NCAA Women's Final Four: ESPN Preps for Momentous Weekend With Stacked Production-Tech Arsenal

NCAA Women's Final Four: ESPN Preps for Momentous Weekend With Stacked Production-Tech Arsenal Arsenal includes Rail Cam, Skycam, drone, seven SSMOs, two cinema cameras, Canon FreeViewpoint, Cosm VR highlights By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.

Friday, April 5, 2024 - 3:32 pm

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All eyes will be on Cleveland this weekend for what promises to be one of the most historic chapters in the history of women's basketball. Coming off mind-boggling ratings for the Elite Eight, ESPN is pulling out all the stops for coverage of the NCAA Women's Final Four at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. It's a revelrous moment for ESPN's production and operations teams, who, between Women's College Basketball and the WNBA, work tirelessly all year to grow the sport of women's basketball.

All pre/postgame and halftime shows are being produced onsite in Cleveland, along with other ESPN studio shows.

Our team has always recognized the excitement and athleticism of women's basketball, says Catherine Chalfant, manager, remote production operations, ESPN. It's special to be a part of this event when the rest of the world is just as focused on the event. To see the fruits of our labor pay off in such a historic manner, with unprecedented viewership, has been the icing on the cake to what has been a very special season. And we know the best is yet to come this weekend in Cleveland.

In addition to the primary broadcasts of tonight's semifinals on ESPN and Sunday's National Championship on ABC - all produced in 1080p - ESPN has brought back its signature MegaCast presentations across multiple platforms. The popular The Bird & Taurasi Show Presented returns for its third year, along with the Beyond the Rim aerial camera view and On the Rail feed from the Railcam. All pre/postgame and halftime shows are being produced onsite, as are several other ESPN studio shows.

The tournament has been very successful, and we had no doubt from the start that it would be, says Chalfant. We have been in lock step with our production team [on] collectively taking our coverage to the next level. We've grown and enhanced each round as we've led into the Final Four. The momentum of increased viewership has fueled our team's fire to be on our A game throughout the entire tournament.

Hello, Cleveland! ESPN Deploys Massive Operation at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse With a crew of more than 250 onsite, ESPN has rolled out NEP EN1 mobile unit (A, B, C, and D units) and WillScott office trailers for the edit team. EN1 A and B are dedicated to game coverage, and EN1 C, new this year, is housing both game and studio EVS replay operations.

ESPN has rolled out the NEP's EN1 mobile unit (A, B, C, and D units) in Cleveland.

Our setup is growing year over year, says Chalfant. We have added the EN1 C unit because our complement has outgrown the B unit. However, through all the increased viewership and interest this year, our goal is still to broadcast this event as efficiently as possible.

EN1 D will house all pre/postgame and halftime studio shows, digital productions, and The Elle Duncan Show (live from Cleveland this week), which are all line-cut productions that are sent to Bristol. During the Final Four and Championship games, the D unit will also serve as home to the Bird & Taurasi Show MegaCast feed, which is being produced again as a 13-path REMI Pro out of ESPN's Charlotte, NC, facilities.

We have spent a lot of time this year with production re-envisioning the look and the setup for this show, says Chalfant. We are excited to see it come to life this weekend.

ESPN will also produce Libero telestration graphics as a downstream integration from Bristol.

EN1 A and B are dedicated to game coverage, and EN1 C is accommodating both game and studio EVS replay operations.

The broadcaster has two primary studio sets - one indoor set, one outdoor set - in the middle of Party on the Plaza, as well as a backup weather studio concourse location and The Bird & Taurasi Show set.

In terms of transmission, ESPN has more than 25 outbound paths and seven return paths out of Cleveland. Primary transmission will be via fiber (provided by The Switch), with a Kauffman Satellite uplink as backup. In addition, ESPN is deploying numerous Haivision IP encoders to transmit and receive press conferences, watch parties, and other various ancillary feeds.

Railcam, Skycam, and Drone Highlight Stacked Camera Fleet NEP's AVS is on hand again this year with the RF Railcam providing sweeping coverage across the court.

ESPN has deployed a whopping 44 cameras across its shows in Cleveland: 32 dedicated to the game, seven for the indoor studio, four shared with outdoor studio and ancillary shows, and five for the Bird & Taurasi Show.

ESPN has partnered with NEP's AVS (Aerial Video Systems) again this year on the RF Railcam to provide end-to-end coverage across the court. Also deployed will be a Skycam above the court, a jib, and an outdoor drone camera positioned at nearby Progressive Field - all with full virtual-graphics capabilities. And the broadcaster has more than doubled its complement of super-slo-mo cameras from three in 2023 to seven this weekend.

ESPN Director Jimmy Platt's arsenal includes a pair of cinematic cameras: a Sony HDC-F5500 with Fujinon's new 24-300mm lens on the far-side baseline, covering the team benches, and a Sony HDC-4800 with Fuji Duvo 25-1000 lens in a slash position (returning from last year's Final Four). In addition to providing dramatic cine-style shots of the action, the footage will be fed to the edit team in the truck to create quick-turnaround teases, features, and other high-end content.

We had both of those cinematic cameras [for the Elite Eight games] in Albany to capture k

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/04/05/ncaa-womens-final-four-espn-rea...
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