Live From NBA All-Star: Turner Sports Deploys Three-Point-Shot Tracking, Pylon Cam, Evolving Truck Compound Next-gen technologies offer new ways to view the action By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Saturday, February 17, 2018 - 12:41 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
This weekend, NBA All-Star festivities once again serve as a showcase for Turner Sports' tech-savvy production efforts on the hardcourt. As the gem of Turner's annual NBA calendar for more than decade and a half, All-Star Weekend continues to be a launch pad for next-gen technology and production workflows. This year in Los Angeles, Turner's bag of tech toys includes an RF pylon cam on tonight's Skills Challenge, shot-tracking technology for the Three-Point Contest, and an even more intricate ecosystem inside its already massive truck compound.
NBA All-Star really shows what we can do, says Chris Brown, senior director, technical operations, Turner Sports. We definitely have a few cool new [production tools] here, but, in terms of the compound, we try not to mess with the secret sauce. We've found a [workflow] that works really well for us, so we are just trying to build on that each year. And the fact that we are lucky enough to do this every year means we get to push ourselves every year to innovate and make it better. It's a lot of fun.
All-Star Saturday Night: Providing New Perspectives
The raucous atmosphere of All-Star Saturday Night tips off with the Skills Challenge, and fans will have a new perspective in the three-round, obstacle-course competition, in which the players will dribble down the sidelines, weaving in and out of pylons. Turner has worked with AVS to deploy an RF camera featuring a GoPro/Vislink Herocast miniature camera that sits atop two of the pylons.
It is going to provide a very cool coming at you' perspective as the athletes race down [the course], says Brown. It's something we've been working with AVS on for quite a while, and then we adapted it a bit with GoPro. It's mounted right on top of the pylon and should provide an angle that people haven't seen before.
Inside the NBA is using this set outside Staples Center for the bulk of its pre/postgame and halftime coverage in addition to a set inside the arena.
The pylon cam will be just one of a whopping 48 cameras deployed by Turner during the weekend for the All-Star Game, All-Star Saturday Night, Inside the NBA studio sets, and NBA on TNT Road Show concerts throughout the weekend, including two additional RF cameras (also from AVS) and six robos (from Fletcher).
The pylon camera won't be the only new tech at Staples Center tonight; Turner has teamed with Israeli startup RSPCT Basketball Technologies and SMT to deploy a new shot-tracking system for the Three-Point Contest. Data from RSPCT's system, which uses sensors attached to the backboard and high-resolution cameras to track the ball in flight and identify exactly where it hits the rim/basket, will be integrated with SMT's augmented-reality graphics system to offer fans a deeper look at each competitor's shooting accuracy and patterns.
This system is going to give the production [team] a chance to show shot accuracy in rapid-fire succession, says Brown. We worked with RSPCT to integrate their system with SMT, and I think the [result] is going be great for fans.
Inside the Compound: ND1 the Heart of the Production
Turner's truck compound this year is located at the top of the steps of the L.A. Convention Center and comprises 13 total mobile units, which arrived on Feb. 8 - more than a week before All-Star Weekend. NEP's ND1 (A, B, C, and D) is once again at the core of the compound, serving as the audio- and video-routing/distribution center for the entire show.
Turner's truck compound is located at the top of the steps of the L.A. Convention Center and comprises more than a dozen mobile units.
[Our use] of ND is continuing to evolve, Brown observes. This year, ND1 is coming straight off [serving as NBC's A unit for] the Super Bowl. So my hat's off to the NEP team [for bringing] that truck straight from Minneapolis, where it performed a more traditional role, right to here, where we basically pulled the truck apart and are using it several different ways.
ND1's B unit serves as the primary distribution point for the entire compound. All camera and audio feeds are fed into ND1 for distribution to the various trucks in the compound. Thanks to ND1's robust fiber connectivity, the A, C, and D trucks can also serve as signal-distribution points for other trucks, shortening the length of cable runs throughout the compound.
In addition, Turner is using ND1 for a variety of other needs, including submixing in the B unit's audio room and transforming the C unit's EVS replay area into edit central to handle its extensive file-based workflows.
We are going all the way back three years now with the use of ND1, and it was a bit of a crazy idea at first, says Brown. But, now that we've gotten to the point where we are, I don't think there's an easier or more efficient way to do this.
In addition to ND1, NEP's SS24 (A, B, and C) served as the primary game-production truck for last night's Rising Stars Game and the NBA All-Star Game today; NCP10 (A and B) will cover tonight's festivities. Throughout the weekend, NCP11 will serve as home to the Inside the NBA onsite studio show. SS16 and ATU are onsite for the entertainment and halftime-show elements, and Cobalt is handling the Turner-Intel virtual-reality production.
NBA on TNT Road Show Returns With Inside the NBA Onsite
As has become customary for All-Star, Turner Sports has pulled out all the stops with a massive fan-fest in Downtown Los Angeles. The 30,000-sq.-ft. NBA on TNT American Express R
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
29/04/2024
Even though we've been doing this for over 40 years, a spark of excitement r...
29/04/2024
L3Harris is delivering manpack radios to U.S. Army CH-47 Chinooks as part of the Air-to-Ground Networking Radio program, providing seamless, resilient communica...
29/04/2024
He writes in Defense One: Despite the near-universal acknowledgement throughout the U.S. government and defense industrial base of the criticality of resilient ...
29/04/2024
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/04/2024
Codemill aims to revolutionize media workflow efficiency at this years NAB Show by introducing Just-In-Time (JIT) playback technology in Accurate.Video Validate...
29/04/2024
April 29, 2024
-- TF1 Chooses Broadpeak to Power Targeted Advertising for New...
29/04/2024
LOS ANGELES Allen Media Group (AMG) has partnered with LG Electronics to bring 223 Local Now FAST channels to LG's free streaming service, LG Channels, avai...
29/04/2024
OTTAWA Ross Video has announced the introduction of Raiden, a data-driven weather graphics software that combines data gathering, processing, and visualization ...
29/04/2024
Panalux, a leading rental provider of lighting and power solutions for the motion-picture industry and part of Panavision's end-to-end service offerings for...
29/04/2024
Cobalt Iron Inc., a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced that it has received a patent on its technology for dynamic autho...
29/04/2024
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that Rally Access Workstation, a fully managed solution for editing in...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, a premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality remote commenta...
29/04/2024
Glookast has chosen Jigsaw24 Media as the only UK channel partner to represent their portfolio of ingest and workflow optimisation products. The agreement, sign...
29/04/2024
Clear-Com played a pivotal role in the seamless coverage of the recent solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Leveraging its cutting-edge Eclipse HX Digital Matrix i...
29/04/2024
PlayBox Neo will promote its complete range of television channel management, graphic branding and playout solutions to EMEA region media content owners and bro...
29/04/2024
Lingo, RuPaul's word-twisting game show, returns for season two on CBS Friday, May 24. Two episodes air that night, and stream on Paramount Plus, too....
29/04/2024
ESPN and Amazon Prime Video are reportedly close to scoring television rights to the National Basketball Association, according to published reports....
29/04/2024
Judge Judy and Hot Bench, CBS Media Ventures' genre-leading court shows, have been renewed through the 2025-26 TV season in more than 95% of the country, Gr...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, an Irish-based premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality re...
29/04/2024
The awards celebrate the craft of behind-the-scenes TV talent and the best programmes of 2023
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 29, 2024
The awards cel...
29/04/2024
The team at Milk had to create and deliver the VFX and environment work for the royal residences featured in the drama from scratch
By Jenny Priestley
Publis...
29/04/2024
CEO Bob Bakish is expected to leave the company as early as today, with a new leadership committee likely to run the company on an interim basis
By Jenny Pries...
29/04/2024
Albena Ivanova, director, media and entertainment and strategic products at CHAOS talks to TVBEurope about her route into the industry
By TVBEurope Staff
Pub...
29/04/2024
The acquisition gives Grand Technix the opportunity to expand its footprint in the audio visual and broadcast technology sectors
By Jenny Priestley
Published...
29/04/2024
29 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces James J. Robinson's debut feature First Light
First Light
Principal Photography is underway on Firs...
29/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting recently became the inaugural company honored with inductio...
29/04/2024
Rebrand and refresh: SailGP talks bringing its graphics operations inhouse for a...
29/04/2024
Reflecting on a Storied Career: Sean McManus Looks Back While Keeping an Eye on ...
29/04/2024
Drones Take Flight Inside MSG: How Sky Candy Studios is Upping the Excitement fo...
29/04/2024
Back to All News
Netflix Announces a Diverse Lineup of Polish Titles to Debut i...
29/04/2024
Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: Fanyana feels embarrassed about his sexual mishapDon't miss Monday, 29 April's riveting episode of South African soapie Sm...
29/04/2024
Talk about commitment. When startup SEA.AI, an NVIDIA Metropolis partner, set out to create a system that would use AI to scan the seas to enhance maritime safe...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
27/04/2024
Two environmentally-focused groups are partnering to engage the unscripted TV world in finding better ways to address climate change. Reality of Change is an ec...
27/04/2024
Sarah Garcia has been promoted to weekend anchor at KTLM McAllen, Texas, known as Telemundo 40. Starting April 27, she will anchor Noticias Telemundo 40 weekend...
27/04/2024
CBS Sports said it launched a new 24-hour free, ad supported streaming television (FAST) channel devoted to the UEFA Champions League....
Live From NBA All-Star: Turner Sports Deploys Three-Point-Shot Tracking, Pylon Cam, Evolving Truck Compound Next-gen technologies offer new ways to view the action By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
