AND REALISTIC ENVIRONMENTS FOR BROADCAST NEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT
Lynden, WA -- (PRnetwire) -- November 12, 2001 -- SimpleSet.com today announced the launch of their new product, SimpleSet(tm), which allows video producers to download rich "virtual sets" for use in broadcast news and entertainment. The technology is compatible with existing non-linear editing suites, desktop editing tools, and/or compositing systems, without further investment in proprietary systems. SimpleSet provides enormous time and cost savings to any production environment.
Real scenery and "hard sets" take tremendous time and resources, and involve high costs (30-60% of the production budget) for construction, set-up, striking and storage. On the other hand, high technology "real time" virtual sets that use ATM and dedicated high-end computers are very expensive.
SimpleSet provides another option: an innovate "virtual set" that can be quickly downloaded from the Internet at a very low cost, and with a high quality standard.
With SimpleSet, you can work normally with your TV production environment and talent, allowing actors/anchors to use regular movement and rhythm. Your anchor can walk around the chroma key blue stage freely in front of your objects (such as a desk) or behind them. The last layer of this virtual set is a thematic crawling wall which you can animate with looping.
"Today, to build a conventional set with the same quality as a digital set would require far more in both time and cost," said Fernanda Chamlian, Art Director ESPN - Brazil. "SimpleSet is an ideal solution for fast set-up and high quality."
With the SimpleSet system the anchor(s) must be shot in a chroma key set with the camera steady. You download the product that consists of a virtual set (with 4 camera angles), thematic crawling walls and 3D objects. You import them to your NLE or compositing system, giving movement to the crawling wall (choosing speed, focus, color, etc.), apply 3D objects (they can be duplicated, flipped, animated and the anchor can walk behind it) and you can even choose the style of a table to be used in your virtual set.
"It's extremely cost effective when compared to both 'real-time' virtual sets generated on dedicated equipment, and compared to building hard sets than can run from thousands to over a million dollars," concludes company President and founder Fernando Waisberg. "You can use your non-linear editing suite or compositing system without further investment in proprietary systems."
FEATURES OF SIMPLESET
1. Even though the camera must be static, the anchor/actor has total freedom of movement to walk back and forth. With the freedom of movement of the anchor, the movement of crawling walls, animated objects and the four camera angles a viewer becomes comfortable with the fixed camera.
2. You can customize SimpleSet yourself, controlling parameters like focus, color, saturation, speed of crawling wall, etc. This allows you to change the lens depth and all environment scenery.
3. Quick download so you can get SimpleSet instantaneously -- it comes in small files (single frames). You give movement to a frozen image.
4. The innovative crawling walls can be changed according to the program theme and also create the illusion that your scenery is surrounded by the crawling wall.
5. SimpleSet accelerates the process of moving from the idea to the realization. This benefits projects like corporate videos, special news presentations, training programs, and many other video productions like actor demo or audition tapes.
Screen-resolution example: http://www.simpleset.com/images/vip.jpg
For video producers who need customized sets, a SimpleSet can be created using customer-supplied logo and images. The customer can choose a set style, crawling walls, and objects that compliment the producer's materials. Custom SimpleSet pricing starts as low as US$199.00 and HDTV versions are available.
JOURNALIST NOTES
Company president Fernando Waisberg is available for interviews on the subjects of virtual set technology in news and entertainment broadcasting, and general issues related to professional video production. (Interviews by e-mail preferred.)
A high-resolution 300dpi JPEG image of an example SimpleSet suitable for print reproduction can be found here:
http://www.simpleset.com/press/simpleset.jpg
Image should be attributed "Copr. (C) 2001 SimpleSet.com"
ABOUT THE COMPANY
SimpleSet.com was founded by Fernando Waisberg, who has worked in the broadcast industry as editor, producer and director for over 30 years. He is also the president of a major post-production house in Brazil best known for an educational project named Telecurso 2000 with almost 1,500 TV programs broadcasting to an audience of 35 million people. The SimpleSet product was developed to meet the needs of his video clientele seeking a cost-effective way to build and utilize virtual set technology, more affordably. http://www.SimpleSet.com
CONTACT INFO:
Fernando Waisberg
President, SimpleSet.com
PH: 1-866-626-2290
fwaisberg@simpleset.com
# # #
View the original news release in text-only format
