CASE STUDY

Disguise powers
Karate Combat 35’s
record-breaking
hybrid broadcast
Karate Combat is the only combat sports league to oﬀer
a proprietary blend of live-action, full-contact karateﬁghts taking place in immersive CGI environments
powered by Unreal Engine software. The KarateCombat 35 competition, held in August on the backlot
at Universal Studios in Orlando, shattered viewershipand social media records for the organisation.

www.disguise.one

SummaryIn this case study you will see how Atlanta-based
Meptik, a Disguise company specialised inreimagined hybrid, virtual and metaverse
experiences, used the Disguise xR workﬂow todeliver an event for a league which continues to
set records with every new competition.
As a mixed martial art, Karate Combat includes a combination ofstand-up striking, judo throws and ground-ﬁghting. With global
Olympic medalists and national champions as participants, Karate
Combat’s trademark CGI-based look borrows from the best ofvideo games, blockbuster moviemaking and traditional sports.
Attended by a sold-out live audience, Karate Combat is streamed
live across all the major social platforms, with the full card then
immediately re-posted as video-on-demand in a democratised
digital distribution strategy. The event also airs live to millions ofhouseholds in more than 160 countries on such ﬂagship regional
networks as Eurosport and Globo (Brazil) plus numerous otherterrestrial broadcasters and OTT platforms.
For Karate Combat 35, the Meptik team were tasked withintegrating xR and Unreal Engine VFX workﬂows into a live
broadcast sports environment to create a futuristic dystopian Paris
environment. In-camera workﬂows were used via an LED videowall
background while set extensions broke the boundaries of thephysical set for a fully encompassing visual experience for viewers
at homeImage credits: Lorem ipsum

The challenge
The project’s timeline had a quick turnaround: less than one
month from Meptik signing on to delivery and just one week todeploy the xR solution on set. The Meptik team, needing arobust and reliable xR workﬂow, opted to use two Disguise VX
2 and one VX 4 media servers plus a pair of RX II real-timerendering nodes.
Their biggest technical challenge proved to be calibrating theLED videowall for a variable lens due to the breathing of thelens at longer focal lengths. The precise nature of virtual set
extension made even the smallest oﬀset noticeable. They also
faced issues with frame delay, which were resolved bymanually calibrating the delay on two axes.

Image credits: Lorem ipsum

The solution
The virtual set featured a rough cobblestone road leading to thestill iconic Eiﬀel Tower. The actual ﬁghting ring was right in thecentre of the road with physical props adding to the illusion of
being on a dingy side street. The seamless blending of the real
and the virtual immersed the studio audience to almost 270º.
The Disguise xR workﬂow helped the team overcome theirchallenges by providing an integrated solution that could bequickly deployed. Meptik’s Senior xR Specialist, David Vargas,
believes that xR was a great choice as it allowed for ﬂuid
creativity for everyone involved: The team were able to makequick, live changes to the project that were immediately
iterated while virtual set extension provided the perfect solution
to build out the world they had envisioned.

Image credits: Lorem ipsum

MEPTIK“Working with the Disguise xR
workﬂow was fantastic -- theability to quickly set up andtroubleshoot issues wasimperative to the success ofthe project. Disguise provided
an integrated ecosystem thatallowed for quick and reliable
deployment, perfect for theturnaround required.”Alex SmithJunior xR Specialist

The results
The energy of the live crowd and the physical set combinedwith the unlimited possibilities of a virtual environment createda best-of-both-worlds setting for a unique event, reaching asold-out live audience and an additional 2.1 million viewers
watching on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat
and Karate.com
With extended reality, each event could take place in a diﬀerent
time period in history or in a ﬁctitious future location – a freshand diﬀerent creative approach that makes Karate Combat
stand out from other live and virtual shows.

Image credits: Lorem ipsum

Conclusion
According to Smith, Karate Combat 35 exempliﬁed thepossibilities of the symbiotic relationship between a physicallive set and a virtual environment, bridging the best of bothworlds.

2.1

23%

26%

160

million livestream
viewersincrease in live
event viewershipincrease in social
impressions

countries wherethe broadcast wasaired live

“This approach is beneﬁcial for live events that might lack thestudio space or the capabilities to furnish a complete physicalenvironment while allowing for more dynamic camera moves
and a more exciting production,” says Smith.

Image credits: Lorem ipsum

Disguise equipment used

VX 4

VX 2

RX II

Optimised for playing up to fourtimes uncompressed 4K60 andlossless 10-bit video, the VX 4powers content of the highest
quality at any scale.

Building on the strength of theVX 4, the VX 2 gives you thefreedom to build out yourtechnical capacity depending on
the size of your production.

RX II is our dedicated system forhosting content from real-timerender engines, unlocking 40%
more graphics processing power
than its predecessor.

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In Partnership withSenior xR Specialist: David Vargas
Junior xR Specialist: Alex Smith
Senior Systems Designer: Ed Lunsford
Junior System Technician: Jess Wong
Technical Producer: Jamie Mellars

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