Controlling
The Vision
Digital TV
by Michael Grottecelli
EyeVision's complexity funnels down to how easy it is to use during a
game (and in the case of the Super Bowl, the halftime show). To control
30 cameras and 30 DDR channels with minimal manpower takes sophisticated
controls and integration.
"Unlike a storyboarded film production, where the in-between
shots need only be stills, the unpredictable live action of sports
requires that the begin, in-between, and end cameras all be full motion.
This adds many useful advantages, like the ability to select cameras
on-the-fly, and to make the 'swoop' occur while motion is in
progress," says Bruce Bredon of BUF Technology, San Diego, who
supplied the custom router control system and replay panels. "I
anticipate that this system will catch on, and improve both technically
and in the methods operators will develop to use its flexibility. The
use of EyeVision during the halftime show, for instance, illustrated how
well the effect works with live cameras as well as for replay."
Several BUF VTC-2000 compact remote controllers controlled a Sierra
Video Systems Yosemite 64x64D serial digital video router to select the
master camera used for aiming, and to select cameras for shading using
custom CCU software provided by The Field Shop, of Little Rock, AR., who
also did the systems integration. The replay operator used another
VTC-2000 to control the on-air swoop and a BUF VTS-5000/Slide slow
motion controller attached to 30 Doremi Labs V1D DDRs via a DNF Controls
SW32PS-422 port switcher to control playback speed.
