Start Technik audioborn and PRG Lab create VR experience for the archives of the...

audioborn and PRG Lab create VR experience for the archives of the Montreux Jazz Festival

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audioborn_PRG_Lab_Montreux_Jazz_Festival_webThe Swiss lakeside town of Montreux will once again host its famous Jazz festival. Over the past 50 years, the festival has seen some of the greatest acts in music history, including Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Prince and David Bowie, among others.

For this year’s festival, audioborn has developed a project allowing the festival to be captured through 360° / 3D video and sound recording technology for the first time. This content can later be rendered and used in virtual reality applications, permitting users to experience the selected acts in real-life quality.

Commissioned by the Metamedia Center of the University École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) together with the Montreux Jazz Festival, project lead and official technology partner audioborn is partnering with PRG Lab for the video expertise. audioborn is responsible for capturing and reproducing all concerts in 3D audio with its software real-time processor called Auratorium. The software system is designed for 3D audio and virtual reality applications. It uses a ray-tracing approach to calculate physically correct and 100% natural sound.

PRG Lab, a division of PRG XL Video, based in Germany, develops customized interactive and leading software solutions for the event and exhibition market. PRG Lab will be supporting the project with a 360° / 3D Nokia OZO camera system to capture a 360° spherical video of chosen acts at the festival.
The cooperation between audioborn and PRG Lab will be one of the first commercial uses of the OZO system in a production of this size. In addition to the standard multitrack recordings, audioborn will capture the sound in the form of a 3D recording, using the Sennheiser VR microphone prototype, and be able to reproduce highly realistic 3D audio for the recordings.

“The methods we use to capture sound – which is the most important part of Montreux’s Jazz Festival – will be pioneering for 3D audio sound recording as well as reproduction. Using our 3D software audio processor Auratorium, we will be able to achieve the highest possible degree of immersion for the jazz archive.” says Dr. Dirk Schröder, CEO of audioborn.
“We will have to determine how each instrument and sound will react depending on the position of the camera in the room. When sound and video are combined for VR playback, the virtual user should feel as if he or she is actually at the festival in person. Our goal is a total immersive playback experience in sound and vision. We are proud to work closely together with PRG Lab as our professional partner for 3D video capturing.”

“This project is outstanding in its dimensions. We are going to record a huge amount of data during the 16 festival days with the OZO system. This will be the most demanding challenge we have to face during the project.” commented Michael Ochs of PRG Lab. “This is very exciting, state-of-the-art technology being used at the Montreux Jazz Festival. It is the first project of its kind and we can’t draw from previous experiences. ”

One of the challenges of this project is the large amount of data collected through 3D recording. A concert of three hours would create approximately 2 TB of compressed data.
Uncompressed it multiplies later in postproduction by factor 12.

PRG Lab is continuously expanding its 3D capabilities and will be using OZO production computers as well as the audioborn Auratorium software to create immersive experiences. The audio mixes can be rendered for multichannel 3D audio systems or binaural headphone reproduction.

About audioborn

audioborn is a specialist in 3D audio and room acoustics simulation based in Cologne, Germany. The team builds advanced solutions around its real-time 3D audio processor, Auratorium, which enables the reproduction of highly realistic and immersive 3D sound for Film, Music, Cinematic VR and Virtual Reality Applications based on physics-based ray tracing.

The company was founded by the leading experts in the field of room acoustics simulation and 3D audio reproduction. Over 12 years of research and development went into Auratorium which is one of the most advanced 3D audio processor available.

In collaboration with the Metamedia Center of EPFL, in the course of the ambitious Montreux Jazz Digital Project, audioborn is responsible for all 3D audio recordings as well as realistic reproductions of the Montreux Jazz archive, which has been given UNESCO heritage status. It comprises over 5.000 hours of video and audio recordings including big names such as Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Deep Purple, Johnny Cash, David Bowie, Santana, Muse, Radiohead and Prince.

www.audioborn.com

About PRG Lab

PRG Lab is a unit of PRG XL Video (PRG AG), a subsidiary of Production Resource Group, L.L.C. (PRG). The unit was established in 2016 and is based in Düsseldorf, Germany. PRG Lab develops customized software solutions for the event and exhibition market; for trade show and exhibition stands; as well as events where complex interactive applications and innovations are required. With comprehensive hardware and software knowledge gained from extensive event industry experience, PRG Lab offers interactive and pioneering solutions from a single source – from conception through to programming and implementation. PRG Lab’s area of expertise also includes the research and development of software solutions and technologies for PRG globally.

www.prg.com

About Montreux Jazz Festival

For 50 years the Montreux Jazz Festival has been a witness to and a visionary actor in the evolution of the technologies of the music industry. Whether for sound quality, collection formats, concert recording, or backline, the Festival has always sought to offer optimal conditions for artists and the public in our concert halls.

www.montreuxjazz.com

Montreux Jazz Digital Project

In 2007, Lausanne’s Swiss Federal Institute of Technology(EPFL) and the Claude Nobs Foundation, curator of the archives presided by Thierry Amsallem, joined forces and skills to begin a unique project to digitize the audiovisual tapes in high definition. It’s a big task, the aim of which is to preserve and add value to the archives, and make the most is them for the benefit of future generations. A further aim is to make the archives accessible to as many people as possible while respecting copyrights, through the development of interactive diffusion technologies, not only to celebrate this artistic heritage, but also to render it available for educational, cultural and scientific purposes.

http://metamedia.epfl.ch/montreux_jazz_digital_project/home

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