NBA Virtual-Reality Broadcasts on Oculus Fueled By Fully Cloud-based Decentralized Workflow Through The Switch and AWS, MediaMonks takes live VR sports production into the cloud By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 - 12:56 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
In a challenging season of evolving COVID-based protocols, limited fan attendance, and national broadcast partners' taking much of their live game production remote, the NBA has managed to uphold its reputation as one of the nation's most progressive professional sports leagues.
That includes leading the way on NFTs (through NBA Top Shot), sports-betting-based alternative streaming broadcasts, and, yes, even virtual reality.
The NBA has partnered with Facebook to deliver a package of live games in virtual reality on the Oculus platform.
Through its partnership with Facebook, the NBA has delivered a package of 10 VR broadcasts of live games on the Oculus Quest platform, the last of which - between the Toronto Raptors and Dallas Mavericks - will stream Friday evening.
Consumable on Oculus Quest's Venues app, this season's edition of the NBA's live VR experience brings users (and their dynamic avatars) into a suite-like experience to interact with other fans of their choosing while watching a produced, multi-camera live presentation of the game itself.
Yet, although the consumer side of the production has been advanced significantly by pushing the quality of the video to 4K at 60 fps, perhaps the most radical and impactful changes are behind the scenes, where the entire live experience is being produced via a new decentralized model with the crew working from numerous locations around the globe.
The Key First Mile to the Cloud The NBA and Facebook have entrusted international creative digital-production company MediaMonks to produce the live game coverage and assist with marrying it to the Venues app experience within Oculus.
Camera specialist Alan Bucaria sets up one of four cameras used to shoot the VR broadcast. Bucaria is one of just two-three people required at the arena to make the production possible. (Photo Courtesy: MediaMonks)
MediaMonks' team has logged plenty of reps working NBA VR experiences in the past, but, when it became clear that conditions at NBA arenas were going to be quite different this season given careful resumption of play amid the coronavirus pandemic, it was understood that this slate of productions would be the most challenging yet.
Unable to travel staff and have a large technical presence onsite, MediaMonks had to get creative. Like many broadcasters throughout this pandemic, it would need to find a way to produce from home - literally. The agency would assemble a completely decentralized workflow that would allow the entire production to be done in the cloud.
The key to decentralization came in unlocking the connectivity. MediaMonks turned to The Switch for its high-capacity, low-latency first-mile connectivity into every NBA arena. This enabled The Switch to extend a direct peering with AWS via a private Direct Connect which MediaMonks accessed directly from the NBA Venue panel. The ability to funnel 4K video signals over those pipes (The Switch network) out of the arena and into the cloud was the critical element that enabled the entire show.
A chart of the signal workflow behind the NBA VR experience. (Courtesy: MediaMonks)
The signal workflow is relatively straightforward (see image at right). From AWS Direct Connect, the camera signals are fed through nine softwareSRT decoders into TouchDesigner for 3D mapping and custom projection. From there, it runs into Vizrt's Viz Vectar Plus production-switching system controlled by Central Control where the crew can tap in and work from their respective homes to build the final product, which is transmitted to Oculus headsets through AWS Cloudfront.
This workflow sounds terrifying and bizarre, says Lewis Smithingham, MediaMonks' Director of Creative Solutions, but, once it got up and running, it has been one of the more stable shows that we've ever run.
Minimal Onsite Presence At the arena on a game night, the MediaMonks team has to deploy little more than a collection of five cameras and a small, 12 rack unit rolling case housing a collection of Haivision Makito X4 encoders.
The only gear required on-site for the production are five Sony cameras and a 12 RU rolling case of Haivision Makito X4 encoders. Those encoders leverage The Switch's in-venue network to transport the camera feeds to AWS Direct Connect. (Photo Courtesy: MediaMonks)
With the team looking to stick with more-traditional broadcast elements, these games are not produced with some special VR rig, which previous major VR projects across the industry may have used. Instead, these games are shot using Sony FX6 full-frame cinema cameras outfitted with Canon EF 8-15mm fisheye lenses. They are positioned in four spots in the arena: high center court, low center court, and under each basket.
Only two to three crew members are needed onsite: VR Broadcast Engineer in Charge Ken Stiver and Camera Lead/Live Tech Alan Bucaria, supported by Broadcast Engineer Adam Roth, or a local utility. Everyone else involved in the show works on equipment in their own homes.
Says Smithingham, It's liberating as a manager to be able to recruit the talent that I want for this show, [rather] than be restricted to just who can get to the truck.
Bringing in Talent Far and Wide The show is steered by a crew more than 15 people deep, all working from home in locales ranging from Orlando to New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Arkansas, London, Nottingham, Buenos Aires, and S o Paolo.
Among those behind the scenes were Solutions Architect Lead Jason O'Malley, Broadcast and Films Senior Technica
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...
04/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...
04/06/2026
This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...
04/06/2026
For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...
04/06/2026
Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...
04/06/2026
Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...
04/06/2026
Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...
04/06/2026
KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...
04/06/2026
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...
04/06/2026
The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...
04/06/2026
MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...
04/06/2026
NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...
04/06/2026
David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
Over his l...
04/06/2026
Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...
04/06/2026
California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...
04/06/2026
New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts
TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...
04/06/2026
Steinberg DAWs now boast in-depth Tonalic integration
Celemony's innovative virtual session musician plug-in has just received an update that brings ARA...
04/06/2026
Get Hands-On With Over 20 Mic Brands
GearExpo UK is fast approaching, and if you've been looking for a chance to check out some new mics, then you'r...
04/06/2026
Combos feature new Amplifier Intelligence engine
Positive Grid's latest release sees the company introduce two new combo amplifiers that promise to offe...
04/06/2026
Is Your Job Making You Work this June?
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS Launches the World Cup Watchers' Rights Association to Stand Up For Australians&...
04/06/2026
Statement regarding unauthorised use of SBS logos on third party social content
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has become aware of social media posts in c...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
All the Truth in My Lies Coming to Netflix on August 28
Entertainment
04 June 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the imag...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at ...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World ...
04/06/2026
Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn Published on Jun 4, 2026 Categories: Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Share
LinkedIn
Facebook ...
04/06/2026
BackStory follows four Irish young people as they travel back to their parents' homelands
Modern Irish identity is enriched by cultures and influences from...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
NBA Virtual-Reality Broadcasts on Oculus Fueled By Fully Cloud-based Decentralized Workflow Through The Switch and AWS, MediaMonks takes live VR sports production into the cloud By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
