Mobile studio

Abstract

A mobile studio for producing video and audio content includes a vehicle having a body mounted on a chassis. The body includes a studio chamber enclosure formed by a floor, a ceiling, spaced opposite outer side walls and spaced outer front and rear walls, and the floor includes a stage area. The mobile studio further includes at least one LED lighting assembly located in the studio chamber enclosure that is suitable for providing sufficient illumination for image capture such that a captured image is suitable for projection as a Pepper's Ghost image, at least one camera to capture an image of a subject on the stage area and generate the captured image, and a communications device to transmit the captured image.

1 . A mobile studio for producing video and audio content, comprising:
 a vehicle comprising a body mounted on a chassis, said body having a studio chamber enclosure formed by a floor, a ceiling, spaced opposite outer side walls and spaced outer front and rear walls, said floor comprising a stage area;   a stage riser positioned on the stage area;   a non-reflecting light absorbing material suitable for a background, the non-reflecting light absorbing material located on an inside surface of the outer rear wall and on an inside surface of both side walls down stage of the stage riser;   at least one camera to capture an image of a subject on the stage riser and generate a captured image;   a lighting arrangement including light emitting diode (LED) lighting assemblies flush mounted to the walls of the studio chamber enclosure and suitable for providing sufficient illumination for image capture such that the captured image is suitable for projection as a Pepper's Ghost image, the lighting arrangement including one or more first lights for illuminating a front of the subject facing towards the camera, wherein the intensity and brightness or an angle of the first lights are set to minimize projection of light or light spill from the one or more first lights onto the rear wall, one or more second lights for illuminating the rear and/or side of the subject facing away from the camera, the one or more second lights operable to sharpen an outline of the subject, and one or more third lights for illuminating the lower part of the subject; and   a communications device to transmit the captured image,   wherein the camera is stationary, the subject is a moving subject and the lighting arrangement is arranged to produce shadows in the subject's clothing and cause shadows to move across the subject as the subject moves under the lighting arrangement; and   wherein a total brightness of the one or more first lights, as measured at the subject, is less than or approximately the same as a total brightness of the one or more second lights.   
     
     
         2 . The mobile studio of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one camera is a high definition (HD) camera. 
     
     
         3 . The mobile studio of  claim 1 , wherein each of the LED lighting assemblies comprises an LED assembly having a low profile that allows the LED assembly to be unobtrusively mounted to the ceiling and/or the spaced opposite outer side walls and/or the spaced outer front and rear walls of the studio chamber enclosure. 
     
     
         4 . The mobile studio of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one device for compressing and/or encoding the captured image which comprises a codec connected to an output of the at least one camera. 
     
     
         5 . The mobile studio of  claim 1 , wherein the communications device comprises a high speed network connection suitable for carrying broadcast quality streaming video signals. 
     
     
         6 . The mobile studio of  claim 5 , wherein the communications device comprises a microwave radio wave transmitter or a satellite transmitter. 
     
     
         7 . The mobile studio of  claim 6 , wherein the microwave radio transmitter is adapted to transmit a radio signal to a microwave base station using a unidirectional or omni-directional antenna. 
     
     
         8 . The mobile studio of  claim 6 , wherein the microwave radio wave transmitter has a signal latency of less than 200 ms or less than 100 ms. 
     
     
         9 . The mobile studio of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one video monitor to display an image and at least one audio recording device to record and broadcast voice and sound. 
     
     
         10 . The mobile studio of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one video monitor comprises a greater than 20 inch HD monitor. 
     
     
         11 . The mobile studio of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one camera has a camera shooting height that is inline with an eyeline height of the subject on the stage area. 
     
     
         12 . A method of producing video and audio content from a mobile studio, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing a vehicle comprising a body mounted on a chassis, said body having a studio chamber enclosure formed by a floor, a ceiling, spaced opposite outer side walls and spaced outer front and rear walls, said floor of the studio chamber enclosure comprising a stage area and a stage riser positioned on the stage area, the studio chamber enclosure including a non-reflecting light absorbing material suitable for a background, the non-reflecting light absorbing material located on an inside surface of the outer rear wall, and at least one camera to capture an image of a subject on the stage riser and generate a captured image;   lighting the studio chamber enclosure with a lighting arrangement including light emitting diode (LED) lighting assemblies flush mounted to the walls of the studio chamber enclosure to provide sufficient illumination for image capture such that a captured image is suitable for projection as a Pepper's Ghost image, the lighting arrangement including one or more first lights for illuminating a front of the subject facing towards the camera, wherein the intensity and brightness or an angle of the first lights are set to minimize projection of light or light spill from the one or more first lights onto the rear wall, one or more semi-opaque diffusion panels located immediately in front of the one or more first lights, one or more second lights for illuminating the rear and/or side of the subject facing away from the camera, the one or more second lights operable to sharpen an outline of the subject, and one or more third lights for illuminating the lower part of the subject, wherein the camera is stationary, the subject is a moving subject and the lighting arrangement is arranged to produce shadows in the subject's clothing and cause shadows to move across the subject as the subject moves under the lighting arrangement; and wherein a total brightness of the one or more first lights, as measured at the subject, is less than or approximately the same as a total brightness of the one or more second lights;   capturing an image of a subject on the stage area to generate the captured image; and   transmitting the captured image using a communications network.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the step of capturing the image of the subject on the stage area is performed by at least one high definition (HD) camera. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the step of lighting the studio chamber enclosure with LED lighting assemblies comprises lighting the studio chamber enclosure with LED lighting assemblies having a low profile that allows each LED assembly to be unobtrusively mounted to the ceiling and/or the spaced opposite side walls and/or the spaced outer front and rear walls of the studio chamber enclosure. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising the step of compressing and/or encoding the captured image using a codec connected to an output of the at least one camera. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the step of transmitting the captured image comprises transmitting the captured image using a high speed network connection suitable for carrying broadcast quality streaming video signals. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising the steps of displaying an image using at least one video monitor and recording and broadcasting voice and sound using at least one audio recording device. 
     
     
         18 . A mobile studio for producing a Pepper's Ghost image, comprising:
 a vehicle comprising a body mounted on a chassis, said body having a studio chamber enclosure formed by a floor, a ceiling, spaced opposite outer side walls and spaced outer front and rear walls, said floor comprising a stage area;   a stage riser positioned on the stage area;   a non-reflecting light absorbing material suitable for a background, the non-reflecting light absorbing material located on an inside surface of the outer rear wall and on an inside surface of both side walls down stage of the stage riser;   at least one camera to capture an image of a subject on the stage riser and generate a captured image;   a lighting arrangement including light emitting diode (LED) lighting assemblies flush mounted to the walls of the studio chamber enclosure and suitable for providing sufficient illumination for image capture such that the captured image is suitable for projection as a Pepper's Ghost image, the lighting arrangement including one or more first lights for illuminating a front of the subject facing towards the camera, wherein the intensity and brightness or an angle of the first lights are set to minimize projection of light or light spill from the one or more first lights onto the rear wall, one or more second lights for illuminating the rear and/or side of the subject facing away from the camera, the one or more second lights operable to sharpen an outline of the subject, and one or more third lights for illuminating the lower part of the subject;   one or more semi-opaque diffusion panels located immediately in front of the one or more first lights;   a communications device to transmit the captured image,   wherein the camera is stationary, the subject is a moving subject and the lighting arrangement is arranged to produce shadows in the subject's clothing and cause shadows to move across the subject as the subject moves under the lighting arrangement; and   wherein a total brightness of the one or more first lights, as measured at the subject, is less than or approximately the same as a total brightness of the one or more second lights; and   an image projection apparatus comprising a projector, a frame, a light source and an at least partially transparent screen, wherein the at least partially transparent screen is inclined at an angle with respect to a plane of emission of light from the projector, and the light source is arranged to illuminate at least part of the image projection apparatus, the at least partially transparent screen having a front surface arranged such that light emitted from the projector is reflected therefrom, and the projector being arranged to project an image such that light forming the image impinges upon the at least partially transparent screen such that a virtual image is created from light reflected from the at least partially transparent screen, the virtual image appearing to be located behind the at least partially transparent screen.