Just what happens out here………..

I thought I’d throw down a challenge for the new VadoHD video camera, so from down in the mosh with fans galore please enjoy this first of 5 complete tunes from this great band at the Shakori Hills Festival in Silk Hope,NC. It is presented in HD and I am still processing in iMovie to shore up the “steady-cam” quotient.

The HorseFlies perform Drunkard’s Child,April-2009 from Steve Fisher on Vimeo.

Alas snfmixer from Ustream has gone off the air for this show. Stay tuned to his feed it was quite a nice visit with all my friends working great coverage of the 2009 ACC Basketball tourney in Atlanta. Great job everyone.

We had another opportunity to use the Lance Design ADX units at SuperBowl 43 this year in Tampa FL. We created a cobranet distribution system for the audio portion of the international telecast of the NFL’s SuperBowl43. The solution was key in keeping cabling costs ( both shipping and installation) at a manageable level as the world economy continued to tank in Q1 of 2009. Additionally the quality,low latency, and flexibility in routing the digitized signal proved to be integral to our complex distribution needs. The accompanying diagram shows the general flow of the network which involved sourcing audio content from NBC’s compound a good 500 meters, on fiber to the international television compound on the opposite end of the stadium. When the network reached our compound we integrated a monitoring station, an analog conversion station, a transmission station and distribution network to the international client base. This year that client base numbered more than a dozen onsite, many of whom were within the cobranet spec of 100 meters, so we could use Cat5 to get the signals to them. Some of the clients were across a road a good 300M away. For these folks we were able to use the switched network and GBIC connectors to convert the signal to fiber and have a receiving switch at the other end providing more networking capability.
Perhaps the single biggest benefit to the cobranet system was its ability to leverage IT based technology to distribute digital audio at a significant savings over analog audio and all its inherent issues (grounding/crosstalk/broken wires,etc). Additionally the network appliance offers greater distributive power than is available over point to point fiber based solutions. All these benefits were obtained from built-in fiber ports on standard, LOW-COST ethernet switches for the fiber transmission.
One of the keys to the design of the network, was the ability to provide audio slates for signal paths so the client trucks would have both a voice ID and a reference tone to see that their feeds were correct prior to game-time. The Lance ADX boxes provided us with a way to get these slates on and off the distributed circuits in a simple fashion without having to interrupt the network flow. In fact by use of user memories in the ADX box we were able to configure a “slate” mode and a “game” mode so that 1 switch changed the user configuration with ease. In particular this was helpful for the elaborate transmission scheme that was necessary to provide unique content to various international systems while keeping the world production truck, NBC’s production trucks and other client’s in preproduction mode. Had it been as simple as switching to bars and tone as might be standard from a given production truck life would have been easier, but alas, the need for surround components and a variety of sources demanded a more efficient design.

This years team included the usual suspects of Steve Urick, Steve Fisher and a guest appearance by Bill Lance himself (creator of the ADX cobranet based system) who had worked on a number of SuperBowls in years past. The growth of the international feed, which might once have been considered a “split”, has been staggering and Bill had some unique insights that made the entire effort a much more manageable affair.

In addition to the source content from various show elements we used an Alesis 24HD recorder with loop points to playback our audio slates. The slates themselves were voiced up at NFL Films in NJ and edited on site with Apple’s SoundTrack Pro before being ingested into the Alesis for playback. This unit proved to be a great solution to a problem that had not been dealt with effectively in the past.

We had a great opportunity to work with ESPN again in 2008 mixing for their service, ESPN-360, which is a subscription based business model for unique content delivery via the web. In this particular case we had a multiple shows going to multiple distribution points. Specifically an application was written for each of the following content delivery concerns. Direct TV, Echo-Star, and ESPN’s in house web delivery vehicle ESPN 360. Each in its own right is a subscription based model, with the Direct TV application being the most evolved.
IPTV
is one of many areas that ESPN is experimenting with. The core effort is providing unique content that the viewer see enough value in to warrant their subscription dollars.
From the creation and origination standpoint there were some firsts for this outing. For example the uplink to get the feeds out to the distribution was carrying 4 Standard Definition feeds and 3 Hi Definition feeds ( all the Hi Def audio feeds were embedded with the AJA HD10AVA ), all paths transmitting out of 1 unit with our man Eric at the helm.
The Bexel production truck was tended to by John and Lane from Dallas doing an incredible job of working on a super tight turnaround for a show that had not been built before.
Of the 4 feeds generated from the remote sight both the Up Close and the Par 3 show saw the lion share of production work, basically creating content in 2 hour chucks and turning it around, then repeating the process for the 37 hours of content built out in the 2 days of preliminary rounds of the USGA’s US Open.
I’ve posted a 1 minute video here ( no audio ) just to demonstrate 1 of the applications that was serviced by this undertaking.

Direct TV demo of interface from Steve Fisher on Vimeo.
In short the Direct TV viewer had the option to view multiple shows at once and call up leaderboards and player stats with this application. The Echo-star build out seemed to suffer from latency in downloading its application and the ESPN 360 interface on the web was promising but suffered bandwidth issues at out monitoring point (the originating compound for the telecast in San Diego).
It would seem as things move forward with the IPTV efforts that some attempt to unify the presentation across platforms would be in order. This can be quite a tall order with all the parties involved but ultimately the end user will speak to what is working and what is not by buying the services or not. It seems that the always hungry for action NASCAR folks have moved forward in this regard with the advent of this sight
With the US Open behind us we’re moving into the summer with some new territory with some live blogging efforts from a leadership training concern in Denver CO. More to follow.

Last week we had a great opportunity to work a significant sporting event in the golfing world and help tell the live unfolding story in a way that few shows have the budget for. We shot Hi Def video with a Sony 900 Cine-Alta in support of the live telecast and archive footage for the NBC production team covering the Tournament Players Championship in Jacksonville Florida. While providing higher resolution and heavier weight than many cameras the audio portion remains distinctly analogue. This speaks to a greater issue in the integration of audio in the evolving Hi Def live production world. We’ll be speaking to this in future posts. I was a support player to world class image maker Ricky Lee Harrell, and affectionately referred to as “stickboy” in homage to getting his tripod where he needed it before he needed it, a task at which I had occasional success.
The coverage demanded of this crew differs from traditional “game coverage” in that more time can be taken to frame the subjects of the story and present a view that the live coverage folks can’t get, usually due to the expediency with which they must move to their next position.
While the audio needs for this effort were modest, the physical demands, communication and ability to change tools quickly were paramount.
I noted a few changes on the PGA course since my last endeavor of this nature. Specifically the larger than life video display boards located through out the course and also the existence of “the Green Team”. In the 20 plus years I have been covering golf the crowds continue to expand but these 2 elements were new to me.

The live billboards offer the attendees to have, not only specific statistics on the player present at the green where the board resides, but also a live leader board and live or replayed video from a local network of cameras as well as the Television network feed. Quite an abundance of information that allows folks to be informed about the event.
Here is a look at a stats page that offers a glimpse of its size and ability to project information in full sunlight:

The camera position Ricky Lee chose was always determined on the fly, usually keeping foreground and background elements in the design thought process. The use of the either of the lenses (both standard and wide angle) was typically determined as we approached the shooting position. The shooting position itself was never know until we arrived at the specific location. In this image we see the contrast of regular shooting coverage versus our position that offered some organic framing options. Less concentration on the actual striking or trajectory of the ball and more focus on the player. With the lens fully zoomed in one could get a great reveal of the subject’s face after the ball strike and have it accented by the sawgrass and flora in the foreground and the dense green of trees behind the subject.

Here’s a view of our cart load. We would strike out, typically prior to air time and have all these tools at ready. The full tripod was the key player but we would shift to either the baby legs, the sand bag, or lens shift (kept in the white roadcase) in a matter of 30 seconds as was necessary for Ricky Lee to get the unique images he was after. Of particular note is the packing blanket we keep in the bed so as to muffle ant disturbing rattles as we dashed around the course and the bags to protect gear in case the rains suddenly appeared.

Also 2 critical items were kept at ready in the “glove box” of the cart. Power for the camera and water for the operators to keep everyone replenished in the 6 to 8 hours of continued exposure of 90+ degree weather.

A decidedly non tech side of the event was the new inclusion of kids outfitted with garbage bags and these fine shirts. It seems the PGA and The Green Team have found its far better to have ongoing clean up efforts during these events rather than after, so the Green Team members were on the constant prowl for overflowing bags to convert.

Ultimately this extra non live camera position, offers a great way to help tell this story that unfolds in a way that only sport can provide. The ability to draw the viewer into the story line quickly is a challenge, but a challenge that was met by hard work, concentration and sometimes just plain old good luck of being in the right place and the right time.