Bigger and Greener: ESPN Adds VR Announcer Headsets, Boosts Tracking Tech for Second NHL Big City Greens Classic The animated alternative broadcast will once again replicate the action on the ice By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Friday, March 8, 2024 - 3:01 pm
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Cricket, Tilly, and the entire Green family will be back on the ice on Saturday when ESPN will deliver the second-annual NHL Big City Greens Classic alternative broadcast. Building on last year's BCG Classic and Toy Story Funday Football productions, Saturday's Penguins-Bruins alternative presentation will once again leverage tracking technology to re-create the action on the ice as it happens, with characters from Disney Channel's Big City Greens skating alongside animated versions of NHL players.
This year, announcers will wear Meta VR headsets while calling the action, allowing facial/upper-body motion capture and immersing the talent in the animated environment of Times Circle.
I think this one puts all the pieces together in terms of the data integration and the creative, ESPN VP, Production, Phil Orlins says. We have now fully integrated the data tracking to the level that we've aspired to, and that's [going to allow] full, unpredictable live integration of the characters and storylines into the broadcast. We've gotten past all the major technical hurdles to the point where the overall look of the broadcast, in my eyes, has hit a groundbreaking new level.
ESPN and the NHL have brought back Beyond Sports (a Sony company) for live, real-time volumetric animation of players on the ice for the Penguins-Bruins game, and ESPN Creative Studio designed the overall look of the animated broadcast in collaboration with Disney Branded Television.
New this year, announcers calling the action will wear Meta VR headsets, allowing facial/upper body motion capture and the talent to be fully immersed in the animated environment of Times Circle.
This is going to be the best of both worlds from what we've learned with Toy Story and the first Big City Greens [animated broadcasts] - all combined into one game, says Spike Szykowny, VP, ESPN Creative Studio. We have tools that we simply didn't have at our disposal in either of the other games at this point. That is going to allow us to tell a lot more stories through animation.
It's Day and Night': Addition of Hawkeye Tracking Boosts Data Visualization This second iteration of the Big City Green Classic will blend two types of tracking technologies: NHL EDGE puck and player tracking (positional data provided by SMT) and Hawk-Eye Innovations (a Sony company) optical tracking. Beyond Sports handles the automated tracking and rendering for the virtual playing field and animated players, combining single-point tracking via the NHL EDGE system with the 28-point optical tracking provided by Hawk-Eye Innovations.
ESPN Creative Studio designed the overall look of the animated broadcast in collaboration with Disney Branded Television.
With the addition of Hawk-Eye optical tracking this year, Beyond Sports is able to create more-dynamic player and character movement to enhance visualization of detailed limb and stick movement and mannerisms.
The data aspect has drastically advanced since Big City Greens 1, says Orlins. It's day and night. It's like watching cartoons before Pixar and after Pixar. You don't realize how much better it is until you look at how simplistic the movement had to be before you had the optical tracking. But, now that you see the difference, it's staggering.
Calling the Action Off VR Tube: Meta Headsets Pose New Possibilities for Broadcast Also new this year, ESPN commentators Drew Carter, Kevin Weekes, and Arda cal will be wearing Meta Quest Pro VR headsets - instead of the motion-capture suits that on-air talent used last year - as they call the action from a studio in Bristol, CT. In addition to providing the talent with a more immersive view while calling the action, the headsets capture the facial and upper-body movement for the announcer cartoon characters within the virtual environment (lower-body movement is inferred).
With the VR headset on, the announcers in Bristol will see the live game action just as they would if they were on the sidelines.
With the headsets in place, we wanted to do things differently from a creative standpoint, says Szykowny. We lost the ability to do full [motion-capture] in a studio like last year, but we gained the ability to put them absolutely anywhere inside the environment. They can stand on the ice next to the goalie and explain [technique] as the goalie is playing, or they can call the game from anywhere around the rink. It just allows us to do a lot of cool things creatively that wouldn't have been possible before.
With the VR headset on, the announcers in Bristol will see the live game action just as they would if they were at the rink. In addition, Beyond Sports provides a split screen hovering above the rink showing both the animated-program feed and the traditional broadcast feed.
Honestly, there was a little hesitancy when we first explained what we were going to try, says Orlins, but the moment they put the headsets on they were on board. They were so excited to be able to stand wherever they wanted and watch the game. They can actually sit on the bench next to Sidney Crosby, right behind the boards, right behind the goalie, or even on the ice itself. These are positions that you, as a human being, could never actually put yourself in to watch the game.
In terms of the production workflow in Bristol, the front bench will be led by director Jeff Nelson and producer Brian Boyle. Orlins will coordinate with the voice talent in Burbank and oversee the narrative of the broadcast.
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Bigger and Greener: ESPN Adds VR Announcer Headsets, Boosts Tracking Tech for Second NHL Big City Greens Classic The animated alternative broadcast will once again replicate the action on the ice By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
