2010 FIFA World Cup Technology
Jun 1, 2010 12:00 PM, By Sergio Napolitano
EVS and HBS collaborate from ingest playout.
EVS operators at the 2006 World Cup operate the slow-motion capture and replay.
Appointed as the host broadcaster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Host Broadcast Services (HBS) renewed its partnership with EVS to provide instant tapeless technology and support services for the production of this world-class event.
EVS technologies are involved at different levels of the host broadcast production, including the live production of the 64 matches. The OB facilities use these systems for the production of live slow-, super slow- and ultra-slow motion replays, best clip compilations, and creation of highlights packages.
EVS also provides a full HD multiple feed ingest and media exchange using a large media server based on network XT[2] servers. This offers instant access to any content recorded during the competition with enhanced search and low-resolution browsing systems, allowing broadcasters to interchange media content.
The media recorded and logged into the media server includes nine different feeds from the pitch, plus ENG files from the 40 field reporting crews.
To maximize the remote access to the content, the broadcaster uses Web server systems already operated by HBS for the Ligue 1 Football production in France. The system enables broadcasters to access, browse and review the edited sequences produced by the ENG team at the different venues on a Web-based solution for download in SD or HD.
EVS' Xedio editing solution is being used for the production of 24/7 news programs, as well as to provide remote access to file-based ENG through the Web production system.
Different broadcasters, known as media rights licensees (MRLs), are provided with browsing tools to access, review, clip and import material for their own production crews.
Last but not least, EVS systems manage the ingest of dedicated mobile feeds with live streaming onto Apple Xsan and FCP editor for instant delivery to mobile network operators (MNOs).
Production at venues
While traditional league matches are shot with an average of 12 to 18 cameras, 30 cameras are being used for the FIFA World Cup matches, plus an additional aerial camera and cable camera over the pitch for some matches.
In addition to standard cameras, HBS is operating a series of super slow- and ultra-motion cameras. To ensure the production of live replays, slow-motion action replays, highlights and closers during a live football match, all cameras are recorded on EVS video production servers installed in the outside broadcast facilities located in the broadcast compound, at the venue, during the event.
Multicamera recording
About 130 XT[2] servers are deployed in the fleet of OB trucks working at the different venues in South Africa. These digital video recorders manage the acquisition of all cameras surrounding the pitch. They are based on a loop recording process so that not even a single shot is missed. Their live-oriented architecture (with a high level of redundancy and fault tolerance, ensuring that no failure can interrupt the workflow) guarantees the level of control needed for instant replays, highlights editing, clips compilations and graphics overlay managed by the OB production team during the matches. Each server can simultaneously ingest and control up to six feeds per server.
During the production of a match, all the XT servers installed in the OBs are linked together, allowing operators and production teams to share content and control media recorded on the XT[2] network. The servers are ganged together through a dual media sharing network consisting of an XNet[2] network based on high-bandwidth SDTI and a standard GigE network.
Any feed recorded on one server can be reviewed, converted to a clip and played out from any other server. This allows operators to exchange clips and highlights with other operators gathering all the best sequences and actions that will then be transferred to the International Broadcast Center (IBC) in Johannesburg.
During the production of the matches in the OB trucks, the large number of I/O XT channels are controlled by multiple systems, including the MulticamLSM and IPDirector.
The MulticamLSM remote controller is used for all live slow-motion, super- and ultra-motion replays, multicamera actions clipping, and quick highlight or closer creations. In addition, LSM controllers point out the offside positions of the players through the insert of a virtual offside line graphic overlay recently integrated onto the system.
The IPDirector is used for the multicamera ingest and server network control, browsing and logging operations. In addition, a timeline editing module of IPDirector, called IPEdit, will create highlights and clip compilations. With IPEdit, HBS editors benefit from instant access and control over the XT[2] recording channels, with no need for media transfer, encoding and decoding processes. The IPDirector is also used to manage the transfer of clips and sequences onto third-party post-production tools.
Live editing operations
A total of 150 MulticamLSM systems are used at the different venues for all live replays, including slow-motion, super-motion (three-phase cameras) and ultra-motion camera replays. EVS is used for all replay actions of ultra-motion camera sequences managing up to 1000 frames per second. In addition, HBS LSM operators use the system for the creation of on-the-fly highlights and closers played during slack periods or to illustrate interesting actions happening during the game, such as a goal, penalties and crowd reaction.
Clip compilation and near-live timeline editing
HBS production at the venues compiles all the best sequences and replays occurring during the matches. These sequences combined as one single feed are transferred to the IBC and ingested to the media server to be available to all HBS and MRL production teams.
The creation and gathering of clips by the HBS teams in the OB trucks at each venue is managed using MulticamLSM and IPDirector clip and playlist management tools. The clip compilation gathers all the best action recorded on the servers during the match, such as multicamera angles of goals, public reaction, and super-motion and ultra-motion sequences. To facilitate the compilation of all the best action replays, as well as player and crowd reaction clips, an HBS team working in the OBs on the IPDirector has real-time access to all logs created by another HBS team in the IBC in Johannesburg using the IPlogger interface.
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