LIEGE, Belgium—EVS has released XtraMotion, its on-demand, cloud-based solution that relies on A.I. to transform video into super slow-motion replays.
XtraMotion makes possible super slow-motion from nearly every camera angle by creating the high frame rate needed in the cloud rather than natively in a super slow-motion camera, the company said. Effectively, XtraMotion turns shots from nearly any video camera—even point-of-view cameras—into super slow motion that’s available for replay to enhance storytelling, it said.
EVS developed advanced machine learning algorithms that can work with any production format from 1080i to UHD/HDR and any original frame rate. The M.L. algorithms can transform a 60fps video into a smooth 180fps video or a native 180fps video into a 540fps version. The process works equally well on live, post and archived content, the company said.
XtraMotion tightly integrates with existing EVS replay and post-production environments. EVS operators can seamlessly clip any content from any camera, render it to super slow-motion and play it back in seconds, it said.
No additional hardware is required on site. As a cloud-based service that’s available on-demand, XtraMotion allows producers to begin using it within moments of deciding it’s needed for a given production, EVS said.
Fox Sports evaluated the new technology at Super Bowl LIV in February 2020. Standard frame rate clips from specialty cameras were converted into high frame rate video. Following the initial evaluation, XtraMotion was used for the World Series in Arlington, Texas, and more regularly to cover the NFL, NCAA college basketball and NASCAR, it said.
Following these successful uses, Fox Sports has made XtraMotion an integral part of its productions, EVS said.
“The super slow-motion shots created from the in-car cameras at Daytona 500 this year let us truly appreciate how good the drivers are and gave us a real feeling of how steep the banking really is,” said Kevin Callahan, director of technical operations at Fox Sports. “And the fact that XtraMotion is a cloud-based service means we can deploy it whenever and wherever we want, and easily scale it to the capacity we need on every one of our productions.”
More information is available on the company’s website.
