Filming Beijing

Sportsvision

Sportvision is to digital enhancement as Garret Brown is to cool camera technology Famous for its First and Ten line and infamous for the glowing puck, Sportvision has a variety of technology that also deserves a bit more love.

Stromotion: Powered by Dartfish, Stromotion gets its name from the strobe like effect it creates on replay footage. A series of static images along an objects’ trajectory creates a flipbook-like effect for anything from baseball pitches [left] to gymnasts flipping through the air. In Beijing, the enhancement has been used in everything from diving, to baseball to equestrian. From truly watching the break on a breaking ball or analyzing the toe point on a gymnast, broadcasters and viewers can’t seem to get enough. For some Stromotion clips from Beijing click here.

Simulcam: The older brother of Stromotion, Simulcam takes athletes competing on the same course at different times and allows them to compete simultaneously on the television. In track it provides a unique view on the progression of a race, while diving lets viewers compare jump height, angles of entry and even the splash in impressive side-by-side footage. Also powered by Dartfish, the technology combines footage from two different shots automatically compensating for differences in pan, tilt and zoom. It’s even cool for dog shows (see below).

Video Overlay: Even your most obsessed Olympic aficionado might confuse the flags of Kazakhstan and Mozambique after a few beers on Saturday night. Arguably Sportvision’s simplest technology is also its most effective. Video overlay blankets perfectly colored flags onto the lanes [right] of a track, a swimming pool or a river without blurring the event in the least. For distance events, Sportvision will even throw in a virtual line so we know just how far they have to jump for gold.