NEW
BASEBALL Season in Play in 4K! Live 4K Sports Content – More than Pretty Pictures
MARCH 2016
AMI-TV Scores with Live Described Sportscasts
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CONTENTS 4 6 8 11 14
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Live 4K Sports Content – More than Pretty Pictures
Media management, distribution and monetization opportunities for sports content owners worldwide
New Baseball Season in Play in 4K!
Management is new, the line-up is new – even the playing surface is new, with real dirt being dished between the bases. And it’s all going to be available in 4K
Listen Up! Batter Up!
AMI-TV Scores with Live Described Sportscasts Jays’ Opener on New Sked from MLB, ESPN
Live Sports Combines Multi-camera Coverage, Instant Replays with vMix Performance Enhancing Tech Pushing Athletes Higher, Faster, Farther
Sports Tech
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TV Sports Graphics on Mobile Devices
Pronology MAM, FileCatalyst Rule the Pitch
19 Close-Ball Automation Brings Sports Audio into Focus 20 LEADER Covers La Liga in UHD 21 Tiger Series Tackles 4K 22 Rec4Box Hits the Road with 4KSupport
80 Valleybrook Drive,Toronto, Ontario M3B 2S9 Editor Lee Rickwood, lrickwood@sportscastermagazine.ca Senior Publisher, Advertising Sales James A. Cook (416) 510-6871, jcook@sportscastermagazine.ca Art Director Kathy Smith Senior Circulation Manager Diane Rakoff, (416) 510-5216 Fax: (416) 510-6875 Customer Service Silva Telian, (416) 442-5600 ext. 3636; Fax: (416) 510-6875
Sportscaster Magazine is Published by Annex-Newcom LP. For reprints call: 416-510-6871 From time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: Phone: 1-800-668-2374; Fax: 416-442-2191; E-Mail privacy officer: vmoore@annexnewcom.ca; Mail to: Privacy Officer, 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, Ontario M3B 2S9 Copyright © 2016 by Sportscaster Magazine. All rights reserved. The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the Publisher. Indexed in Canada Business Index, Print edition: ISSN pending Online edition: ISSN pending Publications Mail Agreement 43005526.
Production Manager Steve Hofmann, (416) 510-6757 President, Annex-Newcom LP: Alex Papanou March 2016
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4K CONTENT
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NeuLion provides sports and entertainment content rightsholders with secure streaming of live and on-demand video content up to 4K (using HEVC and MPEGDASH) to consumer media devices like smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, game consoles and more.
More than Pretty Pictures End-to-end technology platforms for live and on-demand 4K content delivery open up media management, distribution and monetization opportunities for sports content owners worldwide BY LEE RICKWOOD
“This is the year we turn on #4K for our customers.” With that short-and-sweet tweet, Eric Grab, the co-Chief Technology Officer at NeuLion, opened the door wide to ongoing 4K developments, as both an exciting new viewing standard for consumers and a game-changing opportunity for sportscasting media companies and content owning rightsholders. Increased video quality is most frequently associated with 4K, thanks not only to increased pixel counts, but also increased brightness range (enabled by High Dynamic Range or HDR), increased frame SPORTScaster
rates to show extra motion detail, smoother gradients in colour (8 bit vs. 10 bit) and increased colour realism (colour gamut). Touted as bringing even greater visual clarity and picture resolution than now enjoyed with HD, the new format offers not only a much better TV picture, but a greatly enhanced media business model. It’s been clear for some time that Internet mediacasting represents a huge advance over traditional broadcasting, with lucrative opportunities for twoway interaction, particularly in the all-important live event category but also across the content spectrum: IP-based video delivery opens up next-generation content engagement opportunities, and supports the need to deliver to multiple screen types. The Internet enables increasingly sophisticated interactivity, and more ways for sponsors and advertisers to reach the viewer and engage in related business activities. Grab knows of what he speaks: NeuLion deliv-
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4K CONTENT
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ered over 55,000 events on the Web last year, working with sports properties including the NFL, NBA, NHL, UFC, World Surf League and Euroleague Basketball, as well as networks like Sky TV, Univision Deportes and Rogers Sportsnet, among many others. Grab has seen firsthand how the potential for customized content, personalized merchandise offers and real-time consumer interaction is without parallel, particularly with live sports events.
NeuLion in Action – Live Sportscasting
“
... NeuLion delivered over 55,000 events on the Web last year, working with sports properties including the NFL, NBA, NHL, UFC, World Surf League and Euroleague Basketball, as well as networks like Sky TV, Univision Deportes and Rogers Sportsnet, among many others. ...
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It’s where custom camera options, personalized fantasy sports overlays, delivery of team or sport programming of specific interest to a viewer, realtime social media interactions and more come into play to enhance the overall viewing experience. Digital audio is also crucial, with its improved tone, quality and ability to create ‘three–dimensional sound’ and immersive listening experiences. Accessibility is a big part of Internet media delivery, too, as content needs to be delivered to multiple screens, at multiple times, in multiple locations. Grab referenced a white paper released by NeuLion that helps explain what 4K means for the broadcast and media industry, and where his company fits in the content/conduit ecosystem. An important premise in the paper is that the focus should not just be on Continued on page 13
Another laid-back sports weekend – NOT! Fans may enjoy a full weekend of sports from their comfy chairs, but for some 50 employees at the NeuLion Technical Operations facility on Long Island, watching sports means hard work, managing mission critical streaming services to viewers around the world. Hundreds of events and thousands of highlight clips are delivered from the centre on a busy weekend, with dozens of operators on duty to handle quality control, metadata and tagging, and payment processing (the operation runs 24/7). Literally millions of credit card transactions from consumers around the world are processed as viewers pay to watch sports content and use supported apps, developed by NeuLion and running on all of the major device categories like NFL on the Xbox, Tennis Channel on Apple TV, NBA on tablets and smartphones and much more. The international version of NFL Game Pass, with its live game coverage, highlights, replays, condensed games and other content, is a popular offering, and while there are changes afoot for the NHL and NeuLion, for now, the company will consult with the League and its new partners on digital delivery developments through 2020. March 2016
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New Baseball Season in Play in 4K! Opening Day 2015 The energy and enthusiasm of the Blue Jays crowd on Opening Day 2015 seemed to be reproduced on a daily basis by the time the season was finishing up, thanks to a terrific second half performance by the team. Fans, players, sportscasters and ownership hope the momentum can be maintained throughout 2016. Photo
provided by
Toronto Blue
Jays.
SPORTScaster
A very familiar and a very accomplished sportscaster will again lend his voice to Toronto baseball telecasts this season. That’s not all that is new with the Blue Jays. The management team is new, there are new players on the field – even the playing surface is new, with real dirt being dished between the bases. And it’s going to be seen in Ultra High Definition 4K, as team owner and sports specialty channel operator Rogers Media moves forward on its announced plans to televise Blue Jay games in a new video format for the 2016 season. During a media event held on the baseball turf at Rogers Centre in the midst of the Blue Jays’ playoff run last year, Guy Laurence, President and CEO, Rogers Communications, and Scott Moore, President, Sportsnet & NHL Properties, Rogers, described the increased picture quality of 4K, noting that Rogers will also introduce high dynamic range (HDR) – a
leading edge technology said to produce real-life images with richer colour saturation, contrast and resolution – in April 2016, in time for the Blue Jays’ home opener “We look forward to giving our viewers the latest and best quality broadcasts in the world,” Moore said, and he used several 4K capable TVs set up for the event to demonstrate. He showed some 4K clips from a regular season Blue Jays game (4K cameras were used to capture one of the 2015 game against Baltimore), and he demonstrated that the increased video resolution displayed not only exceptional picture clarity and colour, but also extreme close-ups and detail by zooming in on the picture without loss of clarity. From a wide shot at home plate, with batter, catcher and umpire visible, to an extreme close-up of the batter’s grip, the 4K format delivers another way to see Blue Jay stars like Bautista, Donaldson and Pillar. Moore also said that some new 4K equipment,
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like video recorders, will be needed, but that other necessary production infrastructure is in place, or soon will be with planned 4K camera acquisitions for Rogers Centre and the ACC. A new 4K-capable Master Control facility will be constructed, allowing Rogers to create and deliver more 4K content than anyone else, he said, and mobile TV production trucks operated by Dome Productions ( a company that Rogers co-owns will Bell Media) will be 4K capable.
Shulman Calls for Sportsnet As mentioned, the year will see the return of one of the sports media industry’s most distinguished broadcasters, as Dan Shulman will call upwards of 30 Blue Jays games on Sportsnet for the 2016 and 2017 MLB seasons, working alongside the popular duo of Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler. Shulman will also make appearances on Sportsnet’s Blue Jays Central, Blue Jays Central at Noon, Tim & Sid and sportsnet.ca. “Having hired Dan in 1995 for his first Blue Jays play-by-play role, it’s great to have him back in the booth in Canada as part of our baseball broadcast team,” said Scott Moore, President, Sportsnet & NHL Properties, Rogers. “Following the unforgettable 2015 Blue Jays season, we can’t wait for 2016 to go even bigger with our baseball coverage. There is no doubt that Dan is the ideal off-season acquisition to help us achieve this goal.” Shulman and Martinez called Blue Jays broadcasts together for seven years from 1995 to 2001, and will be reunited in 2016. Shulman, Martinez and Tabler will make up a three-man broadcast booth for select games. “I’m thrilled to once again be calling Blue Jays
games,” said Shulman in an announcement released by Sportsnet. “As someone who was born and raised and still lives in the GTA, the opportunity to come back home is very exciting for me. I’m looking forward to being part of the Sportsnet team, alongside Buck, Tabby and all the other great people on the crew.” The award-winning Canadian broadcast veteran, a Toronto native and University of Western Ontario grad , began his broadcast career at CKBB in Barrie in 1990, before moving to the FAN 1430 (now Sportsnet 590 The FAN) in 1991 He’s worked in a variety of host roles for several Canadian networks, including: The Leafs This Week, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ weekly magazine show on CFTO (1992-95); The Major League Report and Baseball Today shows for The FAN, as well as PrimeTime Sports. He’s also handled Blue Jays pre- and postgame shows on the Telemedia Sports Network. Shulman’s play-by-play calls of the Blue Jays anchored the TSN coverage from 1995-2001. He was also play-by-play commentator for TSN’s NBA package of Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies games. Shulman worked for CTV at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, and the 1994 FIFA
Dan Shulman in the broadcast booth during the American League Wild Card Game, Yankee Stadium, Bronx, N.Y. October 6, 2015. Photo
by
Ben Solomon /
ESPN Images.
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Listen Up! Batter Up!
AMI-TV Scores with Live Described Sportscasts
With his newly extended contract, Blue Jay Josh Donaldson returns for what fans hope will be another MVP-type performance. Photo provided by History Television.
World Basketball Championship in Toronto. “From his unforgettable voice to his breadth of knowledge and experience, a talent as big as Dan’s doesn’t come along very often,” said Rob Corte, Vice President, Live Events and News Production, Sportsnet. “We are looking forward to having Dan join the already tremendous broadcast team of Buck and Pat – you couldn’t ask for a stronger mix of broadcasters in the booth.” In addition to his role with the Blue Jays on Sportsnet’s broadcast team, Shulman will continue his work with ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball and NCAA Men’s college basketball broadcasts. Shulman has received many accolades and honours for his work over years, and he is the first two-time winner of the Sports Media Canada Broadcaster of the Year award (2000, 2007). ■
Jays’ Opener on New Sked from MLB, ESPN The Toronto Blue Jays 2016 baseball opener has been rescheduled, and the game has been added to ESPN’s MLB Opening Day sportscasting line-up. A change in the previously announced 2016 Major League Baseball schedule moves the Blue Jays’ season opener from Monday, April 4 to Sunday April 3, and the game has been added to ESPN’s plans to telecast a baseball tripleheader that day. ESPN has two games leading up to the debut of its flagship baseball sportscast, Sunday Night Baseball, a World Series re-match between the New York Mets and Kansas City Royals. The afternoon Jays game rolls into ESPN’s prime time baseball telecast and a divisional match-up between Pittsburgh and St Louis leads off the day. ESPN will then televise an Opening Day quadruple-header on Monday, April 4. ESPN is showing its fondness for the Blue Jays (and perhaps the huge audiences they have shown the ability to attract in both regular and post-season play) with the change in its television programming schedule, and in its flexibility with award-winning sportscaster Dan Shulman, who will continue to call baseball games for ESPN, and for Sportsnet as the newest member of the Blue Jays on-air team.
“Just watched the Blue Jays … and I must say it was a joy to be able to watch the game with my buddies … the description … great job (as usual).” A typical comment from any one of what could be ten million TV watching Blue Jay fans, right? But this particular viewer was watching the game on AMI-TV, and enjoying the unique live Described Video service the Canadian accessibility network provides. He’s not alone. The service is well-received by fans, and AMI has confirmed it will again provide live descriptions of select Blue Jays TV games in 2016, the fourth consecutive season it has done so. Live description is a real-time balancing act between too much description and not enough. The sportscasting experience and expertise of those who provide live DV announcing for AMI helps ensure the balance is maintained: among them Sam Cosentino, Jim Van Horne and Norma Wick. They are long-time sportscasters in their own right, but now involved in a unique new aspect of their chosen profession. It’s all about making sure low vision, partially sighted or blind people can more fully enjoy the baseball telecast. The audience gets added extra verbal descriptions that leave plenty of room for the host sportscasters’ call of the game, while adding information that may be strictly conveyed through TV graphics and visuals. AMI’s been describing TV shows for several years now, but in the beginning, sport events were packaged with descriptions and aired the following day as highlights, recalls Brian Perdue, Director of Programming for AMI-TV. “Our first foray into sports was the Vancouver Paralympics; we were late to the table, but by partnering with the Rogers/ Bell Olympic Consortium, we took in the feed, described it overnight, and had it on the air the next day.” Those were the very early stages, he says, but the station has learned a lot and their understanding has really grown as to how to best deliver Described Video for live events. AMI not only leads the way in the DV service, it has contributed to development of Best Practices and Standards documentation for the TV industry overall.
Described Video announcer Jim Van Horne is seen in a Twitter picture.
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“
The relaxed pace of baseball is an ideal platform for described video, and fans who are blind or partially sighted will appreciate that extra level of involvement, which will include description of on-screen graphics, displaying score and pitch counts. When AMI first approached the Blue Jays with the idea to describe some televised ball games, the team rep suggested it was likely the first time any Major League Baseball team had even entertained the idea of using Described Video to make games accessible to the blind and low-vision audience. That was 2012, and every year since, a dozen or more games have been described by AMI each season. Again in 2016, the Blue Jays are the only MLB team with a Described Video service, the team has confirmed. Emily Harding, a producer and DV specialist at AMI, describes the process for DV announcers as “very intense, even tiring” over the course of a three
”
hour-or-more baseball telecast. “We try and mix it up on air from inning to inning, providing important stats and numbers, visual descriptions of the players and their positions, even the different camera angles being used,” Harding explains. Each announcer does one full inning, with commercials, and then they switch to take a break for the next inning. Seated in an announce booth at the station’s master control facilities in Don Mills, the Continued on page 10
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pair watch the game on a regular monitor as it comes in on the live Sportsnet feed, and deliver their real-time voiced descriptions as the show goes right back out to the AMI channel. “Originally, it was very difficult for me to get into the different mindset needed,” recalls Jim Van Horne. “As a sighted person, I see everything. We take it for granted...it’s just there. I didn’t realize how the blind person has to formulate the image in their mind.” Van Horne is a Gemini Award-winning host, anchor and sports commentator with a sports résumé that includes everything from alpine skiing to women’s tennis (and don’t forget the Billboard Magazine award, from his early DJ days at CHUM AM). He’s been providing pre-recorded and now live DV services for different kinds of programming over the past few years, including sports like golf and now baseball for AMI.
“
Live Sports Co Coverage, In
Just watched the Blue Jays on AMI TV this afternoon and I must say it was a joy to be able to watch the game with my buddies and have the description ... great job (as usual).
”
“Listening to Buck and Pat’s (Martinez and Tabler, the Blue Jays’ on-air TV duo) style over time, you get used to them and learn their rhythm and on–air process. I know from the sound of their voices when a pause is coming, and by paying close attention to their rhythm, you know they are coming to an end (in what they’re saying). “I don’t want to be obvious, and I can’t repeat what they’ve said. I listen carefully, they finish, I interject,” van Horne makes it sound easy, but the need for total concentration over a full nine innings (or more) is obvious. “Ninety-nine per cent of the time, it works,” van Horne laughs, “but I do have to step on them occasionally. Sometimes, they just don’t stop!” It may be difficult to “slip in and take care of business” as van Horne says, but like the Jays’ MVP Josh Donaldson or leading home run hitter Jose Bautista, the AMI team has their timing down pretty well, it seems. Regardless of the sport: when AMI partnered with TSN and the CFL on coverage of the 103rd Grey Cup presented by Shaw, all concerned had reason to celebrate. AMI-TV’s simulcast exceeded all expectations, garnering more than 24,000 viewers per minute, becoming its highest ranked Live Described event to date. “We are incredibly pleased with the results of our 2015 Grey Cup broadcast,” Purdue noted at the time. “From 6 pm to 10:30 pm we did an AMA 2+ of 24.6, peaking between 8 and 8:30 pm at 36.2. These are fantastic numbers for AMI-TV.” ■ SPORTScaster
Fans expect it these days. Live sports video streaming online, giving them access to every minute of every game, of every race, of every competition. It had better be multiple cameras, too, with instant replays and video reviews. Stats and graphics, with a chance to interact with the live stream using hashtags, and to read on-screen tweets from people watching the game around the world. That’s the course that video producers at USA BMX are on, as they continue to document BMX activity and major bike events with online video content that provides great insight into the world of bicycle motocross. At the heart of their video production capabilities are solutions from vMix, a video pro-
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ts Combines Multi-camera e, Instant Replays with vMix
Video coverage of BMX motocross events is growing in popularity and impact.
duction solutions company out of San Diego. Using vMix, USA BMX has been covering its live events since the 2013 USA BMX Grand National, and the production crew members are convinced they’ve found what they were looking for. “Budget and customization were the biggest factors for us,” explained George Vick, staff videographer at USA BMX / BMX Canada since 2012 (with many years freelancing for the company prior to that). “We were renting TriCasters, due to the initial investment cost. A machine that we build for under $10k using vMix is comparable to a $40k TriCaster. I can also repair any hardware no matter where we’re shooting at. TriCaster requires service in many cases. I prefer to build my own machines, so if a problem ever arises, I can get it fixed ASAP,” he noted with a nod to his custom server housed in a shockmount case:
The vMix user interface and on-screen control layout is said to be easy to learn, putting many powerful production tools at the user’s fingertips. There are various software levels or menus to work with in vMix, but one person acting as both switcher and director can run the system, which is what Vick does most of the time. “It’s not too bad of a workflow, (but) instant replay has added another element.” More demands for an operator’s attention, if not hands. vMix does have a rolling record and default setting that can capture, say, a continuously updated 20 seconds of replay video, so when something special does occur on camera and a video replay is needed right away, one click stops record and another click cues it up. Still, Vick thinks a replay function could be operContinued on page 12 March 2016
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Continued from page 11 ated by a second person, as it is most sports video productions, and that is an idea he has shared with the system’s developers. Vick’s team has used as many as seven fixed and/or roving cameras, including the Panasonic HPX 170, JVC GY-HM710 and GoPro Hero. Camera output over HDSDI is captured via Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink cards (the company’s DeckLink Quad card has four SDI inputs and four SDI outputs), and the vMix lets users define and combine full resolution and PiP shots (using the HDSDI input select switch) to add even more flexibility to the shots available for use in the program output. Teredek wireless transmission products are used to get field camera video signals back to the production computer; Vick added that he may be getting access to wireless systems for GoPro cameras, called the Herocast, for use in next year’s productions. Getting the camera feeds into his system is one thing, but getting the program video back out is another, and Vick says he is covered with the system in use. With multiple outs, a feed can be sent to external screens, so live video can be provided to audiences where there are large Jumbotron screens at the venue. There’s a selection of dial-up settings and multiple output controls in the vMix for data, bandwidth and image resolution (there’s even a preset for streaming on YouTube Live) on output. Vick, the video crew and the equipment in use get a work-out: during the Grand Nationals in November, they streaming out live coverage via their YouTube channel to over 150,000 viewers throughout the three-day event. USA BMX organizes motocross bicycle races boys, girls and adults, nationwide and in Canada (under BMX CANADA); with over 375 sanctioned tracks around the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. ■ Several fixed and portable cameras are used during USA BMX video productions.
vMix from Videolink
vMix video production software in action at USA BMX. Photos
courtesy
Toronto-based Videolink, a mobile production and live video streaming products provider and manufacturer, is now the National Distributor of vMix products in Canada. Through this partnership, Videolink will expand the outreach and increase awareness of vMix production solutions throughout Canada. “As the demand for mobile production and live streaming solutions increases, it is extremely important to align ourselves with industry partners that can supply technical support and products to resellers and end-user customers” said Bruce Richardson, Founder and Chairman of Videolink. “The number of producers who need both mobile and ultra-high resolution systems has increased significantly, and they need products that can easily record and stream live content. We feel that vMix software and hardware solutions address all of these needs.”
George Vick/USA BMX.
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Continued from page 5 visual quality when speaking of 4K UHD. “I don’t want to de-emphasize the quality,” Grab explained in conversation with Sportscaster Magazine, “and we’ll always push for the best imagery possible. But that is not to be seen as the singular item to push value; there are other aspects to UHD; 4K resolution is only the start.” Grab added that there are different delivery needs for different types of content: primetime dramatic content will want a cinematic look-and-feel, with a high dynamic range for imagery and broadbased efficiencies in distribution. Sports will benefit from higher frame rates and the ability to overlay high-quality statistics and graphics in real-time. The white paper explains the importance of keeping the value model in balance using all of 4K’s advantages: quality, accessibility and interactivity. Analytical capabilities with digital content will help, as it now much easier to see both positive and negative feedback loops, and to get a moment-bymoment diagnosis of customer-content interaction. Security is enhanced, as well, and copyright infringement and system integrity can be closely monitored in an IP environment.
Grab emphasizes, and the white paper explains, why simply increasing visual quality is not enough to realize new business opportunities all by itself. The industry needs to combine great pictures with increased interactivity and seamless accessibility to best take advantage of the changing broadcast landscape. Grab and NeuLion want to help the industry navigate the exciting year to come, and well beyond. ■
To learn more, please see the NeuLion/ NBA Case Study on the benefits of 4K for live sportscasting, posted at www.sportscastermagazine.ca.
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Multiple cameras capture the performances of some top athletes for a new CBC documentary; here, the crew tracks Adam van Koeverden.
Performance Enhancing Tech Pushing Athletes Higher, Faster, Farther Every year, elite athletes go higher, faster, farther. But is it as a result of new technology that they set new world records and eclipse performances of the past? A new sports documentary asks if today’s world record-holders really are better than the superstars of the past, or whether they get an advantage from all the high-tech gear that’s now in use. A new one-hour CBC special The Equalizer, airing as part of The Nature of Things, ‘equalizes’ the playing field by exploring the impact of scien-
SPORTScaster
tific advancements on personal bests in individual sports. Incorporating interviews from today and footage from the past, as well as remarkable competitive video and special effect sequences, The Equalizer pits some of the greatest high-performance athletes – present and past – against each other. Each match-up in the program has a surprising result as it looks at how much modern science and technology factors in to achieve new peaks of human athletic performance. Narrated by Dr. David Suzuki, The Equalizer fol-
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“
Canadian kayaker Adam
van Koeverden trades his
computer-designed carbon fibre kayak for a vintage wooden model to challenge 1940s-era Swedish legend, eighttime Olympic medalist Gert Fredriksson.
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lows a top sports scientist based in the UK on his travels to Canada, the U.S. and Germany to meet five world-class athletes whose sport is impacted by the latest technology: Canadian sprinter and Olympic hopeful Andre de Grasse, US Olympic silver medalist and seven-time world champion track cyclist Sarah Hammer, German world champion freestyle swimmer Paul Biedermann, German javelin thrower Christina Obergföll and Canadian kayaker and four-
Archival sports footage and imagery plays a key role in The Equalizers.
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One of the most cost-effective promotion methods available… and it works! For complete information and space reservations please contact: James Cook jcook@sportscastermagazine.ca • 416-510-6871 CDN TOLL FREE: 800-268-7742, press 1, dial 6871# USA TOLL FREE: 800-387-0273, press 1, dial 6871# March 2016
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So who won? Viewers have to see The Equalizer to believe the amazing athletic accomplishments it documents.
time Olympic medalist Adam van Koeverden. Joining the U.K.’s Steve Haake is Canadian Dr. Greg Wells, a sports scientist, author, coach and athlete affiliated with University of Toronto and Sick Kids (Wells is also known to Canadian audiences from appearances on past CBC Sports shows and Olympic TV coverage).
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Sprinter Andre De Grasse attempts to beat the
world record of legendary Jesse Owens, a fourtime gold medalist at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games wearing replicas of Owens’ shoes and running on a 1930s-era track.
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Executive Producer and Producer on the new show is Robert Lang for Kensington Communications, a long-established documentary and feature film production company based in Toronto. With titles that explore the international drug trade, the Canadian folk music scene and the secrets of modem museums, sports is somewhat of a new topic for Lang. “I have a long career, and I’ve done some eclectic programs and documentaries,” he agreed. “Life is interesting. But as a fan myself, and as an athlete in younger days, I always wondered how much are athletes helped or aided. How does sports technology fit in to all the records being set?” In discussion with associates and other producers, SPORTScaster
he developed the show with an international angle to ensure recognizable athletes from around the world would be featured. Not all who were approached agreed to participate, but the group that did helped open several sets of eyes, as Lang described. “My mind did change a bit, watching the realworld experiments” and competitive athletic recreations. “Going in, I thought ‘No way’ would the tech not have an impact. Technology gives them a real leg up, I thought.” Maybe. Maybe not. The recreated athletic competition between stars of today and yesterday do show where advantage is gained (such as by using nowbanned full body length swimsuits) but also where the pure power of human athletic ability and desire are paramount factors in achievement, not necessarily the running shoe or the bicycle frame. The athletic recreations are truly the centrepiece of the television program. Just imagine seeing today’s hot young sprinter, Canadian Andre De Grasse, running on the same track as American Olympic great Jesse Owens! Lang and his team (The Equalizer is directed by Rebecca Snow, written by Allen Booth) allow viewers to do just that – and more! Obtaining the historic footage that is integrated into the program was one of the most difficult parts of the show’s development and production, Lang noted. “Our researcher told us beforehand, rights would be one of the most complicated aspects of the show; that turned out to be the case.” Media rights to great moments on sporting history can be held among many event participants, includ-
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His performance at the 1936 Olympics had social, political and athletic consequences which still affect us today.
ing host or pooled broadcasters, sports organizers or leagues, and/ or event organizers. Managing the rights issues only meant that, once successful, there were technical issues with the source material to manage – different source media, different aspects ratios and different frame rates all had to be seamlessly blended into new source material for the doc, mostly shot in HD but some in 4K. “We shot the drone footage in 4K,” Lang said, noting he could therefore “push into it a bit” to change composition, but that also he was motivated by his own competition. “You have to satisfy the audience, and our production had to compete as a result. With the way sports is covered nowadays, people expect there will be big bucks applied to the production, using trucks, dollies and drones.”
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Just imagine seeing today’s hottest young
sprinter, Canadian Andre De Grasse, running on the same track as American Olympic great Jesse Owens!
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Not only is dynamic drone footage incorporated into the TV documentary, but also underwater sequences and some amazing composites and CG animations. The Equalizer premieres Thursday, March 3; Lang and the CBC have confirmed that a second airing, closer to the Olympics, is confirmed and will be announced at a later date. ■
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March 2016
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TV Sports Graphics on Mobile Devices
There’s a new interactive sports graphics solution that lets sportscasters deliver interactive, clickable on-air graphics for tablets and other smart devices. They can send statistics, highlights and other information from their TV graphics systems directly to the end-users. Sixty’s Ease Live can be used by any broadcast or online video platform to unify the linear and online TV experience with one brand and design, and it’s fully integrated with Ross Video’s broadcast graphics system XPression and DashBoard. Viewers use an intuitive interface to customize their own live event with multiple graphics layers like instant game updates, replays, highlights, social wmedia feeds and a pool of data that’s previously only been seen and curated by producers in the editing room. “By partnering with Sixty,” said Jim Doyle, Director of Creative Services at Ross Video, “we enable broadcasters to keep ahead of innovation and let them serve their customers with solutions that meet the desire for more content, more flexibility and more freedom to enhance and customize their TV experience.”
Interactive Graphics Solution from Sixty Plays with Ross Video
Pronology MAM, FileCatalyst Rule the Pitch New features in Pronology’s media asset management (MAM) system helps manage huge amounts of video content generated during TV coverage of major sports events, and patented UDP-based technology from an Ottawa-based developer enables super-fast media file transfers throughout big competitions like the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015. U.S. rightsholder FOX Sports (Bell Media’s CTV, TSN and RDS carried live coverage in Canada) had ambitious goals for its Women’s World Cup coverage. It
Pronology helps manage huge amounts of video content generated during major sports events.
SPORTScaster
needed streamlined capture and production workflows across multiple fixed and mobile locations for all of the matches, including the game recordings and ISO cameras, up to and including 4K resolution. FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 matches were played across Canada of course, and FOX coverage was coordinated from the International Broadcast Coordination Center in Vancouver. Post-production was done at two separate post-production facilities in Los Angeles. Pronology integrates the FileCatalyst API from Unlimi-Tech, so content can be moved among locations as needed. It was used to send more than 300 TBs of media during the World Cup, and at much faster rates than traditional file transfer methods, across a relatively inexpensive one Gb connection. “We are always excited to play a role in major sporting events, such as the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015,” said Chris Bailey, founder and CEO of Unlimi-Tech, the Ottawa-based creator of FileCatalyst. “FileCatalyst has a proven history when it comes to providing accelerated file transfer for live events, and that is something of which we are very proud.” ■
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Close-Ball Automation Brings Sports Audio into Focus
KICK system delivers fullyautomated close-ball audio mixes for live sportscasts.
As audio production techniques for major live sports continue to evolve, new automated control systems for close-ball mixing from Lawo are giving them a helpful boot forward. Patent-pending technology in the company’s new KICK system delivers high-quality, fully-automated close-ball audio mixes on sportscasts of soccer, rugby, and football, when interfaced with video image analysis and tracking systems. There’s a full graphical user interface for adjusting system parameters, including where microphones are placed, their polar patterns and microphone prioritization. Lawo says transparent sound pickup from the system’s high ‘noise-to-kick’ ratio significantly reduces crowd noise. Its automation gives consistent audio levels without noticeable fades in the broadcast mix, a mix that is fully repeatable from match to match. KICK is available as a software-only solution for productions using Lawo mc² mixing consoles, as well as a hardware bundled solution for productions using consoles from other manufacturers. ■ March 2016
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LEADER’s LV 5490 SD/HD/UHD multi-screen waveform monitor shows a football match in Madrid.
LEADER Covers La Liga in UHD As 4K UHD live sports production capabilities ramp up across the globe, brand new OB vehicles equipped specifically for UHD and multi-cam shooting in 4K bring the ability to capture the action in four times the detail of HD, while also delivering extraordinarily high quality HD downconversions. The images have to be great right from the start, of course, and equipment managers for ultra-high definition coverage of Real Madrid v Barcelona match earlier this season chose three LEADER LV 5490 multi-screen waveforms to monitor their groundbreaking production. Live coverage of the action came from 12 4K UHD cameras delivering wide angle and close-up coverage from various locations inside the Bernabeu. The UHD feed was distributed via satellite using MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) compression encoding, and to fibre customers using the new HEVC (H.265) compression standard. The firstever Ultra HD transmission of El Clásico had live video encoded at the stadium by a V-Nova PERSEUS-powered P.Link solution, sent with ultra low latency at 240 Mbps over a 1 Gb telco fibre connection to Master Control in Madrid. “This was a milestone event in terms of sports broadcasting,” described Jordi Rubio Gimeno, Manager of Media Burst, a Systems Integration company of the Mediapro group, a leading technical and management services supplier to the sports, broadcast and audiovisual sector. “The LV 5490 instruments provided exactly the features we needed to maintain the maximum possible signal quality across the incoming feeds from 12 full broadcast standard UHD cameras.” The monitor covers a full range of standard video production and transmission resolutions from 525 standard definition up to 4096 x 2160 4K UHD. It has a 1920 x 1080 9 inch LCD monitor for simultaneous analysis of up to four video channels. ■ SPORTScaster
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Tiger Series Tackles 4K With the advent of 4K as a production format and required deliverable, content producers need a new approach to their collaborative production and post pipelines. Advancements in CPU and GPU technology have brought unprecedented computing power to the desktop, enabling high-resolution colour correction, compositing and editing. Still, many organizations are hampered with storage products that have inherent sharing limitations and network bottlenecks. These basic setups can’t support high-res playback, and demand manual project management. Workarounds, like duplicating and shuffling material, require time and more storage, and increase cost, project management headaches and frustration. Tiger Technology has addressed these issues with the Tiger Series, a suite of advanced, high-performance, yet easy-to-use workflow solutions. Tiger Serve is a workflow controller that manages spinning or solid state disk storage, and is field-proven to share upwards of 20 GB/s bandwidth (using SSD) to multiple clients working with uncompressed 4K files. Dennis Kutchera, a veteran online Avid editor and colourist in Halifax, NS, works with a Tiger Store/AccuSys (ExaSAN) system every day. “When we moved production to UHD, it became clear that we would need storage with the speed and capacity to handle the larger files sizes, plus be able to move quickly from ingest to conform to colour grading and mastering.” Kutchera’s team had to balance performance and capacity requirements with budget. “We looked at the offerings from the usual suppliers of shared storage, but really couldn’t go there. By using Tiger and AccuSys, we got a lot more storage capacity and speed for far less money and the thing has not skipped a beat. The Avid Bin Locking works as you would expect and managing the system is very simple. We are not
IT people and don’t have to be. Tiger support is responsive when you need it, but we really have not had to call on them very often. We have left sneaker-net workflows where they belong - in the past.” DAV Solutions is the Canadian distribution partner for Tiger, and DAV President Chris Chahley notes, “The Tiger Series is an ecosystem of software and hardware products that seamlessly supports Macintosh, Windows and Linux clients. Advanced project management tools, full Avid Bin Locking support, integrated backup and archive, and rock solid performance have helped Tiger appliances gain prominence in today’s highly competitive marketplace. “Our Canadian Tiger customer base ranges from small 2 or 3 person post shops, university film and television programmers, broadcasters, commercial editing and post facilities with dozens of editors and CGI render nodes, to the National Film Board working with uncompressed 4K material,” Chahley says. “Customer satisfaction levels are high.” Laurie Martel, Operations Director at Triangle Post, a leading 4K shop in Toronto, uses a single node Tiger Serve1 controller and says “The Tiger Serve1 has proven to be a robust and dynamic solution for our 4K shared storage needs. DAV Solutions installed the system, gave us a primer and we were off to the races that afternoon. In a matter of days we were using the system in multiple Avid suites and have had ZERO downtime since the install. The flexibility it has allowed is invaluable and came at an affordable price.” “The flexibility and scalability of Tiger solutions holds great appeal in post environments worldwide,” adds David Pollock, Director of Sales at Tiger. “A modest initial setup can grow to provide extreme performance as required. We have customers that share in excess of 20 GB per second so they can collaboratively edit, composite and finish UHD, 4K, and now even 8K projects, in realtime.” ■
Tiger Series is an ecosystem of software and hardware products with support for Macintosh, Windows and Linux clients.
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Rec4Box OB is updating its fleet of production trailers for remote live sports and event production, such as the Red Bull Soapbox Derby in Montreal.
Rec4Box Hits the Road with 4KSupport Two Canadian television production service companies have formed a partnership to provide high-end remote video services to producers and broadcasters of live sports and large event coverage, including those requiring multi-cam and or 4K support. Rec4Box OB Factory and Departement Camera’s new business group, DC Mobiles, has three production trailers and more are set to hit the road very soon. Having worked with Rec4Box on big productions in the Quebec market – such as the Red Bull Soapbox Derby – Jacques Lamontagne, President of Departement Camera, says turnkey solutions for any event: trailers, cameras, lenses, grip, lighting, production staff and more will be available to customers in Canada and the U.S. Rec4Box OB is also collaborating with Belden’s Grass Valley to update and outfit its fleet of production trailers: the Corsair (Rec4Box’s updated 26’ vehicle) as well as the new 37’ 5th-wheel trailer Galleon series will both feature a Grass Valley Karrera K-Frame S-series video switcher. SPORTScaster
The Karrera has multi-format support, including 1080p and 4K, and is available with two or three M/Es. Rob Poretti, vice president sales & marketing, Rec4Box OB Factory, told Sportscaster Magazine that development of an all-IP infrastructure with full 4K production equipment will bring multi-format and multi-standard capabilities. “A few of our clients that are working in 4K use a ’hybrid’ approach; this allows them to shoot 4K on cameras with flash storage, while we work with HD proxies and allow the trailer to operate in a more standard fashion. The live show is switched in HD and the final post uses the 4K raw data. We have LUT boxes at each of our critical monitor positions so that we can even properly view raw signals and then perform the colour grading in post.” Rec4Box uses a new trailer linking technology in conjunction with Riedel MediorNet called oB-LINK. This allows all trailer signals to be linked via a single cable system, creating a much larger “virtual production space.” oB-LINK can also be used to connect the new 37’ trailer with the smaller 26’ trailer also manufactured by Rec4Box. ■
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