South Carolina Gamecock Productions transitions to tapeless HD production

The accomplishments of the University of South Carolina’s (Columbia, SC) Gamecocks’ coaching and players are being documented with Panasonic AJ-HPX2700 P2 HD VariCam camcorders.

The cameras are being used to shoot the coaches’ show that airs on Sundays on Regional Sports Network FOX Sports South.

Gamecock Productions’ two P2 HD VariCams also will be used to shoot coaches’ shows for men’s and women’s basketball and baseball, which also will be broadcast on FOX Sports South. In a complete overhaul of production from tape-based SD to tapeless HD, Gamecock Productions — the production arm of the university’s athletic department — also acquired three AG-HPX170 P2 HD handheld camcorders and an AJ-HPM200 six-slot P2 Mobile recorder.

In addition, Gamecocks’ football also is using four AG-HPX370 P2 HD shoulder-mounts for coaching analysis. Gamecocks Productions tried out the HPX370s in the months leading up to its purchase of Panasonic equipment last spring.

The HPX170s are used for diverse coverage of the university’s Olympics sports and to support Web streaming of a growing number of sports, including men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball and softball. The HPX2700s are being deployed for marketing campaigns, intro videos for stadium and arena boards, and overall specialty and stylized shooting, as well as for the coaches’ shows. The P2 Mobile will be used to record games from network TV trucks at home and away and also as an ingest station.

Gamecock Productions is shooting with the HPX2700 in AVC-Intra 100 and making extensive use of the camcorder’s variable frame rates.

“We can simply adjust the P2 VariCam to get the outcome we want, whether it’s raw game action, epic slow motion, generic or so on,” said Justin Stoll, associate director of Gamecock Productions.