European first for DAZN: Cloudbass on delivering the first ever full cinematic live boxing production in Europe for the Joshua v Dubios fight By Heather McLean
Monday, September 23, 2024 - 13:32
Print This Story
Working on behalf of DAZN for the Anthony Joshua versus Daniel Dubois match for the IBF world heavyweight title at Wembley Stadium, Cloudbass toed the line with a world first as the entire match was broadcast using cinematic cameras
Technical services provider Cloudbass took on the host broadcast of the Anthony Joshua versus Daniel Dubois match for the IBF world heavyweight title at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 21 September.
Working on behalf of DAZN for the pay-per-view fight, which was won by Dubois in the fifth round after he rocked Joshua repeatedly from the word go, Cloudbass toed the line with a European first as the entire match was broadcast using cinematic cameras.
This broadcast was the biggest use of Sony F5500 cameras in live boxing in Europe since a trial of a single F5500 camera during a fight in 2022, and it is also the first full cinematic production in boxing for the region.
Says Steve Knee, Cloudbass owner and managing director: The idea is actually doing the whole production to get this cinematic look. I think it's going to be quite disruptive in terms of the technology that people want to see. People will look at the broadcast and go, that looks amazing, we want that all the time . So that's a shift in technology that will drive consumer engagement.
Cloudbass provided the host facilities for the fight for DAZN at Wembley Stadium. It also provided presentation coverage for DAZN, and a separate music truck to cover the Liam Gallagher performance before the main fight. Also onsite taking Cloudbass' feeds was Timeline for Sky Sports, and EMG for TNT Sports.
Cloudbass used the Sony F5500 camera, and the Sony HDC-3500V cinematic cameras to fit the brief for the Anthony Joshua versus Daniel Dubois fight at Wembley
Cinematic ambitions
A major contributor to the event costs was Turki Al-Sheikh, the chair of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority which staged the fight, who requested that DAZN capture the fight with a cinematic look in UHD HDR. To fulfil that request, Cloudbass used the Sony F5500 camera, and the Sony HDC-3500V cinematic cameras to fit the brief.
The Sony HDC-F5500 Super 35mm 4K CMOS camera system launched in December 2021. Building on the success of Sony's popular HDC-5500, the HDC-F5500's Super 35mm 4K CMOS sensor delivers more clarity, realism and shallow depth of field with every scene, from wide beauty shots to tight close ups.
It was used by BT Sport with technical services provider EMG on 23 April 2022 at Wembley Stadium for the Tyson Fury versus Dillian Whyte fight. The camera was then used as Camera One out of a further 25 Sony HDC cameras. However last weekend eight HDC-F5500's were used, marking the biggest use of the F5500 camera in a live boxing broadcast in Europe.
Michael Beaumont, technical director of Cloudbass, says: This was trialled on the Fury fight three years ago, but we're the first on boxing going full live with it. We used the F5500 cinematic camera, and then also the 3500V to give that variable ND for the shallow depth of field, to get a nice cinematic look, but also allow us to use the 4 x superslow function for replays.
Additionally, seven Sony HDC-3500V cameras first announced at NAB 2023 - were used, which have a built-in optical variable ND filter that allows the user to adjust the brightness of an image without changing the iris value. This gives the user more control over the camera's depth of field and allows for smooth exposure adjustments without affecting the image quality.
Cameras and kit used at Wembley by Cloudbass
HDC-F5500 x 8
HDC-3500V x 7
RF Cameras x 2
Sony FR7 PTZ for the overhead truss shot
Plus a whole host of wirecams, Batcams and minicams
EVS Via servers for replay x 7
Adds Beaumont: We used 18 cameras for the fight truck, five cameras for the presentation truck, and another nine cameras for the music truck giving us a total of 32 cameras. The F5500 camera was used for all the main camera shots, including three in the studio for that cinematic look.
At Wembley the Camera One and Camera Two were a very long way from the ring, so we chose the Fuji HZK Duvo 25-1000m Lens, which is the largest box-type zoom lens available for the super 35mm sensor of the F5500. This worked well and gave stunning images especially over such a long distance.
We also used a F5500 on the jib, and on the Steadicam for the walk-ons using a Fuji HZK DUVO 14-100mm Lens, which gave a stunning shallow depth of field for the walk-on shots. The 3500V cameras were used mostly on the ringside cameras where we also needed superslow capabilities, continues Beaumont.
The TV compound at Wembley for the Anthony Joshua versus Daniel Dubois match was tight, with Cloudbass, EMG and Timeline TV all taking up space
Toeing the line
One stumbling block that the Cloudbass team faced was the lenses required for the cinematic cameras, which posed a challenge for the camera operators. Beaumont explains: Picking the lenses for the F5500 was a challenge because they use different types of lenses to what we're used to, working in live sport. They have much more cinematic focus ranges, and not such large zoom lengths.
To get the shallow depth of field did add a challenge for our camera operators with focus, but they quickly got the hang of it as they're professionals, and the end result was pretty amazing actually, continues Beaumont.
Knee adds an additional challenge in tandem with the cinematic cameras was the need to provide the feeds in UHD HDR. It's not just the cinematic, it's the UHD, it's the HDR. It's bringing it all together in one thi
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Newest Lenses, Horizon Anamorphic Seminar & Guided Lens Character Experience Highlight Creative Possibilities
At the 2026 Toru CAMERIMAGE Film Festival, ZEISS...
14/11/2026
Sonnet Announces Black Friday Sale on Select Products
Brie Clayton November 14, 2026
0 Comments
WHAT: Sonnet Technologies is having a sale on a select...
14/11/2026
Berklee Alumni Shine at the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards This year's winners included songwriters, engineers, and performers who contributed to acclaimed reco...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Studer-inspired 500-series PWM compressor unveiled
The HLabs range already includes a couple of Studer-inspired offerings in the form of the PRE169 and EQ16...
13/11/2026
Download Now!
To view the white paper, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name
Company*
Country* Please select your countryA...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
Beginning today, November 13, Apple HomeView is available for purchase at Apple Store locations, on the Apple Store online, and in the Apple Store app in select...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
12/11/2026
uniqFEED has opened a Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Madrid, Spain. It is already operational, delivering virtual advertising for LaLiga matches. The ROC is ...
European first for DAZN: Cloudbass on delivering the first ever full cinematic live boxing production in Europe for the Joshua v Dubios fight By Heather McLean 
