UK-based creative studio, Lightwell TV, is trusted by some of the world’s biggest broadcasters for physical, virtual and digital environments for television. Known for its innovative use of trailblazing technology and expertise in Vizrt tools, Lightwell creates virtual sets, set extensions and digital backdrops for the likes of the BBC, ITV, Sky Sports and more. Working across high-profile projects, news programming and major sports broadcasts, Lightwell blends the best of art and technology to create immersive visual experiences for viewers.
Despite an impressive track record in the television industry, virtual set design wasn’t the first career of Lightwell’s founder, Jim Mann. A registered architect since 1998, his architectural career was defined by the adoption of 3D graphics, acting as the foundation for his extensive 30 year expertise in using 3D, CAD and computer graphics programs. In 2005, Jim translated this experience into designs for television, and since 2012 he has grown to become a highly respected name in the creation of virtual sets for broadcast.
Doing more with less with TriCaster
Jim’s first introduction to virtual sets came via his first experience with TriCaster working alongside a company called Sport Authority. “Back then, it was such a simple way of doing virtual sets because you didn’t have any tracking,” shares Jim. “So as long as the green screen and the key was okay you could proceed, and that was that.” Despite its early simplicity, Jim recognized the straightforwardness of the solution, and its capabilities it afforded in a small space where tracking capabilities wouldn’t have been a viable solution.
Not long after this, Jim crossed paths with the UK Met Office, whose TriCaster-based studio mirrored this very set up – a small, confined space in the basement of the Met Office HQ, in Exeter. “I did the set designs for the Met Office. Where they were located was at the very back – and bottom – of the building, so it was easy to walk straight past them,” reflects Jim.
However, Jim notes that two very important things happened in this space that established the potential of virtual sets for data-led storytelling, paving the way for further work with the Met Office and BBC: “One, was that enough meteorologists saw the potential of TriCaster, and the impact of virtual set technology, and two, was that because of the exciting work they were doing, the Met Office studio soon became a regular stop on the VIP tour. This helped more people see the impact of the work we were doing, and the seriousness and credibility of this technology for storytelling.”
In essence, we recreated a small Scalextric version of the Formula E set up, but geographically separating the cluster and control for the first time: from Amsterdam (BT Media stand) to London (BT Tower), back to Amsterdam again (IBC Accelerator booth).
From news to global sporting events
A short while later in 2012, Jim was approached by ITV News to design elements of their set and expanding upon the designs and concepts developed by Jago Design. “Back then, it was a case of building the model, evolving the design and building it. That was it,” shares Jim. “That set is still in use today, so clearly we were getting things right!”. The ITV set is still used today as it was originally designed and launched by Jim and his colleagues in 2013, bar a few minor changes.
With a repertoire of virtual set design knowledge, Jim further built on his knowledge of the Vizrt toolset – including technologies like powerful real time graphics engine, Viz Engine, and intuitive graphics design tool, Viz Artist – to develop many of the hugely-recognizable branded hybrid news sets watched by UK and global audiences today.
Over the last decade, Vizrt has become the industry go-to for many broadcasters. “Usually, my clients will have an established relationship with Vizrt despite being technology agnostic,” shares Jim. “Vizrt is well established within the BBC itself.”
For many large-scale and internationally renowned projects of broadcasters like the BBC, Jim notes that the reliability of the technology involved is key, crediting Vizrt’s strong track record: “One thing I have learned with television clients is because of the live nature of the work, the technology has got to run, and run in real-time, and you’ve got to depend on it. Whether it’s software or hardware, they’ve got to rely on it and people stick to what they can depend on. It’s fair to say that Vizrt has established itself as that provider.”
Much of Jim’s recent work with the BBC is testament to that, having used Vizrt technology for the 2024 Summer Games, designed with long time collaborator, Toby Kalitowski. “It was chucking it down in Paris, and in our virtual set designs we had used sunny days!” recalls Jim. “It was interesting, because we had the studio in Paris, cameras in Paris, and trackers in Paris, but our Viz Engines were in Salford.”
Reflecting on the intuitive nature of Vizrt’s cloud-based, real-time capabilities, Jim notes this power as being essential for optimizing the virtual worlds in light of ever-changing shooting environments. “Thankfully, we were able to send updates to our machines in Salford to adjust the lighting set ups in real time to match the cloudy live feeds we were seeing.”
Industry-leading technical integrations
Jim credits much of his positive, long-term experiences with Vizrt to the organization’s continuous innovation. “The real advantages of Vizrt are in its integrations with other industry software like Unreal Engine,” shares Jim. “Seeing Viz Engine keep up with the latest Unreal Engine developments, and just ensuring it’s fully integrated, ensures you experience all the benefits of the technology hand in hand.”
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