24
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ISSUE 2 2013
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THE CHANNEL
ur products for the
sports broadcaster
cover three areas.
One is on‐air or
live graphics, so
any sort of
graphics that you
see on screen – including the second
screen. Another area where we are
quite innovative is “field graphics”,
in the sense that you can put
graphical elements onto a playing
field, whether in football or any
other sport. The third is the analysis
part of the story, where with the
Viz Libero product we go one step
further and give analysts the ability
to annotate graphically a sports
event and break down the key
plays of the game for the viewers at
home. Breaking down the action
with Viz Libero is most useful in
team sports.
What are the latest features?
During an event like the Olympics
where you have so many things
going on in parallel, sometimes you
decide not to cover certain events
for your first screen – the TV – but
only for the second screens, the
tablets and internet. But you still
want to preserve the graphics that
you are used to from your first
screen. One of the latest innovations
is the Viz IP Engine where we tailor
our main graphics product, the Viz
Engine, towards not only catering
for traditional broadcast but also IP
broadcast, directly going to internet
or smartphone broadcast. That is a
very cool thing.
Today, viewers want more and
more explanations all the time ‐ why
did Messi score that goal, why did
Tom Brady throw the ball this way.
Recently we introduced an
innovative feature that is able to
take a traditional TV camera image
and generate via the computer a
”
Next
will be
social
integration
making
viewers
part of
your
broadcast
Dr. Stephan Würmlin Stadler joined Vizrt late 2010 as part
of Vizrt's acquisition of LiberoVision – now known as Viz
Libero. Stephan is Vizrt’s Executive VP for Sports. He
developed the software that forms the core of Viz Libero's
3D sports enhancement technology while studying
computer science at ETH Zürich. 3D graphics and analysis
tools from Vizrt's range for sports were used by
broadcasters from all parts of the world during the London
2012 Olympics. With Rio in mind, we asked him how
broadcasters can make sports content even more exciting
super slow mo image from this.
Without the need to invest in
expensive camera equipment we
provide a production tool for the
journalist to slow down an original
camera that is running at 60 frames/
second and show the viewer a 200 or
1000 frames/second camera image.
Some of the sports are so fast that
you really want to slow them down
while still retaining the flow.
We can also do virtual advertising
– a product called Viz Arena enables
broadcasters to superimpose static
and animated 3D graphics over the
live coverage of a sports event. For
example sponsorsʹ logos can be laid
down on a surface over which players
can walk, or a virtual foreground
object can be keyed onto the video
coverage and players will appear
behind or in front of the object.
How do you generate innovation?
It is something that you cannot plan.
Apart from the technology providers,
the two foremost innovation drivers
are the journalists and producers,
and the viewers at home. We are a
company that really tries to engage
with our clients, sometimes even
partner with our clients. One of the
partnerships that delivered an
outstanding piece of technology
was the one with CNN for the 2008
elections 3D hologram.
How do you harness social media?
Itʹs partly a workflow question. You
have to change the graphics depending
on whether the programme is
presented on a 46 inch+ TV screen,
a four inch smartphone or nine inch
tablet. And thatʹs where we have a
multi‐platform delivery solution.
You click once on a graphic and it
simultaneously renders it out to
multiple platforms, meaning that
you can design templates for your
graphics for the different platforms
and the system automatically then
fills in the right data and delivers it
to the appropriate platform. The
product can detect during delivery
what device you have, so if you are
logging into that site with an iPhone
we know itʹs a 4 inch screen, and so
we give you the right experience
for that reduced resolution screen.
Itʹs seamless, the broadcaster does
not have to worry about it.
In social media, we have almost
any type of integration aspect with
Twitter, Facebook and Skype as well.
If an earthquake happens and there
is a journalist on the spot, she can
generate a Skype connection to the
news studio on her smartphone
using our tools and be patched
directly into the bulletin. You can
do the same with citizen
contributors. With our Social TV
platform you can scan Facebook
and Twitter feeds and filter them –
so if you want to include in your
programme what people talk
about, you can do that.
What's next?
The next innovations will be more
about social integration and how to
bring the viewers and their views
and knowledge to your broadcast.
We have these great tools for
breaking down play analytically
with graphics on the field, tracking
players etc. If we put that tool into
the viewersʹ and the fansʹ hands
then we have a completely different
sort of engagement with the game.
When they analyse whatʹs going on
and share that with their friends, of
course the broadcaster listens in
and if he likes what people are
saying he can then make it part of
his broadcast. We may not see that
at the World Cup next year but
definitely for Rio in 2016.
Stephan Stadler, thank you.
POWEROFANALYSIS
O
www.vizrt.com
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