Live From Frozen Four: Ref Cam Stars as ESPN, NCAA Continue Innovative Partnership More than 20 cameras, 12 handheld drops offer flexibility for experiential storytelling By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, April 6, 2018 - 2:35 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Some sports events are simply ripe for deep access. Consider this week's NCAA Men's Frozen Four, taking place Thursday and Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, MN, near the top of that list.
ESPN is rolling out an impressive arsenal of cameras to bring unparalleled access to both the action on the ice and everything that surrounds this ice hockey championship. The most notable feature of this year's coverage is the return (and continued evolution) of Ref Cam.
Ref Cam is a single RF camera built into the helmets of two on-ice officials. This iteration of the technology shoots in native 1080 and has become a staple at high-profile hockey events for ESPN, including the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Developed by Vicareo Systems, Ref Cam was used at the Frozen Four last year, but the camera itself has become much lighter and less invasive. Its lens has also been revamped so that it more closely matches that of the other standard cameras on the show.
Ref Cam returns to provide unique on-ice visuals at this year's Frozen Four in Saint Paul, MN.
An idea like Ref Cam is the quintessential example of how the relationship between ESPN and the NCAA can move innovation forward and into the mainstream. In cases like this, ESPN will communicate with the NCAA, which will filter the idea to a sport's rules committee to make sure it checks out. Then, the task is get the sport's officials on board.
These angles help give us many of the best possible views of the action from an officiating perspective, explains Ty Halpin, associate director, playing rules administration, NCAA. Whether it's the in-net cameras or an overhead, [ESPN] is always coming up with some interesting options, and Ref Cam is certainly a great one. The ability to put [viewers] on the ice has been very popular.
Part of the agreement between ESPN and the NCAA is that none of the content acquired by Ref Cam and the accompanying lavalier microphone will be aired live. ESPN editors will cut content on the fly, and it will be viewed by an NCAA supervisor of officials, who will give approval on any footage before it hits air.
Ref Cam is the centerpiece of a production largely focused on taking viewers at home into the overall experience of the event. With 22 cameras on the show, the ice and arena are sufficiently covered, but, according to ESPN Senior Remote Operations Specialist Jack Coffey, upwards of 12 handheld drops are scattered throughout the building in such spots as student sections, family zones, the band positions, and even the concession areas. This give handheld operators the freedom to move around the building and capture the atmosphere of the event.
PICO in-net cameras shooting at 3X are positioned inside each goal.
There's bands, there's cheerleaders, there's students with their faces painted, notes Bob Fraterolie, who has directed the Frozen Four for ESPN more than a decade. That's not what an NHL game looks like. When we first started doing this years ago, executives at the network emphasized that to us. I always tell our crew, If I hear a band, I want to see a band. I make sure the camera [operators] are focused on that, because it does differentiate this event from its visuals and what you hear [from] an NHL game.
ESPN also has a Sony HDC-4300, shooting at 6X, at the main-game-camera position, and a PICO in-net camera inside each goal is running at 3X. The crew has also added a robotic rocker atop the ice at the centerline. The Grass Valley unit is rolling at 6X and accompanies robos on top of the glass right behind each net.
Although live coverage of the championship game between Notre Dame and Minnesota Duluth will air on ESPN, a special cut of the show will be available exclusively on ESPN3. The stream features natural sound with no announcers and taps into many of the uniquely placed specialty cameras. To pull this off, ESPN is using a synchronous router to push feeds from the main truck (Dome Productions' Journey) to a smaller front bench in the B unit.
Most recent headlines
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
09/05/2025
Capitol Broadcasting Company welcomed Warren Thomas as the new Vice President an...
09/05/2025
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Studio Technologies said the Harvard University athletics department has integrated Dante-enabled equipment from the vendor into its broadcast ...
09/05/2025
NEW YORK ITN, a provider of a local linear supply side platform, and Magnite, a independent sell-side advertising company, have announced that they working toge...
09/05/2025
LEEDS, U.K. Nugen Audio has launched a new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck and offered up quotes from technologists working at places like Netflix p...
09/05/2025
AJA I/O Gear: The Heart of Broadcast Solutions' VEGO Mobile Editing Solution
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
When working remotely on broadcas...
09/05/2025
What do they teach in an Advanced Adobe After Effects Course?
Roland Kahlenberg May 8, 2025
0 Comments
There aren't many advanced After Effects co...
09/05/2025
Larry Jordan Sits with Trevor Morgan of OpenDrives at NAB 2025
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
Trevor Morgan, COO of OpenDrives, shares how the co...
09/05/2025
Berklee Popular Music Institute Announces UK Festival Debut and Tour Dates For the first time, BPMI will bring Berklee-affiliated artists and students to the ...
09/05/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
In the season finale of The Late Late Show, ...
09/05/2025
My Eurovision Party 2025 - join in on the fun with RT Kids!
Eurovision launche...
08/05/2025
A sinister fairy infiltrates a desperate family in Kenneth Dagatan's In My Mother's Skin, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo co...
08/05/2025
As expected, continued weak demand from key sales markets and declining economic...
08/05/2025
A new three-part series is coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC One
(Image: The Christie Archive Trust)
The BBC has announced Agatha Christie's Endless Night, a...
08/05/2025
For skyward-bound operators, training focuses on the unique aspects of flying ISR missions, including the management of onboard surveillance equipment and the e...
08/05/2025
The cable industry has told the Federal Communications Commission it supports the National Association of Broadcasters' proposal to allow broadcasters to us...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Consumer Technology Association has continued its opposition to mandates requiring that NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 tuners be included in new TV sets, sa...
08/05/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real time visualization, has named Paul Maroni as Vice Pres...
08/05/2025
This year's UK Pavilion in hall 5, once again managed by Tradefair, will provide visitors with the unique opportunity to discuss and be involved in cutting ...
08/05/2025
Rohde & Schwarz will showcase its latest energy-efficient transmitters and 5G Broadcast technologies, designed to support network operators and content provider...
08/05/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group has tapped Bill Nardi as vice president of station operations, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day broadcast operations ...
08/05/2025
SEATTLE LumaTouch is partnering with CNN Academy to improve mobile storytelling techniques and support training across all of CNN Academy's training simulat...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Society of Broadcast Engineers has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission that support a proposal by the National Association ...
08/05/2025
Senior adviser to the United States Agency for Global Media Kari Lake has announced that One America News Network (OAN) will provide newsfeed services for fre...
08/05/2025
EdMon Expands as AI-Driven Post Production Workflows Gains Traction in Sweden an...
08/05/2025
Using Luma Mattes in Adobe Premiere Pro
Graham Quince May 7, 2025
0 Comments
This very quick tutorial shows you how to take an RGB clip and apply its ...
08/05/2025
OpenDrives Unveils Free Your Data' Initiative with New Astraeus Cloud-Nativ...
08/05/2025
Student Spotlight: Grigori Balasanyan The Armenian composer, who was named Boston Conservatory at Berklees 2025 student commencement speaker, talks about his ...
08/05/2025
08 May 2025
VEON Shareholders Re-elect Board at 2025 AGM, Founder Augie Fabela ...
08/05/2025
Comedy and entertainment channel U&Dave bring back their #1 ranked programme of ...
08/05/2025
May 8th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Unveils New Premieres Spanning Film and Music
Slick Rick's Victory with Idris Elba a...
08/05/2025
May 8th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Announces Lineup for Inaugural Storytelling Summit
11-Day Industry Event Launches with Tal...
08/05/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundarie...
08/05/2025
Creating Alternative Brand Experiences: Live Sports in the Age of Fortnite, Meta...
08/05/2025
PGA TOUR's David Piccolo: Advanced Graphics and Virtual Production Tools are...
08/05/2025
Tech Focus: Advancing Immersion in Sports Broadcasting with AR and Virtual Produ...
08/05/2025
Expect even more chaos this July with Harriet Webb leading the returning cast, p...
08/05/2025
Back to All News
Now in Production: Comedy Action Film Husbands in Action'...
08/05/2025
TenneT relies on Arvato Systems for market communication
Energy industry: Impressive market communication know-how and system integration expertise
G tersloh...
08/05/2025
When Taiki Hamamoto, 22, came across a Hanafuda deck at his local game shop, he was intrigued. He had grown up playing the traditional Japanese card game with f...
08/05/2025
The Liveline is now open , said Joe Duffy earlier today, as he previewed this af...
08/05/2025
RT , in association with the BBC, Screen Ireland and Cineflix Rights has reveale...
08/05/2025
Artificial intelligence is helping identify and treat diseases faster with better results for humankind. Natural disasters like wildfires are next.
Fires in th...
08/05/2025
Calling all wiseguys - 2K's acclaimed Mafia franchise is available to stream...
08/05/2025
As AI use cases continue to expand - from document summarization to custom software agents - developers and enthusiasts are seeking faster, more flexible ways t...
07/05/2025
Discovering music should feel effortless and fun. That's why Spotify continu...
07/05/2025
SBS and NITV mark National Reconciliation Week with compelling premieres recogni...
07/05/2025
SBS commences search for a new Western Sydney production hub location
7 May, 2025
Media releases
SBS has today launched a Request for Expressions of Intere...
07/05/2025
Warsaw, Poland - April 28, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, has released its latest March All Screens Video Landscap...
Live From Frozen Four: Ref Cam Stars as ESPN, NCAA Continue Innovative Partnership More than 20 cameras, 12 handheld drops offer flexibility for experiential storytelling By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
