The Numbers PLAYTECH - LEAVESDEN STUDIOS


Eight top 30 UK tennis players (two in the top 10) have been motion-captured for Playtech’s Virtual Sports


16 individual basketball players have been rendered and motion- captured


1,500 markers were used on the mo-cap suits to capture body movements


10km worth of journeys were made on the scissor-lifts at Leavesden Studios to capture the footage


Two pairs of size 17 feet pounded the rubber floor of the basketball court


40 hours of tennis were captured for the simulation


It costs £9 per second to clean-up a motion-captured clip


The ball in tennis cannot be motion-captured. Travelling at 140mph it’s too quick for the cameras to capture and attempts to place a GPS tracker in the ball have failed as ball strikes of up to 8G render the tracker useless. The ball is added into the game in post production.


15 seconds of football takes one PC 15 hours to render


the future, which also create added realism for the players.”


Shooting at Leavesden Studios wasn’t simply a PR exercise aimed at drawing the press and clients to an impressive demonstration, though this was clearly a secondary benefit, rather it was a practical measure as the Warner Bros. facility is the only sound-stage in the UK capable of recreating a full- size tennis and basketball court. “To capture the game of tennis you need huge volume,” explained Mr. Norris. “We had to create the largest motion capture space ever to accommodate the players for both tennis and basketball, while in the process setting a World Record for the most people captured at once - 19 players - which had never been done before. And whilst the picture is so important in recreating the sport, sound also plays a crucial role, with the facilities at Leavesden some of the best in the world.”


Playtech’s multi-million investment in its Virtual Sports offering doesn’t end with the impressive


“Our USP is the creation of


sports based on simulation, whether that’s horse-racing data on the horses, jockeys and courses, or the individual


player styles of basketball and tennis players; each enables


the player to study form across all elements of the sport.


capturing of player movements, sounds and skins at Leavesden Studios, but will continue for several months as the 3D artists tweak and hone the footage to build its cutting-edge product. The investment in HD motion-capture will also continue to be mined as a resource far into the future, as the footage will remain relevant even as


new 3D technology changes the depiction of the sport on the screen. “Our investment in motion- capture is a re-useable resource,” underlined Mr. Norris. “We are currently expanding our existing products with the footage we have captured at Leavesden Studios as part of a constant evolutionary process.


“Our USP is the creation of sports based on simulation, whether that’s horse-racing data on the horses, jockeys and courses, or the individual player styles of basketball and tennis players; each enables the player to study form across all elements of the sport. Only simulation can do this and offer, as a result, more betting options. Our job is to provide players with betting opportunities on their favourite sports 24/7, creating seamless events in the heart of the sphere of play, on the device of their choice,” added Mr. Norris. “We will be the first to offer in-betting as part of our Virtual Sports product, and we can offer 90 second highlights of matches or present entire 90 minute matches. The options are limitless.”


5 1


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68