SYDNEY—When the remote location of a world championship cycling meet challenged the traditional outside broadcast model, Gravity Media developed a custom solution to facilitate Beyond Productions’ coverage, connecting specialist crews in Western Australia with production control in Melbourne more than 1,860 miles (3,000 kilometers) away.
For the first time, the UCI Gravel World Championships were held outside Europe. The event brought together the world’s best gravel cyclists to compete in the valleys and forests of Nannup, Western Australia.
Producing a world-class broadcast from this remote corner of the country presented a significant commercial challenge. The travel, accommodation and logistical demands of a conventional outside broadcast (OB) deployment threatened to consume almost the entire local production budget.
Gravity Media brought together its various service teams to develop an alternative approach. By centralizing production control at its Production Center in Melbourne and reducing the operational footprint in Nannup, Gravity Media made the complex remote production happen, bringing together the infrastructure, connectivity and technical expertise required to produce a world-class sports production.
Covering a gravel course across challenging terrain required a flexible, multicamera approach that could follow the action wherever it unfolded. Camera operation combined fixed cameras at key points, including the start and finish, with mobile and aerial coverage from chase motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), drones and helicopters.
Getting video back from a geographically dispersed course was a significant technical undertaking. RF links, supported by mobile and cellular-bonded connectivity, helped connect the live camera operation across the course.
Multiple digital satellite newsgathering (DSNG) vans, positioned at different sites, supported the workflow, multiplexing and transporting feeds to the Melbourne production center. Gravity Media’s CELBO remote production technology supported cameras on the ground at the start and finish.
This distributed approach enabled the production to draw on multiple camera platforms across the course while keeping production control centralized in Melbourne, reducing the need for a traditional OB deployment at the venue.
At the heart of the operation was Gravity Media’s Production Center, where control-room operations and virtual hosting supported Beyond’s production.
The center received, processed and synchronized multiple live feeds from Nannup. The production was integrated across Gravity Media’s facilities, with the domestic and world feeds produced in the control room supported with localized commentary in the virtual hosting studio environment. EVS systems further supported the production workflow.
Communications infrastructure was important in coordinating operations across such a vast distance. A complex IP network was established and satellite internet zones completed the communications loop, while GPS tracking was integrated through the motorcycle links to support the production.
The workflow supported Beyond’s production of an international world feed for cycling audiences around the globe alongside dedicated coverage for Australian audiences on SBS featuring custom interviews, live crosses and commentary.
Boost Graphics, Gravity Media’s Belgium-based live graphics and virtual production subsidiary, played a vital role. Drawing on its experience with major European cycling events and the UCI, Boost Graphics brought specialist knowledge to the production and helped integrate GPS tracking into the broadcast to elevate the viewing experience.
This collaboration combined technical capabilities with event-specific expertise that extended beyond a traditional OB operation. From designing the camera and transmission workflow to establishing communications across the course and integrating the production in Melbourne, teams worked across service areas to solve challenges that required a tailored approach.
The project showed what can be achieved when established ways of working are reconsidered and specialist teams collaborate to extend their technical capabilities and problem-solving expertise.
More information is available on the company’s website.
