Inside Pitch: Motion Impossible's AGITO a Home Run for MLB's Speed Cam By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Monday, December 28, 2020 - 8:23 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
By Patrick Kligel, Owner of JIB TEK
Every so often an innovation comes along in the field of sports broadcasting that really helps bring the fans closer to the action. And this year, the stand out introduction of new technology that I was involved with probably goes to the Major League Baseball Network's Speed Cam; a rail mounted camera that rides on specially constructed tracks built on top of the first base dugout.
Patrick Kligel, owner of JIB TEK, says Speed Cam offered great new angles for MLB coverage.
Its ability to track a runner as they head from home out of the batter's box to first base has brought fans closer to the action than ever before and manages perfectly to convey the sheer speed and athleticism of the players involved, as the camera keeps pace with the athletes. And at the heart of the nightly drama is Motion Impossible's AGITO modular dolly system.
This has been MLB Network's dream shot to do and they've been working on it for a long time. When I met with the producers of MLB's Game of the Week and discussed what our options were, I thought of several platforms that could do the shot, but I picked the one that could do it the best. And for me that was the AGITO.
I chose the AGITO for a number of reasons, notably the lack of tether, its higher top speeds, its modular design, and its adaptability. The result is a new perspective on a venerable game as it shows the speed of the game at a lower eye level than anybody has ever seen before. That makes the audience feel like they are a part of the game, and not just a spectator. It was also used for interstitials to show the beauty of the Park, the interaction of the fans, and other new angles at replays during the game.
The AGITO is used in its tracks formation and runs on 80-feet of effective track, with a bit more at either end for stopping. Payload can vary, but is typically a Shotover G1 gimbal mounting a POV camera, such as the Sony HDC-P43. Aside from the fact that JIB TEK's AGITO unit can, of course, be used on the productions in its wheeled configuration, the main reasons it was chosen for this particular job was the low profile that would not bring in the spectre of seat kill once fans were allowed back into the stadium, and a crucial combination of wireless operation and speed. We had speeds that were faster than the player and were only really restricted by the limited space to stop.
It was the wireless ability that made this happen, because when you're moving at speed, and you're dragging a cable, that cable can get caught on a number of things. Even if you build a trough for it, with 100% managed cable, it can still twist, bind, get kinked up, and jump.
The worst thing that can happen is for the system to come off the track. But, while the AGITO does have the ability to deliberately come off the track with its free moving version the AGITO Sports, it comes with a lot of safety features that help the gravity-based trolley stay safely planted on the track.
As for the AGITO, nobody matches its versatility in being able to go from track to sport mode as it can track the pitcher on and off the field, catching meetings on the mound, following the pitch to the plate, and more.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
28/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...
28/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
Inside Pitch: Motion Impossible's AGITO a Home Run for MLB's Speed Cam By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
