On November 20, Shocap’s XR concert event with singer Jill Barber marries live music, greenscreens, mocap cameras, Unreal Engine, and proprietary technology to transport audiences back 90 years.
Shocap Entertainment, a leading entertainment and cross reality production company, will reveal its virtual restoration of Vancouver’s historic Palomar Supper Club as they present Jill Barber and her Phantom Jazz Band, live-streamed on Friday, November 20th. The performance, an immersive musical experience that combines virtual characters and XR technology, is designed to transport the audience back in time through the doors of a long-since demolished live music venue. The final show, a unique take on a live-streamed concert, imitates the intimacy of the 1930’s Jazz club by combining mixed reality with real-life performance, creating a band of performing virtual characters.
Formed as a partnership by Animatrik and Lifelike & Believable, Shocap produces live cross-reality entertainment using real-time visual effects technology and on-stage human performance to create unique shared experiences simultaneously performed in front of live audiences, online audiences connecting from VR headsets, gaming PCs, and video streaming services.
The performance is built using greenscreens, motion-capture suits, and 50 motion-capture cameras at Animatrik’s state-of-the-art Burnaby studio, with jazz singer Jill Barber performing in the virtual space. Shocap’s propriety tool, RingMaster, integrates the different technologies, with the final images generated using Unreal Engine. Optitrack, Ncam Technologies, and Nvidia were also essential tools in the pipeline. The accompanying ghost band of CG musicians is projected in real-time, with CG slow dancers appearing on the venue floor.
According to Athomas Goldberg, Shocap executive director, “All of the big famous jazz acts of the day came through there. You’ve got Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday, The Ink Spots, just a long list of the who’s-who. We’ve really intended to give you the feel of what a club was with a lot of references and homages to the Palomar.”
Jazz singer Jill Barber added, “This is a completely new experience for me as a singer. Working with the talented Shocap and Animatrik team has transformed the way I see music performance; my fans can enjoy my songs from home and with friends during a unique live immersive experience. It's incredible!"
"A live augmented reality jazz show with Jill Barber on the Animatrik stage,” said Brett Ineson, executive director at Shocap. “Great music combined with motion-capture, Unreal Engine, camera tracking... everything we are passionate about all at once. This is incredibly fun for the Shocap team."
Date: Friday, November 20th, 2020
Time: 6pm PST/ 9pm EST
Price: $16 per ticket including s/c
Tickets for the live virtual performance are on sale now at www.jillbarber.com.
Source: Shocap Entertainment
