During most sports replays and bumpers are cut with some form of propritary edit controller, like EVS for example. I've worked in many-a TV truck, but never on a production as big as say... the Super Bowl. It seems the larger the production, the more off the shelf hardware they use! During last year's Super Bowl, all of the live broadcast bumpers were cut using Final Cut Pro. Granted, the systems use broadcast standard KONA 3 cards from AJA, but the fact they could edit virtually live sports in HD blows me away.

Fox also uses FCP for all of their sports coverage, but FCP isn't the only NLE getting use in sports. Turns out FSN South uses Vegas to cut it's promo and bumper material. They say they've cut down days worth of pre-production editing into 14 hours.

Looks like some of the old school is finally getting on board the NLE bandwagon.

Follow the READ link for more info out of this month's TV Technology.

Whenever I think about the components that make a camera what it is; words like fragile, or delicate come to mind. I mean, a light-sensitive computer chip (CCD) should probably be handled somewhat gingerly. Well, Micron Technology believes their video products are tough, and the company is out to prove it.

The memory manufacturer, and leading supplier of CMOS imaging sensors will test its mettle in the SCORE Baja 1000. In an attempt to record the entire race, Micron will equip 4 vehicles with image sensors and NAND flash recorders. Cameras will capture both point of view, and driver reaction to the course. Micron plans to record their video onto a series of Lexar CompactFlash cards.

Race fans will tell you it's a grueling dust-covered trek over some of the roughest roads known to man. Drivers begin in Ensenada, and race over 1000 miles down the tip of the Baja Peninsula and back again. The route is so difficult on both drivers and their vehicles, many don't make it to the finish.

It's hardly an Ideal environment for camera equipment. Any number of things could go wrong. But if Micron can pull it off, they will have some serious bragging rights, and some killer footage too.

Videotape is out for this season's Monday Night Football on ESPN. The broadcasts will include 23 cameras and 3 production trailers containing Final Cut Pro, Avid Nitrus and approximately 15 EVS XT2s <insert Tim the Tool Man grunt here>. They will use the EVS servers with IP director for logging clips and the studio will also be networked in to the HD trucks so they can access any video-at any replay at any angle-anytime. They also have several specialty cameras ready to catch those interesting angles. So, are you ready for some football? (come on, you know I had to say it)

Digital video is helping coaches, players and scouts take their game to a new level. This article had my attention in the first paragraph:

What was once a 40-hour process now takes Bari Vitolo all of about 30 seconds. Just flip on the computer, type in the jersey number of the player he wants to make a highlight film for, and instantly the clips are organized and ready to be mailed to college coaches.

Wow, I figured somebody did a ton of editing to be able to search clips that fast by a players jersey number. But a couple paragraphs down reference was made to the Landro, so I checked it out. You can read all the specs on the website, but it's pretty much a digital video recorder with software that will allow you to catalog all your plays. You can then recall parts of a game by categories, so if you want to see all the 3rd down plays, just choose that category. Pretty slick, Tivo on steroids for sports.

But the software is not magic, you still need to capture and catalog all the video. So there's a lot of work to be done on the front end. And just like everything else, the system will only be as good as the information that is put into it.

Film a winning commercial for BooKoo Energy--a company that may or may not be named after yours truly--and win a $1000 gift certificate to B&H Photo-Video.  They're not looking for Hollywood production values,  they're looking for the craziest video they can find.  Check it out, contest ends June 15th.

[via DVInfo]