Archive - January, 2011

Interview with David Carothers, Mitsubishi via SVC

January 14, 2011 in Backteching with 1 Comment

Engineer from Mitsubishi did an interview with Sound & Video Contractor magazine on the LED install at CEC.   The pucks were a PITA for sure, and those guys did a great job with the install.  SVC may have set a record with the most variations on the name “Consol”.

One of the nice things about Mitsubishi is that there’s yet to be a module go dark.  The system over at Civic Arena was a nightmare and it happened almost nightly, even though the center display was only a few years old.

I know some of the other newer facilities with competing product aren’t having the same success as the Penguins are with Mits.  You get what you pay for, and beware of manufacturers buying jobs.

Untitled

January 12, 2011 in Backteching with 1 Comment

About The Aerial Camera At Winter Classic

January 3, 2011 in Backteching with 4 Comments

If you weren’t one of the lucky ones that attended the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh this Saturday, you no doubt watched NBC’s coverage and noticed a heavy reliance upon the aerial camera angle that’s so familiar to NFL audiences.

Those of you that follow me on Twitter know that I was less than excited was about this.  To be clear, it’s not the technology itself that bothered me but rather how it was used.  I’m a firm believer in trying new things to enhance how the game comes across on the broadcast.  We’ve installed the dasher cams  here at Consol Energy Center and have looked seriously about an aerial camera both at the Civic Arena and here at the new barn.

But bottom line, you have to know when it’s working, when it’s not,  and be able to adjust.

One of the most basic rules of TV production is the “180 degree” rule.   In hockey terms, think of an imaginary line running down the center of the ice, stretching from net to net.  All main game cameras are on one side of that line, thus ensuring the goaltenders are consistently in the same spot – right or left – of your screen.  Those that “cross the line” are the reverse angle.

This is my main problem with how the aerial camera was used.   The camera repeatedly crossed the center line, leaving me confused as to which way the puck was moving and who was in possession.  When they would then cut back to main game camera, it was actually jarring.

With all that in mind, I think that this is something that could work for hockey, although frankly I think this would be difficult with the elevation of the center hung displays.

Here’s what I see as the pitfalls, and what has to be overcome to make this viable.

1. Have a plan for the breakouts
I think that the toughest thing with this shot was the fact that it’s impossible to predict which side of the ice the breakouts are coming from.  Let’s say that the Penguins enter the zone on the near boards.  Aerial camera is right above them so they are moving left to right.  Caps take possession behind the net, aerial camera is now centered at the blue line moving towards puck carrier. Caps breakout comes up the far boards, aerial cam now crosses the 180 line to follow behind puck carrier but because of angle he needs to widen his framing a little bit giving the perspective of the Caps now going left to right.  Now since the camera stayed live the entire time, our brain was able to reconcile the fact that the Caps are moving to the correct goal since it was one extended shot.

Problem comes when the director cuts back to the main camera, the Caps are now going right to left.  It’s jarring. It takes a second to realize that the Caps didn’t lose the puck, we just got the direction change from going back to our proper side of the 180 line.

There’s a fix for this, and it’s simple consistency.   The skycam operator has to have an assignment on what to do when the puck is in a certain spot on the ice, and he has to to the same thing each time.  The director needs to develop the rhythm to optimize both the traditional camera and aerial came so it enhances, not distracts.

In baseball for example, there are specific assignments for the multitude of cameras that dictate what shot gets used when depending on the play and location of the action.  Something like that would certainly help to integrate aerial cam.

2. Zoom in
When using specialty cameras there’s a tendency to show off.  Aerial cameras and jib arms are usually brought in for color, and as a result there’s a lot of the ‘rise up, pan, and zoom’ type of moves to, for lack of  better words, pretty things up.

Integrating this type of camera into live play means that you have to remember that the action is the most important thing.  I think there were several examples where the camera just ended up zoomed out way too far to properly show the play.  I think with the non-stop, change on-the-fly aspect of hockey makes this even more important.  While the Eric Fehr goal was from the blimp camera and not the skycam, it serves as a perfect example of this.  I was left trying to see what was going on instead of really understanding what was happening at that moment.

3. Get lower
When we were investigating something similar to this here in Pittsburgh, one of the draws for me was the ability to drop that camera down very low (10 feet) between whistles to catch the drama that goes on between plays.  I have to go back and re-watch to see how much of this that they did, but I think if there’s a way to get it low enough to feel like you are in the middle of a scrum, or be a few feet away from two players jawwing back and forth on the way to the bench it would be exceptional.

4. Use, don’t abuse
With anything new, knowing when to use it is paramount to user/viewer acceptance.  I think in this case, there was an effort to work it in as much as possible whether or not it was fitting for that moment of the broadcast.  This should improve in time.

Again, as one who loves to push new technology and newer ways of delivering the game, I’m excited to see the effort to bring something different to the broadcast.  Judging by the complaints heard on this particular application, there’s work to be done to make it something we look forward to having on telecasts and maybe it should have been used a little more sparingly.  On the positive side, it gave NBC and other networks an ample look at the good and bad with this technology, and I would expect to see it a lot smoother the next go around.

Scoreboard Prep For Winter Classic

January 1, 2011 in Backteching with 0 Comments

Back when I was still working in the game presentation end of things, I can’t remember how many times that I said a silent prayer asking for the game to be delayed.  A couple hours, a day, thirty minutes.  Anything to give time to just squeeze a few more things into what we were doing that night.  Of course, it never happened, nor did I expect it to, but it was one of those things that crosses your mind when you work in a world of endless tight deadlines.
Well hey, today it actually happened – the NHL and Penguins game entertainment crew got that opportunity with a slight reprieve due to the elements.  In reality, much of the work had already been done and has been going on for months, with a heavy concentration in the last several weeks.
According to Rod Murray, Sr. Director, Entertainment and Production Operations, the prep process has been ongoing since early December.  “Our Game Entertainment Manager Billy Wareham and Lead Graphics Designer Dori Minnis have easily put forth the most time and effort assisting the NHL w/ preparing event LED and Video board content” Murray said, “our game presentation colleagues with the Steelers have also been a fantastic partner to work with throughout this process, making their production staff and facilities readily available to us.”
One thing that fans should realize coming in is that the Winter Classic is an NHL event — and therefore more of a lean towards a neutral site matchup.  However, Murray says the fans should expect a lot of Pittsburgh touches in the presentation.
“This is a league-driven event, so it’s their show.  However, as the host team and city, a variety of signature Penguins (and Steelers) elements are being integrated to provide a “Pittsburgh Penguins Home Game” atmosphere.”
Preparing for an event that’s out of the normal routine is nothing new for game presentation staffs.  However, with a busy December schedule the WC prep has made things even crazier than the “normal crazy”.
“Obviously everything we’re doing is in addition to our normal Penguins games, projects, and special events responsibilities.  And of course this is also taking place during a very busy holiday season for our employees and their families.  So aside from primarily helping the NHL prep media content to fit the unique board configurations at Heinz Field, our video team has spent the majority of their time covering as many Winter Classic activities as possible for our online PensTV channel and our “Inside Penguins Hockey” magazine show – it’s been a very busy last few weeks to say the least.”
Murray brings up an interesting point in the uniqueness of the scoreboard at Heinz Field.  The screens at Consol Energy Center and most HD venues are 16:9 or at worst 2:1.  Heinz Field is neither. “The Heinz Field video/LED display configuration is a unique 4:1 format unto itself – meaning it’s not standard def 4:3 and it’s not 16:9 HD” Murray said, adding “the NHL has devised an interesting way to deliver a 16:9 format video feed while also providing scoring information and partner graphics on the far left portion of the video board to fill out the 4:1 display – it seems to work well.”
It will be interesting to see the blend of Penguins/NHL/Caps/Steelers elements over there.  Looking forward to hearing comments on the “feel” of the game from those of you attending.
Also, PensTV has had amazing coverage all week of what’s been going on over at the North Side.  Do yourself a favor and check it out to see what you may have missed.