Innovative video technology to call for new astronaut candidates

[European Space Agency]

Video: 00:04:10

In the midst of COVID restrictions rendering travel close to impossible, ESA had to produce an ambitious video to call for applications to the 2021 astronaut selection.

The challenge of this project was to show locations as varied as a spaceship, a city, a canyon, a forest, ESA's satellite testing or control centres, Europe's space port in Kourou, or even the Moon. 
To create the illusion of immersing the protagonists into these various environments, ESA teamed up with Duck Factory to use a "Virtual Set": a new technology, that had not  yet been used to the full extend of its potential.

A "Virtual Set" is a regular stage on which previously created 3D images are projected. Thanks to a tracker equipped camera, the background follows the movement of the protagonists, eliminating the usual parallax issues. 

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