Live From MLB All-Star 2019: In Dramatic HR Derby, ESPN Takes Fans Deeper With Statcast Edition,' 4DReplay Massive effort produces primary telecast and alternative viewing experience By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - 3:59 pm
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In a night that saw a record 312 home runs - including a whopping 91 from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. alone - ESPN delivered arguably the most dramatic Home Run Derby telecast ever. Whether watching the primary telecast on ESPN or the Statcast Edition alternative viewing experience on ESPN2, fans were in for a treat last night. And ESPN's production team did not disappoint, deploying 4DReplay system, FlyCam aerial system, 3D spray charts of home runs, and more.
With all the data that is collected now for baseball, we are always looking for better ways to deliver that data to make it more engaging for the fan, Phil Orlins, senior coordinating producer, MLB, ESPN, said prior to the Home Run Derby. We really feel that the Derby is a perfect place to highlight a lot of that data. With tools like the [3D spray] home-run charts and 4DReplay, we can give fans a deeper look. For those looking to take an even deeper dive into the analytics, the Statcast [alternative feed] is a perfect place.
ESPN's Statcast Edition Back for More at the Derby
For the second consecutive year, ESPN produced a Home Run Derby Statcast Edition (powered by AWS) featuring an analytics-driven presentation with 3D spray charts of home-run paths, exit velocity and launch angle, and deeper analysis provided by play-by-play voice Jason Benetti, analyst Eduardo Perez, and MLB Statcast analyst Mike Petriello. Following positive feedback on last year's Statcast Edition for the Derby, ESPN also produced a Statcast Edition for its coverage of the NL Wildcard Game last October.
ESPN Production Enhancements team deployed a new system for 3D Home Run spray charts
In addition, for the first time, ESPN offered a one-hour Baseball Tonight alternative viewing on ESPN2 featuring Benetti, Perez, and Petriello.
I am so excited about the Statcast show this year: not only are we bringing back the coverage for the Derby, but we also have a unique Baseball Tonight show, which will provide a lot more time to go deeper, said Orlins. Unlike when we did the [Statcast Edition] for the Wild Card game, the Derby is very aggressively paced, so they have all this great information, but they don't have a lot of downtime to get it on-air. That is why having the hour of Statcast Baseball Tonight is great.
ESPN's Statcast Edition feed of the HR Derby featured an edition of Baseball Tonight for the first time.
Statcast was produced out of its own truck this year - Harb Productions' Sophie unit - having shared a control room with Baseball Tonight in ESPN's main NEP EN1 truck last year. ESPN leveraged its GREMI (graphics-remote-integration] model for the Statcast Edition feed, locating two EVS replay operators and a Vizrt graphics operator at its headquarters in Bristol, CT.
Since the [Statcast Edition] show expanded a little bit and is gaining in popularity, we thought it best to get a small dedicated truck for that this year, said ESPN Remote Operations Manager Paul Horrell. It's a totally different type of broadcast that runs concurrent to the main broadcast. Our job, from a remote-ops perspective, is to make sure we have enough horsepower to do what they want to do, as well as maintain agility to be able to deal with last-minute changes that come up with a unique show like this.
ESPN created custom animations for each player as part of the 3D spray charts at HR Derby.
ESPN's Production Enhancements department also launched a brand-new system to create 3D home-run spray charts for each player's round. The system was available on the mid-first camera and featured cartoon-like player graphics followed by AR graphics showing the path of each home run hit in a single round (red lines representing homers of more than 440 ft.).
ESPN's Derby Cameras: 4DReplay Returns, FlyCam Debuts
After debuting the 4DReplay system on last year's Derby, ESPN leaned in to the system this year, airing 4DReplay packages after almost every single competitor in last night's Derby.
The 4DReplay system relies on 60 4K cameras mounted on the concourse level behind home plate and stretching from first to third base.
The 4DReplay system at Progressive Field relies on 60 4K cameras tied together.
The cameras are tied together, and, for each play, the single operator selects the pivot point on which the camera axis turns. The operator can manipulate the replay from side to side and can zoom in without losing resolution (thanks to 4K). Since 4DReplay simply stitches together 60 camera feeds and does not have to virtually create filler frames, no rendering is required, allowing clips to be ready in under 10 seconds and sent on to the ESPN EVS replay room in the truck.
It's really exciting because they can turn a replay around for you in 10 seconds, but there are [editorial] challenges, too, Orlins explained. When you do normal replays, all you have to decide is whether or not to use that shot. With [4DReplay], there are almost infinite choices in terms of what you can do with a replay. Are they picking the right thing to execute in terms of what your talent wants to talk about? That's the challenge.
Inside the 4DReplay operator booth at Progressive Field.
In addition, Perez was provided the 4DReplay tablet app for the Statcast Edition production, allowing him to control the replay system himself.
That takes longer to turn around, said Orlins, but it gives Eduardo the choice: he can choose where to start it, where to stop it, where to zoom, where to spin, go up and go to the side. It's important to put these tool
