Low Cost Virtual Animation Effects for Sports Broadcasting: Mosaics, Flags and Big-Sized Flags

Abstract

Big TV production companies often use expensive commercial products able to apply augmented reality to sport broadcasts. In this paper, we present a method for simulating several animation effects performed by the audience in the stands, such as mosaics, little flags and a big-sized flags. The main goal is to develop a very simple method, using low-cost graphics hardware, affordable for a not so big company, while achieving visual realism and computational efficiency. We define a common geometry model for different effects, a construction process for each effect, and a common animation process by means of a shader. The construction process instantiates the geometry model to the characteristics of a particular effect. The animation process is entirely coded in GLSL for real-time rendering. The movement is simulated by means of a vertex displacement technique, which uses a noise function to modify the shape of geometry.