FREMONT, Calif.—Blackmagic Design has announced that Art'istic Production deployed a multicamera OB featuring the Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 cameras and ATEM Constellation 8K live production switcher to capture and broadcast the National Volleyball League (LNV) in France on beIN Sports.
With diverse requirements, including the need to deploy mobile camera operators before, during and after the game, the URSA Broadcast G2's versatility proved compelling for Art'istic Production who won the tender to produce live coverage on behalf of LNV and broadcast by beIN Sports.
"We had both control room and camera equipment needs, and very early on, Blackmagic Design emerged as the ideal technical partner. It's a brand that we know offers outstanding performance and is excellent value for money,” said Arthur Brousmiche, founder of Art’istic Production.
For acquisition, the decision was taken to use three URSA Broadcast G2 cameras supplemented by the Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro. The former, for example, are used as shoulder mounted cameras with operators courtside, he explained.
"These positions can capture the coach's team talks during timeouts while providing close ups of the action on the court and watching spectators,” he said.
With games being played all over France and a significant disparity in the venues hosting those matches, the main challenge was capturing a clean image.
"What I like a lot, and that I was able to test in numerous halls, many of which are municipal gyms, is the camera's performance in low light," noted Brousmiche. "The image quality is excellent as are the higher frame rate options."
When it comes to the gallery, the centerpiece of the production workflow deployed by Art'Istic Production is an ATEM Constellation 8K with an ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel for hardware control.
"There was a need to invest in a high performance production switcher that would give our client complete confidence in our ability to deliver," explained Brousmiche. "The transition control features, the multiview, the SuperSource, at a price like that? There is a lot to like about this switcher."
Rebuilt at each venue, the temporary OB currently relies on a mix of 12G-SDI and 10G Ethernet connectivity to provide live camera feeds back to the gallery, the companies said.
"Volleyball is one of the only sports with a net that is covered from courtside, which means a set number of fixed camera positions, with no movement required. The studio camera was an ideal fit, given the all in one design and its SMPTE fiber like workflow," explained Brousmiche.
The RJ45 connection means that power, video and comms are sent down a single piece of Cat6a copper Ethernet cable up to distances of 100 meters and converted to SDI in the gallery using a Blackmagic Studio Converter.
"A few months ago, we didn't know where to go with an exciting and complex challenge like this," concludes Brousmiche. "Thanks to Blackmagic Design we have been able to implement a lower cost, high performing broadcast quality workflow.”
