
European Aquatics Championships: Omnicam4Sky special camera captures split images above and below water By David Davies
Tuesday, July 9, 2024 - 08:18
Print This Story
Credit: European Aquatics
Grup Mediapro company Omnicam4Sky has provided a host of special camera solutions - including the Waterline Dual Cam that allows the capturing of split images above and below the waterline - for use at the European Aquatics Masters Championships, which took place in Belgrade from 26 June to 6 July.
Established as an R&D-driven subsidiary of Grup Mediapro in 1997, Omnicam4Sky is focused primarily on the development of innovative camera systems. It has long-standing associations with sports federations including FIFA, UEFA and Conmebol, and in the last month alone has supplied special cameras for events including the UEFA Women's Champions League Final and the UEFA Europa League Final.
Omnicam4Sky's involvement in the European Aquatics Masters Championships provided a particular opportunity to showcase the breadth of its recent innovation. Multiple units of its Underwater PTZ solution - which constitutes an aluminium rail with underwater glass dome enclosure for Panasonic UE-80 UHD cameras - were used to capture the artistic swimming, swimming and jump events.
Omnicam4Sky also provided one K2 remote-controlled track camera with stabilised 15 8 Canon lens and pan-bar (essentially a regular tripod with zoom and focus handles instead of traditional joystick control) for the swimming events, as well as a single AquaJib - which comprises a pole with underwater glass dome enclosure housing a Dreamchip Atom SSM500 ultra-slow motion camera - for jump events.
But arguably the most intriguing single solution from Omnicam4Sky to be utilised at the championships was the Waterline Dual Cam. Employed throughout the artistic swimming events, the Waterline Dual Cam provides two perspectives on the same image - one from above the waterline, and one from below.
Jorge Quinta Gaspar, CEO of Omnicam4Sky, says that the origins of the current camera stretch back as far as 2009 and a swimming training centre project in Portugal. We had a railcam with a Sony Z700 PTZ camera on top, and underwater there was a small zoom camera, which was a Sony HXR-MC1, he recalls. It was pretty similar to what we see now in the artistic swimming event, where the concept is to have the two cameras - one outside the water and one inside - and then stitch the two images together.
Controlled remotely with a motorised iris focus zoom lens and multi-matrix support, the Waterline Dual Cam enables a seamless, horizontal line that clearly divides the integrated waterline image regardless of the presence of waves and ripple effects.
The current HD solution rectifies the principal challenges encountered with the 2009-era product. It wasn't so good in terms of manipulating the images with the software we were using, and as a result the final effect wasn't too great, says Gaspar, who adds that the moving underwater camera was ultimately deemed to be unsuitable for actual swimming competitions because the waves it created in the swimming pool could affect the swimmers. So, what we have now is a much better quality solution that revolves around fixed cameras which run along a track [some distance] above the water, and also close to the waterline, that can be controlled very effectively in terms of pan and zoom.
Software upgrade
Integral to the performance of the latest-generation solution is the significant evolution of the control software, which means users can now benefit from access to very high-quality 3D imaging of the cameras in use . An extensive period of testing before deployment also proved to be invaluable.
We are always testing new things and looking into possible improvements, confirms Gaspar. For instance, for a long time we were using plastic domes with the PTZ solutions, but more recently we have switched to glass domes as part of our ongoing efforts to get the best from the cameras.
In terms of the performance of the Waterline Dual Cam at the European Aquatics Masters Championships - where host broadcaster duties were shared between Arena Sport and RTS Serbia, the feedback received from the operators has been very good, with the system performing well throughout the event , he says.
Read more Arena Sport and RTS Serbia share host duties for European Aquatics Championships
Gaspar also points out that the Belgrade event was by no means the only major recent aquatics-related outing for Omnicam4Sky solutions, with the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships - which took place in Doha from 2-18 February - involving extensive use of the 4Sky four-cable suspended dynamic camera system. Incorporating a stabilised camera head, a choice of Panasonic or Sony cameras, Canon lenses and remote OCP camera control, 4Sky is able to move dynamically across a sports field or arena from virtually any spot or angle - allowing it to shift vertically and horizontally across a pre-defined indoor or outdoor space.
We have worked on a lot of aquatics events in recent years, using our own camera systems developed in-house, confirms Gaspar, adding that in Doha the 4Sky was employed by Sky as part of its coverage. We are always innovating, both in terms of new systems and improvements [to existing ones], in order to capture the kind of images and angles that wouldn't have been possible even relatively recently.
He also thinks that a continual focus on making its special cameras as easy to use as possible has contributed significantly to Omnicam4Sky's current prominence in the sports market. Everything we do is from the ground-up with [a major emphasis] on making it all versatile and user-friendly for the operators, says Gaspar. You really don't want to be making any aspect of the production more compl
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
03/04/2026
Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...
03/04/2026
Avid will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (April 18-22, Booth N2226, Las Vegas Convention Center), demonstrating its Content Core platform and new AI-driven workflow c...
03/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has announced the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer.
The announcement follows MRMC's transition fro...
03/04/2026
Interra Systems has announced that Elite Media Technologies has selected its BATON file-based QC solution for media workflows. Elite Media Technologies speciali...
03/04/2026
Ateme has announced that Moldtelecom has deployed Ateme technologies across its streaming workflow, covering encoding, delivery, operations, and analytics.
Mol...
03/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate Framelight X, its content management platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform connects capture, ingest, editing, and publishing in...
03/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media and Techex have announced a cloud-native Master Control ...
03/04/2026
Live Vertical Video automatically track the action on the court via AI technology and delivers a fully optimized, 9 16 live feed for viewers...
03/04/2026
As the Illini make their first trip to college basketball's biggest stage si...
03/04/2026
After last summer's Softball National Championship victory and last week'...
03/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
03/04/2026
Eight games across four tournaments will be played in three venues; accommodatio...
03/04/2026
The Ottawa Senators and Bell Media have announced a long-term rights extension for regional Ottawa Senators games on TSN and RDS. TSN Radio 1200 remains the exc...
03/04/2026
Massive production in Phoenix running out of Flagship Mobile unit, Features 50+ ...
03/04/2026
Iconic guitar pedals now available in plug-in form
Guitar effects experts Electro-Harmonix have teamed up with MixWave to turn a collection of their most pr...
03/04/2026
New multi-band AUv3 plug-in announced
Fred Anton Corvest (FAC) offer an extensive range of AUv3 plug-ins and iOS/iPadOS Apps, and their multiband effects pr...
03/04/2026
Just 84 units to be released in the US
Experimental synthesizer and sound-machine extraordinaires SOMA Laboratory have revealed an upcoming special-edition ...
03/04/2026
Emulates the input section of an Ampex 350
One of the latest arrivals to the Iconic Instruments range delivers a new tube preamp plug-in inspired by the cir...
03/04/2026
New York April 2, 2026 TelevisaUnivision, the world's leading Spanish-la...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
CVP, one of Europe's leading suppliers of professional video and broadcast solutions, today announces the launch of its new German operation and the formati...
03/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) today announces the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer, strengthening its leadership as the company conti...
03/04/2026
Net Insight introduces programmable Trust Boundaries that make live media interconnection predictable as traffic moves between facilities, networks and cloud en...
03/04/2026
Winning in the new media economy: Avid showcases AI-powered, connected intellige...
03/04/2026
NUGEN Audio CEO Dr. Paul Tapper to Lead Presentation About Dialog Intelligibilit...
03/04/2026
NAB Show 2026: PlayBox Neo Highlights Workflow, Security, and IP Advances
Brie Clayton April 2, 2026
0 Comments
PlayBox Neo will showcase the latest i...
03/04/2026
For Taku Hirano, Everything Is Connected From touring and composition to teaching and instrument design, the in-demand percussionist sees it all as one body o...
03/04/2026
Berklee Honors Humberto Ramirez with Master of Latin Music Award The alumnus and acclaimed trumpeter is honored for his influence as a performer, composer, an...
03/04/2026
VIZ Media Lands Rumiko Takahashi's MAO, Sets April 4 Premiere on Hulu in the...
03/04/2026
Back to All News
Competition Heats Up with Intrigue and Spices: Netflix Unveils...
03/04/2026
Back to All News
Radioactive Emergency Ranks #1 On Netflix's Global Top 10 ...
02/04/2026
HBO and NFL Films have announced Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Seattle Sea...
02/04/2026
Haivision has announced the Makito ONE, a single-blade video encoding and decoding platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform combines dual-channel video encoding...
02/04/2026
Telestream has introduced UP.Lens, a cloud-based multiviewer and monitoring serv...
02/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C5220, April 19-22, Las Vegas Convention Center), marking the company's 60th anniver...
02/04/2026
Net Insight has introduced programmable Trust Boundaries, a feature integrated i...
02/04/2026
Bitmovin has announced support for SGAI (Server-Guided Ad Insertion) in its playback products, using HLS interstitials. SGAI combines elements of client-side an...
02/04/2026
Riedel Communications' SimplyLive RiMotion R12 replay system is supporting B...
02/04/2026
LTN, a managed IP video transport company, and Ateme, a video compression and de...
02/04/2026
Harmonic has announced that TDF, a broadcast infrastructure operator in France, has deployed Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor and ProStream X Video S...
02/04/2026
Eluvio and the United Rugby Championship (URC) have announced first-year results...