BERGEN, NORWAY—Vizrt said its broadcast graphics systems were used by Fox Sports for both pre-game and main telecast on-air graphics for the Super Bowl XLVIII game and festivities on Sunday, Feb. 2.
Supporting the broadcasts were more than two-dozen Viz Engines, Vizrt’s real-time 3D compositing engine, as well as Viz Trio graphical user control interfaces. Augmented reality graphics powered by Viz Virtual Studio systems working in conjunction with NCam optical camera tracking were used for graphics and effects. In addition, the Viz Libero sports analysis tool was utilized for enhancing play-by-play coverage. Viz Engines drove a Microsoft Perceptive Pixel touch screen for displaying Vizrt’s social TV tools and real-time stats.
Some of the graphics systems were used during the four days leading up to the big game inside a temporary studio set up in New York’s Times Square, where the city had established “Super Bowl Boulevard,” a fan-friendly zone encompassing 10 city blocks along Broadway. The Vizrt equipment was housed within a control room set up inside a mobile production truck parked on site.
One Viz Trio graphics operator was dedicated to producing lower-third graphics, full screen graphics, real-time stats and interactive charts. A second operator worked the famous “Fox Box ” statistics with Vizrt technology. During Super Bowl week, the average playlist used by each operator—and stored on Viz Engines configured as a central repository—was made up of more than 1,500 graphics items.
Fox Sports has used Vizrt technology for its graphics production since 2010, in the studio as well as onboard numerous mobile production trucks. Vizrt tools are used to generate the popular “Cleatus” CGI robot that appears during program interstitials during every NFL on FOX telecast.
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