Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

NBA Tipoff 2018: ESPN Embraces GREMI, Explores Use of SkyCam and Locker-Room Robos

18/10/2018

ESPN continues to cultivate its GREMI (Vizrt graphics/ EVS replay remote integration) hybrid at-home production workflow.

Originally published by SVG.

ESPN gets back in its NBA groove tonight with a regular-season-opening doubleheader featuring Pelicans-Rockets and Mavericks-Suns matchups. The network will continue to blaze a technological trail with innovations like the use of removable robos in locker rooms and, potentially, SkyCam at some point in the season. In addition, ESPN continues to cultivate its GREMI (graphics/replay remote integration) hybrid at-home production workflow, which debuted on its NBA shows last year after first being deployed on its MLB coverage in 2017.

We are extremely proud of our technical managers and specialists in the field for NBA, says Wendell Grigely, senior director, event operations, ESPN. They have put together the GREMI operation to make it seamless and continue to find new ways to innovate. It was a lot of hard work and communication between our ops in Bristol and ops people in the field [to refine the GREMI model], but everyone just refused to let it fail, and the result was a huge success.

GREMI Model Is in Full SwingLast year, ESPN launched its GREMI model across all its NBA productions, and, according to Grigely, the effort was a rousing success. With the GREMI approach, two EVS operators, a graphics operator, and a graphics producer are located in Bristol, CT, but use equipment - EVS servers and Vizrt graphics systems - housed on the truck. Between two and four additional replay operators (depending on the size of the show) are located on the truck.

The GREMI operation has been incredibly successful, says Grigely. In the beginning last year, we expected to have a few issues, but we really didn't, and it was totally seamless. Everyone in production has embraced it, and it has worked out for both the remote side and our operation back in Bristol. Plus, we get consistent operators because we have the same people working more shows.

This year, the clock-and-score-graphics operator will also be located in Bristol.

Everyone got on board really quickly from a technical and operator standpoint to make sure this succeeded every single week, says Grigely. And we developed great relationships between production people in the truck and our operators back in Bristol. The communication was excellent throughout the year so we could make little improvements every week.

Building Off Summer League SuccessESPN will continue to deploy eight to 12 cameras on the majority of NBA games, with the count jumping to 16 or 17 for marquee and primetime games, such as this Saturday's Rockets-Lakers matchup in Los Angeles. The through the glass shot that has become a staple of ESPN's NBA coverage will be back for selected games this year, with Sony HDC-P43 6X-slo-mo robotic cameras (provided by Fletcher) mounted behind the glass.

After a successful test at NBA Summer League, ESPN and the NBA will deploy breakaway robos in locker rooms throughout the season (pending team approval). New mounts allow the robotic cameras to be easily mounted for pregame, halftime, and postgame segments and then quickly removed.

Another successful Summer League experiment may also make its way into ESPN's coverage this year. The network may deploy SkyCam on tentpole games later in the season.

We are looking into using SkyCam after its success at Summer League, says Grigely, but nothing is definite yet. We are working with the league and the individual teams, but there is a lot of interest. We definitely want to try to get it [located] over play on the court. I think it offers some interesting angles, and we're working to make that happen.

He pinpoints Christmas Day - always a big day for ESPN's NBA coverage - as a potential debut for SkyCam with more appearances possible during the second half of the season.

ESPN will also continue to mic players and coaches for its Wired segments as much as possible this season, according to Grigely.

EN3, Victory Trucks Are Committed to HardcourtESPN will rely on two dedicated mobile units for its NBA shows this season: NEP's EN3 and Game Creek Video's Victory. Although ESPN will deploy a handful of other trucks when necessary, the operations team has been able to customize EN3 and Victory for the specific needs of its NBA productions.

It's great to have dedicated trucks that we can load up with our [custom] gear [complement] for the season, says Grigely. It allows to do less shipping because the mobile units show up with everything we need. We can often knock out four games with just those two trucks in a week, which will be really great for our operations team.

ESPN Turbocharges Content-Sharing Effort With CMSIESPN continues to bolster its file-transfer operations from games, enlisting Creative Mobile Solutions Inc. (CMSI) to manage content sharing not only with Bristol but also with the league and Turner Sports.

Our file-transfer operation now is pretty large, says Grigely. It really allows the content to be shared across all of ESPN's platforms, as well as NBA and Turner. File transfer has helped speed up that process and make it a much tighter operation overall, and we've continued to refine that.

Related articles

NBA Summer League Spotlight: A Breeding Ground for Production-Tech Innovation

NEP Group, Bexel support March Madness broadcasts with Vizrt graphics tools

Related articles

NBA Summer League Spotlight: A Breeding Ground for Production-Tech Innovation

NEP Group, Bexel support March Madness broadcasts with Vizrt graphics tools
LINK: http://www.vizrt.com/news/newsgrid/55376/NBA_Tipoff_2018_ESPN_Embraces...
See more stories from vizrt

Most recent headlines

01/03/2025

Italys Mediaset Taps Evertz for Advanced Channel Origination and Playout

BURLINGTON, Canada Italian broadcaster Mediaset S.p.A has teamed up with Evertz to design, deploy and successfully launch Mediaset's next-generation channel...

01/03/2025

OpenVault: Average Monthly Broadband Usage Approaches 700 GB

JERSEY CITY, N.J. New data from Open Vault highlights how broadband users continue to increase their data usage, with the latest edition of the OpenVault Broadb...

28/02/2025

Stories That Shine: Audiobooks and Podcasts To Enjoy This Awards Season

Awards season is a celebration of cinematic excellence, but the best stories often start on the page. From a beloved Wizard of Oz retelling to the captivating b...

28/02/2025

Discover Argentina's Most-Streamed Songs of Summer 2025

As summer in Argentina comes to a close, the music coming out of the South American country has been a vibrant reflection of its rich cultural diversity. From b...

28/02/2025

Marlee Silva reveals how we can make our nation safer for women through Australia's most loved sport, in Skin in the Game

Marlee Silva reveals how we can make our nation safer for women through Australi...

28/02/2025

The Future of Green Energy

The Future of Green Energy: Challenges and Prospects Green energy, also known as renewable energy, has emerged as a critical solution to global energy challenge...

28/02/2025

HPA Tech Retreat 2025: The Indispensable Gathering Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary with a Thought-Provoking Conference

The 30th anniversary of the HPA Tech Retreat may have just concluded, but the co...

28/02/2025

HPA Unveils the 2025 Class of Young Entertainment Professionals (YEP)

Since its inception by the Women in Post committee in 2016, the YEP program has spotlighted rising talent in media and entertainment. Each year, a select group ...

28/02/2025

Nielsen appoints Kirsten Riolo to lead newly created Custom Research Division

Sydney February 11, 2025 Nielsen today announced the appointment of Kirsten Riolo as Head of Consumer Insights for Australia and New Zealand, leading the co...

28/02/2025

NAB Show Announces Speaker Lineup

WASHINGTON The 2025 NAB Show, the premier event for the broadcast, media and entertainment industry, is set to showcase an exceptional lineup of industry leader...

28/02/2025

FCC Updates Wireless Emergency Alerts to Enable Silent Alerts

WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has updated its rules to provide alert originators with the flexibility to send silent Wireless Emergency Alert...

28/02/2025

Fubo Closed 2024 with Record Revenue, Subs

NEW YORK FuboTV Inc. has announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024 that include record total revenue and paid sub...

28/02/2025

Spectrum To Award $1 Million In 2025 Spectrum Digital Education Grants

STAMFORD, Conn. Charter Communication's Spectrum brand has announced that it will commit $1 million to Spectrum Digital Education in 2025, raising its total...

28/02/2025

Nevion launches a new high-density audio format converter add-on for its Virtuoso media node

Nevion launches a new high-density audio format converter add-on for its Virtuos...

28/02/2025

Black Box at the 2025 NAB Show: Flexible IP KVM That Delivers Advanced Functionality With Simple Management

Black Box at the 2025 NAB Show: Flexible IP KVM That Delivers Advanced Functiona...

28/02/2025

Foundry announces the release of Nuke 16.0

Foundry announces the release of Nuke 16.0 Brie Clayton February 28, 2025 0 Comments Next-generation compositing with variable-enabled multishot workf...

28/02/2025

FCC Seeks Public Input on Loud Commercials

WASHINGTON The FCC has launched a public inquiry into updating the rules that guide the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, noting that a r...

28/02/2025

SES's O3b mPOWER Now Providing Connectivity Services to Governments via NSPA's MGS

Operational since April 2024, O3b mPOWER has been successfully activated for spe...

28/02/2025

Pete Distad to Head Fox Corp.'s DTC Service

LOS ANGELES Fox Corporation has announced that Pete Distad has been named CEO of the recently announced Fox direct-to-consumer streaming platform....

28/02/2025

NPAW Names Gary Hunsberger U.S. General Manager

BARCELONA, N.Y. NPAW has appointed industry veteran Gary Hunsberger general manager for the United States....

28/02/2025

DirecTV Breaks the Traditional Cable Bundle with New Genre Packs

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. DirecTV said it is breaking the traditional cable bundle by launching three new Genre Packs and two new Mini-Pack Add-ons....

28/02/2025

FCC to Explore Opening Up Additional Portions of Upper C-band Spectrum

WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has launched a proceeding to explore further opportunities to open up additional portions of the Upper C-band f...

28/02/2025

NAB Launches Campaign Urging FCC to Modernize Ownership Regulations

WASHINGTON The NAB has announced the launch of a major public affairs campaign that it hopes will convince the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to modern...

28/02/2025

NCTA President and CEO Michael K. Powell to Retire

WASHINGTON After nearly 15 years at the helm of the NCTA, Michael K. Powell has announced he will retire later this year from the cable industry-backed group, c...

28/02/2025

MediaKind announces MK IO video SaaS availability in AWS...

MediaKind, the global change leader in media technology services and solutions, announced today that MK.IO, its premium direct-to-consumer streaming stack, is n...

28/02/2025

Powering Innovation - Great British Media Tech At NAB Sho...

The exhibitors on the two GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Pavilions at NAB Show 2025 in South Lower SL6204 and West Halls W2522, Las Vegas Convention Center,...

28/02/2025

EMG - GRAVITY MEDIA SETS A NEW STANDARD IN SUSTAINABLE BR...

EMG / Gravity Media, the leading force in production, content, media services and facilities, today announced a groundbreaking milestone in sustainable broadcas...

28/02/2025

Appear Launches the X5 and VX Media Gateway at NAB Extend...

Appear's rapid growth enables it to increase investment in innovation, driving its leadership in live media production technology Appear, the global leader...

28/02/2025

Net Insight and Riksteatern bring remote theatre producti...

Net Insight and the Swedish National Touring Theatre, Riksteatern, are pushing the boundaries of performing arts with a pioneering remote production of the play...

28/02/2025

Broadcast Solutions builds complete news broadcast centre...

Broadcast Solutions, one of Europe's largest media systems integration groups, completed a news broadcast centre for CIBC Global in Azerbaijan. The centre s...

28/02/2025

Portfolio Expansion Across the Board for Sencore at NAB2025

Portfolio Expansion Across the Board for Sencore at NAB2025 Brie Clayton February 27, 2025 0 Comments New orchestration, contribution and monitoring s...

28/02/2025

Blackmagic Design Powers PlayStation Tournaments: XP Live Stream

Blackmagic Design Powers PlayStation Tournaments: XP Live Stream Brie Clayton February 27, 2025 0 Comments New global competition's video workflow...

28/02/2025

Sonnet Announces Rugged Rackmount Enclosure for New 2024 Apple Mac mini Computers

Sonnet Announces Rugged Rackmount Enclosure for New 2024 Apple Mac mini Computer...

28/02/2025

Boris FX SynthEyes 2025 Redefines 3D Tracking with AI Power

Boris FX SynthEyes 2025 Redefines 3D Tracking with AI Power Jessie Electa Petrov February 27, 2025 0 Comments The new release adds AI masking for ligh...

28/02/2025

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2025: NRK Outlines How it Will Excite Younger Viewers

Goggles and athletes: NRK outlines how it will excite younger viewers with cover...

28/02/2025

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2025: How Production Partner NRK Has Prepped to Cover the Slopes

Focused on the slopes: How production partner NRK has prepared for the FIS Nordi...

28/02/2025

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2025: Inside NRK's Camera Plans for the Cross Country and Ski Jumping in Trondheim

Ready for takeoff: Inside NRK's camera plans for the FIS Nordic World Ski Ch...

28/02/2025

BallerFX's Justin Peterson on Templating Graphics Design For High-End Performance, Reduced Burnout

BallerFX's Justin Peterson on Templating Graphics Design For High-End Perfor...

28/02/2025

NFL Media Covers 2025 Combine With Data-Driven Tech-Focused Broadcast

NFL Media Covers 2025 Combine With Data-Driven Tech-Focused Broadcast Event results are integrated with L-bar graphic in Los Angeles By Mark J Burns, SVG Contr...

28/02/2025

NTT IndyCar Series Gets Injection of FOX Sports Flair With Drones, Ghost Car, Pointers, Heads Up Display

NTT IndyCar Series Gets Injection of FOX Sports Flair With Drones, Ghost Car, Po...

28/02/2025

Live From NHL Stadium Series: ESPN's Jeff Dufine on Producing Outdoor Hockey at the Horseshoe

Live From NHL Stadium Series: ESPN's Jeff Dufine on Producing Outdoor Hockey...

28/02/2025

Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, and the Russo Brothers Arrive in Madrid to Present 'The Electric State'

Back to All News Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, and the Russo Brothers Arrive...

28/02/2025

RT is Supporting 21 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this March

This March, RT is delighted to support St. Patrick's Festival, along with 20 other amazing arts and cultural events all over Ireland spanning theatre, film...

28/02/2025

CUDA Accelerated: How CUDA Libraries Bolster Cybersecurity With AI

Editor's note: This is the next topic in our new CUDA Accelerated news series, which showcases the latest software libraries, NVIDIA NIM microservices and t...

28/02/2025

European Consortium Launches PQC4eMRTD Project to Enhance Security of Electronic Passports in the Quantum Era

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Munich, Germany - February 28, 2025 - A signific...

28/02/2025

Travel Department announced as the new sponsor of RT Radio 1's Sunday with Miriam

RT Commercial has today announced Travel Department as the new sponsor of RT R...

28/02/2025

T RT ag ceiliradh Sheachtain na Gaeilge 2025 / RT Celebrates Seachtain na Gaeilge 2025

An bhfuil c pla funny focal' agat? T RT ag ceili radh Sheachtain na Gaei...

28/02/2025

February 27, 2025

How air pollution and wildfire smoke may contribute to memory loss in Alzheimer's disease Scripps Research scientists discovered how a chemical modification...

28/02/2025

South Carolina broadcaster WGGS chooses the Rohde & Schwarz TE1 Liquid-Cooled Transmitter to expand audience reach

South Carolina broadcaster WGGS chooses the Rohde & Schwarz TE1 Liquid-Cooled Tr...

27/02/2025

Inside the Archives: Cinematic Snapshots from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival

Director Rashad Frett and actor Stephan James share a hug on stage following the premiere of Ricky. Photo by Jason Peters By the Archives team Though the 20...