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CBS
Sports Eyes Final Four
Broadcasting and Cable
By Michael Grotticelli
3/26/2001
CBS Sports will use its EyeVision technology during
NCAA Final Four coverage. EyeVision, first used at this year's Super
Bowl in Tampa Bay, Fla., was inspired by the special effects of the
feature film The Matrix, potentially providing a 360-degree view of a
still replay image.
At the Super Bowl, the effect—used sparingly during
the game and once during the half-time show—required 30 cameras on
robotic heads spaced approximately 6 degrees apart around the stadium.
During the network's Final Four coverage March 30-April 1 in
Minneapolis, 30 cameras will be used to create a "slightly less
than" 360-degree view. (In Tampa, approximately 270 degrees was
achieved, according to those present.)
The Metrodome is a little more difficult because of
its large size, according to Ken Aagaard, senior vice president,
operations and production services, for CBS. "The NCAA has closed
off part of the arena with a huge drape, and we really don't have enough
cameras to cover the complete dome. So we're going to go about 250
degrees, with the cameras at every 6 degrees on columns that are high up
in the dome. It's going to give us a little steeper angle, and we're not
sure exactly what this will mean. In addition, we're looking at a
smaller field of play, so, in some ways, it's going to restrict us more
than we were" at the Super Bowl.
"That's the bad news," Aagaard continues.
"The good news is that it's going to allow us to focus on areas
like the free-throw line, mid-court and the basket, so calibrating the
cameras will, hopefully, be a bit easier for us to do. Remember, it's
just our second show" using EyeVision; "we're still learning
as we go."
The fact that CBS is "experimenting" with
the technology on-air during two of its most important telecasts says a
lot about Aagaard's belief in the technology's potential. "This is
the only way to develop the technology," he says. "It's not
like you can go out and practice, because it's too expensive to do. We
made a conscious decision that we were going to try it, and we've stuck
to our plan."
Virtually the same system used in Tampa will be used
in Minneapolis. A separate server channel records each camera's output,
allowing an operator to freeze a replay and cut between Doremi Labs'
multiple digital-disk recorders. This provides the capability to rotate
the viewer perspective around a still image of play before resuming
action. Inside a CBS production truck parked outside the stadium, a
single camera operator controls one of the robotic units while the other
29 cameras automatically synchronize their corresponding angles, via
sophisticated software algorithms. Everything moves in unison, to create
the 360-degree effect. Several
BUF Technology remote devices control a Sierra Video Systems
serial-digital-video The operator chooses additional cameras for shading—filling
in the view—using custom software provided by The Field Shop.
A few minor "tweaks" to the system since
Tampa, according to Aagaard, include increased power and the
installation of faster processing chips. The staff will also have less
time to set up the system, about seven days instead of the two weeks
they needed the first time around.
"We're going to stay the course, based on what
we started with the Super Bowl," he said. "We do see making
some improvements to the 'tweening' software" to make the playback
look smoother, "but we don't know when it will be done."
Future events on Aagaard's schedule could include a
soccer tournament in Milan, Italy (the entire system will be shipped in
packing crates) at the end of May or the Stanley Cup Finals on ESPN.
There's little doubt that, as with the virtual
first-down marker used in televising football games, the EyeVision
effect will eventually begin to show up on other networks because the
system is only partly owned by CBS (in fact, it owns only a minority
stake). In a deal announced in January, The Revolution Co., a joint
venture of Princeton Video Image and Core Digital Technologies, owns the
licensing rights and will operate the system in the future.
In fact, although CBS developed the concept for
EyeVision, Core Digital will provide the personnel to operate the system
for any network or foreign broadcaster that wants to use it, while PVI
continues to improve the software. PVI also supplies the virtual
first-down marker to CBS NFL telecasts.
"The system is ready for anybody to use,"
Aagaard says. "PVI and Core Digital technologies are very good
strategic partners: Core Digital stores and archives video digitally,
which is great for EyeVision because now we have a way to keep all of
this material and repurpose it. With its expertise, PVI is a very good
partner technically for us as well."
The eventual plan is to install EyeVision systems
permanently in stadiums and arenas across the country; according to
Aagaard, the company is currently in negotiations with several.
"Right now, there's only one system, and it will
be that way for a while," he says. "We have to figure out how
to make the [next generation of systems] cheaper and more flexible. All
of that will come with time." |
