Q3 2021

6 | Q3 2021 Disguise Extends Reality Established in 2000, disguise was developed to deliver show-stopping visuals at concerts for artists like Massive Attack and U2. Today, disguise is a global operation headquartered in London, with an established presence in seven other locations around the world from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Auckland. Its technology has sold in over 50 countries and offers technical support in all regions to meet customers worldwide. Chief Commercial Officer Tom Rockhill explains, “Our vision is to be at the heart of every inspiring live experience in the world. We do this by creating a powerful, collaborative environment where artists and technologists can bring their shared vision to life. Our core values are linked to the motto of ‘Create Together.’ With this, we hope to empower our users to create amazing experiences and use our technology to bring them to life.” The combination of versatile disguise software and robust hardware technology helps users design, sequence and control the most spectacular productions. Initially, disguise operated within the live event space for over two decades. Its workflow has powered global concert tours for artists like U2 and Beyoncé, festivals like Coachella and Glastonbury, and theatre productions such as Frozen and Harry Potter. When the Covid-19 pandemic halted all live shows, concerts and events, production teams needed a way to keep bringing these experiences to life - but with safety as a priority. disguise envisioned a groundbreaking solution that would allow users to continue to create as well as change the traditional way they approached productions. Its extended reality (xR) solution, an R&D initiative before, became its new core product offering. Tom explains, “Our solution blurs the barrier between imagination and reality. Instead of using green screens, TV broadcasters and film directors can have computer-generated graphics displayed on LED sets in real-time, enabling a far more naturalistic performance from actors as well as the ability to make changes while shooting.” Shortly after the onset of the pandemic, disguise offered up free access to its software licence and moved all its training online, opening up wider access to its workflow and lowering the barrier of entry to extended reality production. disguise also launched an online community platform giving users access to live forums, guides, expert support and access to work opportunities. Tom states, “Although our core motto of ‘Create Together’ hasn’t changed, the projects our technology powers certainly have. We have led the way in Extended Reality (xR) for remote virtual production across film and TV, broadcast, live music, corporate events, and many other creative projects in the past year. Our award- winning xR workflow has enabled over 400 productions in the past 18 months, for music artists such as Katy Perry and Billie Eilish, broadcast TV channels like ITV and Eurosport, enterprise businesses like SAP and Siemens, educational institutions like the University of Michigan and notable VFX studios like Framestore and DNEG.” disguise works closely with Epic Games, NVIDIA, Netflix, ACES and many more to further develop and democratise its virtual production solution and enable teams anywhere to create their best story with the most innovative tools. The last few years have seen disguise push the boundaries of technological innovation and expand into new markets, resulting in a significantly increased turnover. As a result, disguise was recognised in the 22nd annual Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 as one of Britain’s private companies with the fastest- growing profits over the last three years. Tom explains, “disguise caters to creative and technical teams for any project, from technical directors, video supervisors and programmers on the technical side to show designers and 3D artists on the creative side and many more individuals involved in bringing creative projects to life. We operate across a multitude of industries, mainly in live concerts, film, broadcast, sports and esports, fixed installations as well as corporate events, to name a few.” Apr21063 Enjoying recent success at the SME Business Elite Awards 2021 as winner of the Best Platform for Visual Experience Development, disguise is a platform for creative and technical professionals to imagine, create and deliver the world’s most spectacular live visual experiences. By combining its leading experience production software with powerful media server hardware, disguise empowers brands, artists and organisations to tell powerful stories that inspire their audiences.