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PHILIP GALLER: Thanks for joining us today.
We want to talk about the League of Legends World Champions
2020.
Riot Games, Possible Productions, and Lux Machina
joined forces to create a groundbreaking XR
solution for the League of Legends championship.
For those of you who don't know League of Legends,
it's an esports game, it's one of the most popular esports
games in the world, it's the most popular esports
game in China, and it is one of the most viewed television
events worldwide, viewed by hundreds
of millions of people over the course of 30 or 40 days.
Specifically, today we're talking
about the lead-in to World Champions-- so the play-ins,
the semifinals, quarters.
Normally, it's a touring show, but this year it
was, because of the pandemic, bound to an arena in Shanghai.
So we're going to talk about some of the XR technology
and what we did on the day to make it a really cool event.
So with me today, I've got Wyatt Bartel from Lux Machina
and I've got Roy Chung from Possible.
So why don't you guys introduce yourselves?
Why don't we start with you, Wyatt?
Why don't you tell me a little bit
about who you are but also what you did on the show
and what your role was?
WYATT BARTEL: I'm Wyatt Bartel.
I'm the Executive Vice President of Production
here at Lux Machina, and for this show,
I was the Virtual Production Producer and Supervisor.
So I was in charge of all the XR technology
that our companies brought to bear on this show.
ROY CHUNG: I'm Roy Chung.
I'm the Executive Producer at Possible.
We are a creative partner with Riot
in developing the overall creative look and feel
of their global esports events, including Worlds 2020.
PHILIP GALLER: And I'm Phil Galler.
I'm one of the co-founders of Lux Machina
and creative partners with Roy and Wyatt and the Riot gang
and really excited to be moderating
this roundtable today.
Look, this was a really big, challenging XR event.
Roy, can you tell me a little bit
about why XR was chosen for this show?
I know there were a lot of, obviously,
COVID-related challenges and touring challenges.
I'd love to hear a little bit more about why XR was chosen.
ROY CHUNG: XR was chosen for this event
specifically because of the challenges
that we faced in 2020, both with COVID-19 restricting us
to an audience-less event for the most part,
and also because, traditionally, the Worlds tournament is
a touring event that goes throughout several cities
in the host region.
And this year we wanted to find a way
that, despite the restrictions caused by COVID,
we could still create an atmosphere of a changing
tournament environment and sort of maintain
the momentum and excitement that builds up
towards the Worlds final event.
PHILIP GALLER: Great.
So you actually used different environments
for every phase of the game-- quarter,
semifinals-- and that allowed you to represent,
as if it was almost like a touring show,
going to different locations.
Is that the idea?
ROY CHUNG: The Worlds 2020 tournament
was based on a new game mechanic that
was introduced with the different elemental dragons
in the game.
So for the different environments in the tournament,
we actually based each one on one of the elements.
And this both created a touch point for players
to recognize that, hey, here are some elements
of the game brought to life, and also, it
allowed the tournament, even though it wasn't touring,
to have the sensation of being in a changing environment.
And it wasn't just a static, one familiar look the whole time.
PHILIP GALLER: One of the other complexities with this show
is that it's a live broadcast.
I think there's been a lot of XR productions
that are done, certainly that we've worked on collectively,
that are things that maybe only have really fast turnaround,
two or three days, they go to post, and then they're out.
This is very different.
This was a live broadcast, and it
was on air, as I understand it, for 240 hours, right?
So I'd love to hear from both of you,
but I'll start with you, Wyatt.
What are some of the things that you
need to manage techinically, first and foremost, when you're
dealing with a live broadcast?
I know you had multiple cameras you were tracking
and actually had multiple cameras projected
on the wall at one point.
Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
WYATT BARTEL: Yeah, one of the biggest things
to bring to bear on a show like this
is stability, making sure that you bring the right products,
the right team.
Everything is tested.
PHILIP GALLER: And there were some technical hurdles
you had to overcome, right?
One was, as I understand, having multiple cameras present
on screen at once, so multiple frustums.
And then you had to be able to cut between those cameras.
And I know you also had some interactive lighting elements
that you drove.
Can you tell me a little bit about those two
things specifically?
WYATT BARTEL: We had an array of ARRI SkyPanels
overhead that we were sending DMX data to, driven
from a scene capture in Unreal.
It's really trying to drive the concept of the XR environment
being an inclusive blending of the digital
and the real worlds.
And then there were also, in a remote station, the director
and the technical director.
So they were a couple of miles away.
So they sent us signals over fiber
underneath the ground that came to us,
and we did our best to time them down to the frame to make sure
that, when they wanted to call another camera that wasn't
on screen at the exact same time as some of the other ones, that
turned on at the appropriate time, everything was frame synced,
and that for the most part,
it was a seamless execution for them.
ROY CHUNG: The idea with the design of the environments
was for them to be fully interactive
and to really feature elements that both players
and the audience at home would recognize from the game.
And really, it brings the whole environment to life
and, I think, gives the viewers at home something special,
to really see their favorite pro players actually
share the stage with some of the characters from the game.
PHILIP GALLER: Look, we've talked a lot about XR.
And I'd love to hear from each of you what you think XR is.
I know for me, XR is this idea that we
are using cameras and tricking the camera
into thinking that it's somewhere that it's not.
Roy, why don't you go first?
ROY CHUNG: XR, for us, really represents
truly an immersive experience.
So it's about fooling the camera,
sure, but I think it's more about giving--
whether it's the audience at home, actors on stage,
pro players on stage--
the feeling that they are actually,
truly living inside the environment
that they are playing against.
WYATT BARTEL: For me, XR is the use
of LED walls to create windows into the world.
And then, on top of that, where the LEDs are not,
putting AR graphics on top to continue
to extend that virtual window to infinity, more or less.
PHILIP GALLER: So I want to thank you
both for coming today and having this conversation with us.
Before we wrap up, is there anything each of you
want to say about your experience on the show?
ROY CHUNG: I mean, this was obviously a lot of work.
And we couldn't have done it without a tremendous amount
of trust, both between our two companies
and with Riot themselves.
And it really we pushed the technology
a lot farther than we'd seen up to that point.
And despite the challenges of having to figure that out
in real time, I think that I wouldn't
have traded the experience, just because of how brilliant
all the crew were and how collaborative the entire
experience was.
WYATT BARTEL: I'll echo that sentiment.
Absolutely.
These projects require an immense amount of trust,
and that was definitely something
that grew for us between Possible and Riot.
As well as the payoff for this show,
not only in the first stage of the play-ins,
where you saw the first world and everything turned
on and worked--
that was a really great feeling.
And then the technology and the art
just kept getting better and better and better
as we moved through the quarters and the semi-finals.
And that run of success is something that is very rare,
I think, in this industry-- to push boundaries and make
it look good all at the same time
and be successful for so many hours on air.
PHILIP GALLER: The reality is still to this day,
this is one of the most technologically advanced,
creatively in-depth, and harmonious projects
between three entities doing a live broadcast.
And I think, I truly believe, it will stand the test of time
as a pinnacle of the XR in real time workflow solutions
for in-camera projects.
So I'm really excited to see where everyone goes next.
And I want to thank Roy, thank you for coming.
And Wyatt, thanks for coming.
And of course, the Riot team for allowing us to do this.
So Thanks.
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