The use of virtual TV studios allows broadcasters to project that they have larger facilities, more staff, and many appealing locations while reducing production costs and setup time.

A virtual television studio is composed of a virtual set (video recording area with a chroma single color background) and a background video or image, which allows a simulated room or graphic background to be merged with other video objects (such as people) to produce media programs (such as news segments).

Broadcasters can even buy or rent a complete virtual studio set ("studio in a box") which contains all the necessary equipment to place actors or reporters in the center of an amazing and interesting location. Simple virtual set templates can be purchased for as little as $100 for existing templates while complete turn-key virtual studios, complete with backdrops, can be less than $20,000.

Virtual TV studios may use video keying (color background replacement) control systems that allow for the selection, processing and merging (keying) of multiple media signals to produce a combined television program.

Virtual Sets

Virtual sets are simulated rooms or graphic backgrounds that can be merged with other video objects (such as people) to produce media programs that appear to be at different locations. Virtual sets have evolved from low quality backgrounds to virtual reality sets that allow the scene to be filmed in perspective at any camera angle. Virtual sets may use computer created images (virtual sets) or photos (real sets), or they may be created with multiple dimensions (virtual reality).

Virtual Real Sets

Virtual real sets are photos of actual locations that can be merged with other video objects (such as people) to produce media programs that appear to be at different locations. A real set may be a series of pictures from a location such as a city, landmark, or building. 

Multicamera Virtual Sets

Virtual sets may be provided as a set of images that have multiple viewpoints. These multicamera virtual sets allow for the camera shot angles to change, adding realisim to the production of the virtual set.

Virtual Reality Sets

Virtual reality sets are graphics representations of three dimensional settings that can be combined with other video components (such as people and accessories), which can be positioned at different locations within the virtual realty set. Some systems allow the linking of camera position information to allow the set viewpoint to change as the camera moves throughout the set.

Virtual Set Designs

Virtual set design is the selection and positioning of objects within a simulated studio set. Virtual set designs may be selected from existing templates or they may be customized for specific needs or themes. 

Virtual Set Templates

Virtual set templates are existing graphic images, photos, or 3 dimensional sets that can be immediately used or customized as virtual studio sets. A broadcaster may have available virtual set templates in several categories which may include:

News

Presentation

Corporate

Entertainment

Religious

Sports

directors. Themes, brands, and desired icons are discussed, allowing artists to create pencil sketches, and camera layouts. Virtual set designs may involve the use of several people including set designers, graphic artists, and systems integrators. 

Virtual Set Video and Image Embedding

Set designs may be designed to allow for the insertion of additional graphic elements and motion graphics.

Graphic Elements

Graphic elements are images or visual effects that may also be merged (composited) into a virtual set. Graphic elements such as computer screens, icons, and other objects may be inserted behind, alongside, or in front of a person in the set.

Motion Graphics

Motion graphics are images that move or change over time. Motion graphics can be overlaid or integrated into the virtual set design. An example of motion graphics is the insertion of an animated logo into a virtual set.

Virtual Set Formats

Virtual set formats are media structures and visual components that are used to represent the graphic images of the set. Visual set formats can range from static graphic images to vector based 3 dimensional models of the set. The formats need to be compatible with the production and post production systems. Virtual set solutions may be available in different formats including 4k for film productions, high definition, 24p, NTSC, PAL, DV, and even mobile phones formats with different aspect ratios.

Motion Tracking

Motion tracking is the ability of a device (such as a camera) to identify, store, or use its position to control the perspective of the shoot. Camera motion tracking information may be used to adjust the perspective of the virtual set.

The virtual set information system receives information from the camera's pan, tilt, zoom, and focus sensors, which are mounted on the camera. This allows the software to track the movement of people and manipulates the 3D background model in real time.

Important Video Source Characteristics

When video sources are combined into a single virtual set scene, the objects should appear seamless and blend together in the final production even if it means reducing the quality of some of the images. 

Contrast and Brightness

All of the images and video sources should have similar contrast and brightness levels.

Lighting

The intensity and direction of lighting for all the objects should be the same.

Color Balance

The mix of primary colors and their levels should match. This is very important if skin tones are displayed.

Sharpness

Some images or video components in a virtual set production may have different sharpness levels. It may be necessary to soften image sources or components so they appear to come from the same production process. The noise or grain patterns of the image components should match.

Perspectives

The relative perspective of the objects in the virtual set must match. For static sets, multicamera viewpoints can allow for the use of different perspectives.