Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Overwatch League Grand Finals: Project Aloha, Cloud Workflows Are Key to Transcontinental Production

24/09/2021

Overwatch League Grand Finals: Project Aloha, Cloud Workflows Are Key to Transcontinental Production Analysts are onsite in Honolulu while players, casters, and crew are spread across the globe By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Friday, September 24, 2021 - 2:59 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

It has been wild ride for Activision Blizzard Esports' Broadcast Technology Group during the 2021 Overwatch League Season. After producing OWL regular-season matches online and from Project Aloha in Honolulu using its cloud-based, remote-production model, the Group had been prepping for the OWL Playoffs in Dallas and Los Angeles, its first live, in-person matches in more than two years. However, when the Delta variant of COVID-19 hindered those plans, the Broadcast Technology Group pivoted quickly for a return to Honolulu to broadcast the playoffs, which conclude with tomorrow's OWL Grand Final.

The OWL Playoffs feature analysts on-site in Honolulu manning a set at the Moana Surfrider Resort.

When the [in-person events] were canceled, we had only about two weeks to pivot the entire show, says Corey Smith, director, live operations, Broadcast Technology Group, Activision Blizzard Esports. The fact that the team was able to get it done was nothing short of a miracle. We simply wouldn't have been able to do it without the cloud and all the work we had already put in to develop [remote workflows]. We couldn't have been orchestrating trucks and satellite uplinks and coordinating fiber drops in that small of a window. We just didn't have the time to turn around that traditional type of infrastructure. We had to do it with cloud production.

Project Aloha: A Unified Champion Thanks to Hawaii-Tokyo Connection After being forced to have regional champions in Asia and U.S./Europe last year because of travel restrictions and transcontinental bandwidth challenges, Tomorrow's OWL Grand Finals will crown a unified global champion for the first time since 2019.

To pull this season off, Activision Blizzard Esports (ABE) partnered with the University of Hawaii M noa to launch Project Aloha, a competition model in which teams could compete live between Honolulu and Asia. The university provided access to a high-capacity trans-Pacific subsea fiber cable between Tokyo and Honolulu, allowing players to compete online with near-zero latency.

Project Aloha allowed us to combine the teams from North America and Asia for competitive matchmaking, which was great because we weren't able to do that last season, notes Smith. We obviously didn't want to end this season again by crowning separate champions in Asia and North America, so Hawaii allowed us to conclude the season in a way that made sense.

Onsite in Honolulu: Analyst Desk Heads to Waikiki Beach During this week's OWL Playoffs, for the first time at Project Aloha, analysts are located onsite in Honolulu, delivering live coverage during broadcasts from its set on the balcony of the penthouse suite at the Moana Surfrider Resort.

OWL Playoffs coverage spans the globe with interviews across multiple continents.

The big challenge here for the set was connectivity at the top of the Moana Surfrider, says Senior Technical Manager Ryan Cole, one of the few crew members onsite in Honolulu. [The hotel] cannot support the network at the level and scale we needed at the penthouse, so we ended working with the Marriott folks and some onsite vendors to setup two point-to-point [wireless bridges] from different locations around the island to the suite to get the network connectivity we needed. And it has been going really well.

A small crew is also on hand in Honolulu: the production team manning the Moana Surfrider set and the competition room at the UH M noa, four editors located at the Sheraton Waikiki, an ENG team shooting behind-the-scenes content with the teams, and IT and operations staff. UH M noa students are also playing a role in the productions and getting hands-on experience in a live-esports-broadcast environment.

OWL observers remote into cloud-based VMs in both South Korea and Los Angeles.

At the UH M noa where teams compete, ABE has deployed Always-On Player POV cameras for each player, a wide shot of the competition room, two handheld cameras, and ambient microphones throughout the room. In addition, the broadcast will incorporate Player POV cams and shots from the competition rooms in China and South Korea.

We're focused on making this feel like it's truly a Grand Finals and not just another Overwatch league show, says Smith. We're upping the scale of the show as much as possible. We owe it to the teams, the players, and the community that's watching to polish it up and do whatever we can do to entertain them in a new and different way.

Spanning the Globe: How the Cloud Brings It All Together Nearly the entire production team, meanwhile, remains remote and continues to use ABE's cloud-based production workflow. This production model allows the production crew and casters to continue to work entirely from home, from locations across the mainland U.S., Hawaii, South Korea, and China.

Observers use remote stations like this one to tell the story as in-game camera operators

The cloud production ecosystem is built around vMix live-video-streaming software and uses software-based Unity intercom, Viz Trio graphics in the cloud, and Parsec remote-desktop software. ABE also created its own master-control platform - dubbed Echo - which can distribute multiple regionalized feeds with different graphics and commercial insertion for each region.

Observers - the camera operators who cut the in-game action and are integral to the broadcast - remote into cloud-based VMs in both South Korea and Los Angeles, which provide them with ultra-low-latency connections.

OWL's
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/09/24/overwatch-league-grand-finals-p...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

10/02/2026

ESPN's Super Bowl Week Studio Footprint Doubles as a Bridge to the Network's First Super Bowl Coming in 2027

From San Fran to Santa Clara down to Los Angeles, ESPN celebrates the Big Game w...

10/02/2026

Canon Novel Lenses Shine Among More Than 115 Canon Lenses at Winter Games

A team of broadcast engineers and experts dispersed across Northern Italy help broadcasters and still photographers keep shooting OBS has put new imaging techn...

10/02/2026

For Karl Malone and the NBC Olympics Audio Team, Dolby Atmos Is Front, Center, and All Around

If you can have the best pictures and the best sound quality for these global ev...

10/02/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Quickplay's Paul Pastor on the Growth of Vertical Video Beyond Social Media

Disney+ will add vertical video within its app this year after ESPN introduced V...

10/02/2026

GameChanger Brings 1080HD Streaming to Youth Sports Production

GameChanger today unveiled the most comprehensive product update in its 15-year history, marking a major step forward in how families, athletes, coaches, fans, ...

09/02/2026

SMT Brings New AR Weather Visualization, Refreshed Telestration to NBC Sports' Super Bowl Game Coverage

A look inside the tech, tools, and team that make the Super Bowl into true eye c...

09/02/2026

NEP's TFC Infrastructure, Supershooter 71 Power NBC Sports' IBC-Style' Super Bowl LX Infrastructure

Software-defined IP backbone and centralized signal-control hub redefine champio...

09/02/2026

From Alcatraz to an Olympics Handoff at Midfield, NBC Sports Expands Super Bowl Pregame Into Bay Area-Wide Celebration

Broadcasters continue to raise the bar when it comes to producing an eye-catchin...

09/02/2026

NBC Sports Builds Its Super Bowl LX Game Broadcast on Sunday Night Football' Engine - and Pushes It Further

Game coverage will feature nearly 100 cameras, a deep well of replay channels, a...

09/02/2026

Sony at Super Bowl LX: Audio, Imaging, and Tracking Tech Power NBC's Broadcast, Officiating Ops, Sideline Comms, and More

Sony's imaging tech is the literal lens through which the spectacle and exc...

09/02/2026

How OBS Uses FPV Drones, 360-Degree Replay To Enhance Storytelling

The technologies, including AI, allow fans at home to see the athletes, feel' the speed, and sense the skill With four years from one Winter Games to the ...

09/02/2026

Sportradar To Power NBA Fan Experiences Across NBC Sports RSNs through Advanced Data and Enhanced Visual Storytelling

Sportradar AG announces a multi-year agreement with NBC Sports Regional Sports N...

09/02/2026

New York Festivals Advertising Awards Embraces Sports for 2026 Competition

New York Festivals Advertising Awards proudly unveils a dynamic new Sports Category Group, expanding its 2026 competition to recognize the powerful role sports ...

09/02/2026

FanDuel TV Calls Super Bowl LX Media Row Home for Up & Adams', Social Media Content

Devlin Design Group, Filmwerks, LTN pitched in on the four-day effort The site ...

09/02/2026

Super Bowl LX In Review: All of SVG's Onsite Coverage From The Bay Area

Despite the game taking place right in the middle of NBC Sports' busiest month ever, its production and operations teams pulled off a massive Super Bowl LX ...

08/02/2026

SMT Brings New AR Weather Visualization and a Refreshed Telestration Look to NBC Sports' Super Bowl Game Coverage

A look inside the tech, tools, and the team that make the Super Bowl into true e...

08/02/2026

Telemundo Deportes Expands Comprehensive Super Bowl LX Coverage to Its Biggest in History

Studio programming is deploying multiple sets at Levi's Stadium in Santa Cla...

08/02/2026

Van Wagner Strengthens Levi's Stadium's Revamped Control Room To Match Production Needs of Super Bowl LX

The annual in-venue show is a partnership between the NFL and the host venue NF...

08/02/2026

NEP's TFC Infrastructure and SS71 IBC-Style' Core Power a Progressive Super Bowl LX Infrastructure for NBC Sports

A software-defined IP backbone and centralized signal control hub redefine champ...

08/02/2026

NBC Sports' Super Bowl Compound Signals How IP Has Become the Foundation for Mega-Event Production

NEP's TFC Fabric empowers NBC to treat a 22-unit production as one seamless ...

08/02/2026

NBC Sports Builds Its Super Bowl LX Game Broadcast Upon the Shoulders of a Proven Sunday Night Football' Engine - and Pushes It Further

Game coverage will feature nearly 100 cameras, a deep well of replay channels, a...

07/02/2026

X Games to Host First-Ever Summer Athlete Draft at Cosm Los Angeles on March 12

X Games will host a live event taking place Thursday, March 12 at Cosm Los Angeles, marking the first-ever draft in X Games history and the official launch poin...

07/02/2026

Canon Supports Creative Needs for NBC Sports, Photographers at Super Bowl LX

Onsite experts and shop inside the stadium are providing quick solutions Before any live event production, there is a high probability that unpredictable issue...

07/02/2026

NBC Sports Goes Cinematic on Super Bowl LX Pregame Show With Canon's New 11-55mm Cine Servo Lens

Three Sony HDC-F5500s will capture this look on the broadcaster's concourse ...

07/02/2026

Ross Video Brings In-Venue Experience of Super Bowl LX to Life With Additional Tech, Knowledgeable Onsite Team

Inclusion in control-room revamp proves pivotal to supporting this tentpole even...

07/02/2026

Bleacher Report Builds a Three-Activation, Remote-First Super Bowl Content Factory on Radio Row

The digital giant also produced episodes of The Edge With Micah Parsons' be...

06/02/2026

Appear Appoints Simon Frost as CMO to Accelerate Global Expansion and Customer Engagement

Appear, which specializes in live production technology, announces the appointme...

06/02/2026

CBS Sports to Air Inaugural Baller League USA Season

Baller League US announces CBS Sports and its 24/7 soccer streaming channel CBS Sports Golazo Network will air the league's programming in the United States...

06/02/2026

Gravity Media Powers Australian Open 2026 with Broadcast and Production Infrastructure

Gravity Media, which concentrates in production, content, media services, and fa...

06/02/2026

AIMS Announces Certification of First 48 IPMX Products

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), together with the Video Services Forum (VSF), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA), and the European Broad...

06/02/2026

1001 Selects Bitmovin Player to Elevate its Video Streaming Capabilities

Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, announces that 1001, an OTT service in Iraq, has chosen the Bitmovin Player to improve its video streaming pe...

06/02/2026

Combate Global Licenses Live English TV Rights To YouTube Creator Shane Fazen

Combate Global and content creator Shane Fazen announce a licensing agreement to distribute the Hispanic-focused franchise's first three live MMA events in ...

06/02/2026

Behind the Cisco Technology Connecting Super Bowl Fans

Cisco is powering the invisible backbone of Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium as the technology giant delivers secure, high-capacity connectivity for over 70,...

06/02/2026

A Decade of NFL Next Gen Stats Innovation

Over the past decade, the NFL and Amazon Web Services have changed how football analytics are analyzed and presented through Next Gen Stats. There's real-ti...

06/02/2026

SVG GameDay: Seattle Seahawks' Kenton Olson - Two Decades in the Pacific Northwest

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

06/02/2026

SVG GameDay: New England Patriots' Ashok Moore - Capturing the Passion of the Fanbase

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

06/02/2026

Ratings Roundup: FOX Sports Delivers Most Watched Westminster Dog Show Since '21; FS1 Earns Most-Watched CBB Game Ever

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

06/02/2026

NESN Goes Fast and Light' on Radio Row for Multiplatform Coverage of Patriots' Super Bowl Return

How the podcast-turned-studio-show Boston Has Entered The Chat became an anchor ...

06/02/2026

Inside Austrian Broadcaster ORF's Winter Games Production

ORF, the public service broadcaster for Austria, is in Italy for Milano Cortina 2026, ready to bring the country's most popular winter sports direct to view...

06/02/2026

ORF Chief Director Michael Kgler on Taking the Lead Position for the OBS Alpine Men's Downhill World Feed

Milano Cortina 2026 is now underway and Austrian public service broadcaster, ORF...

06/02/2026

Warner Bros. Discovery Unveils its Winter Olympic Studios in the Heart of Cortina and Livigno

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has lifted the curtain on its studios in Italy that...

06/02/2026

The Winter Olympics are Finally Back at NRK and the Norwegian Broadcaster is Ready to Shred the Gnar

Milano Cortina marks the first time since London 2012 that NRK has had the full ...

06/02/2026

Managing Crews and Connectivity From Italy to Oslo for NRK's Onsite Productions from the Winter Olympics

Winter sports are wildly popular in Norway, with cross-country skiing and biathl...

06/02/2026

NRK's View From its Oslo HQ of the Action on the Slopes as it Brings XR and 1080p to the Games for the First Time

Norwegian broadcaster NRK has the free-to-air rights to the Olympics back for th...

06/02/2026

EA SPORTS Scales Madden Bowl Into Multi-Site, Multi-Stream Production for Super Bowl LX Week

The production of the mega-esports event also leverages facilities at EA headqua...

06/02/2026

Stay Tuned to SVG All Weekend for Behind-the-Scenes Reports From Super Bowl LX

Here's a preview of NBC's massive game and pregame production operation as Super Bowl Sunday approaches....

05/02/2026

Tech Focus: Wireless Audio, Part 2 - RF Mics Have a Key Role in Sports Broadcasting

Three examples of how wireless microphones are deployed to bring fans in deep an...

05/02/2026

Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra Camera To Capture the Opening Ceremony

Broadcast coverage will include 25 cameras distributed around the venues, including to some athletes; Galaxy AI Interpreter will also be deployed The Opening C...

05/02/2026

Kiswe to Power Mountain West Conference's New Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Platform

Kiswe has partnered with the Mountain West Conference to power the next iteratio...