NASHVILLE— Mobile production specialist TNDV recently teamed with sports TV production company Ohlmeyer Kusserow Group to shoot the annual RE/MAX World Long Drive Championships golf special, employing an array of innovative production technologies to intensify the HD viewing experience.
For the program, which debuts December 23 on ESPN, TNDV drove Aspiration, its 40-foot expanding side mobile production truck, to the shoot location in Mesquite, Nev.
“We used a special slo-mo camera to clearly capture dramatic shots and up-close reactions at 1000 frames per second, with instantaneous live replay of super slo-mo footage,” said Nic Dugger, president and owner of TNDV. “This allowed us to capture and analyze the swing technique and style of each golfer in a much more intensive method than what is possible with traditional 30 frame-per-second camera technology.”
OKG engaged TNDV for its ability deploy equipment, including Protracer software and slow motion X-MO V641 cameras with built-in replay capability from Inertia Unlimited, which the company integrated into its traditional multi-camera production system.
Dugger added that the Protracer software, used in combination with an ESPN Innovations robotic camera, provided the graphical representation with a red line that followed each hook, slice and straight ball path. The robotic camera uses a smaller camera head with an ability to move left to right on a dolly track, with independent tilt and pan from remote locations.
TNDV also utilized infrastructure capabilities, including Harris routers and multiviewers for video; and Studio Technologies talent boxes with Sennheiser headset microphones for audio commentary. TNDV audio engineer Adam Ellis also deployed seven AT8035 shotgun microphones for the effects mix.
