Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
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" As in the daytime there is no star in the sky warmer and brighter than the sun, likewise there is no competition greater than the Olympic Games".
Pindar, Greek lyric poet, 5th century BC |
So it is with the technical facilities used to televise major sporting events such as ‘Athens 2004’. For the ‘Games of the XXVIII Olympiad’, Athens Olympic Broadcasting (AOB), and other broadcasters used forty five D-Cam wireless camera systems, in preference to competitive systems, to provide much of the live television coverage of the first Games to be held in Greece for over a century.
From the Opening Ceremony through to the Closing Ceremony, one only needed to look at the frequency plan for the Athens 2004 to see how widespread the use of D-Cam and D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ systems were for the Games. As one broadcaster put it, “They’re everywhere!”
Forty five systems is a significant achievement by any standards, considering that the D-Cam was still in the development stage when the previous Olympic Games were held in Sydney four years ago. However, a great deal was learnt from ‘Sydney 2000’, where twenty-two Gigawave G-Cams (the analogue predecessor of the D-Cam) were used by the Sydney Olympic Broadcast Organisation (SOBO), Channel 7 Australia, and NBC to cover the Games, as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
In Athens, as with Sydney, most D-Cam wireless camera systems were used with hand held cameras, or mounted on Steadicams to provide viewers with the sort of intimate close-up shots that are impossible to get using conventional cameras. Others were used for a number of specialist applications, including ‘wirecams’ and the high-speed track used for athletics.
For ‘Athens 2004’, specialist RF facilities companies such as UK based Broadcast RF, Belgium based Alfacam, and Total RF from the United States provided most of the D-Cam wireless camera systems, with the Seven Network (Australia) and ERT (Greece) providing the rest. Gigawave Customer Support engineers were on hand to provide product support.
Broadcast RF alone provided twenty two of the forty five D-Cams used in Athens, with four separate teams of engineers providing engineering support to the production teams at each of the following events. Each team was totally self-contained and fully supported by a team back in the UK. The success of each event was due to meticulous planning and preparation, the reliability of the equipment and the dedication of the engineers on site.
Rowing
Rowing is an endurance test that finishes at speeds of up to 10 metres a second. Crews cover the middle 1000 metres at about 40 strokes per minute, but over the first and last 500 metres, shift up a gear to as many as 47 strokes per minute. Gyro-stabilised cameras mounted on specially equipped tracking vehicles and chase boats are used to provide the primary coverage of all rowing events. In Athens, there were two tracking vehicles with two gyro-stabilised cameras each and three chase boats with one gyro-stabilised camera each.
In order to provide simultaneous transmission from both cameras, each tracking vehicle was equipped with two stand-alone D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ transmitters, each feeding 2W power amplifiers and CP Omni antennas. The chase boats were each equipped with one MTV-D transmitter feeding a 2W power amplifier, and a CP Omni antenna. At the shore-based receive point, signals were received using standard MVL-D receivers with Fanbeam antennas. In addition to providing full remote control (racking) of each camera, Broadcast RF provided production talkback and return vision to each camera operator.
Equestrian
Equestrian events were first included in the Olympic Games back in 1900 in a format that is very similar to that which is used today. In the past, the Three-Day Event (Eventing) was restricted to military officers, while only jumping and dressage competitions were open to civilians.
As with many other Olympic events, D-Cam wireless camera systems were used to provide viewers with intimate shots of the competitors prior to, during, and after each event, as well as close-up action shots, interviews, and the medal ceremonies. Broadcast RF provided four D-Cam’s for the Dressage and Jumping events. In addition, they provided a further five analogue ‘Mini’ links that were used to transmit images from POV cameras imbedded in the actual fences for the Jumping events.
For the Eventing, two standard D-Cam wireless camera systems were used, with a further D-cam incorporated in a 1000 metre long ‘Wirecam’ that was stretched overhead the course.
Cycling
The men's and women's road races and time trials now comprise the four events that make up the Olympic road-racing programme, and D-Cam wireless camera systems were used for both. For the city centre road race, D-Cam wireless camera systems were used to cover the start/finish line, as well as the team ‘boxes’.
Marathon
Originally conceived as a race for the 1896 Olympics in Athens, the marathon immediately captured the imagination and hearts of the running public. It commemorates the legendary soldier, Phidippides, who in 490 BC ran 26 hilly miles from Marathon to Athens to deliver the news that the Athenian Army had defeated the Persians. Totally exhausted, he died after delivering his message.
In Athens in 2004, two D-Cam wireless camera systems (one mounted on a Steadicam) were used to cover the athletes as they returned to the Panathinaikon Stadium, the famous Marble Stadium where the Games were revived in 1896. It was at this point that a Steadicam operator tripped and fell, destroying both the camera and the D-Cam transmitter unit. Other than this incident, every D-Cam worked perfectly during the whole period of the Games.
Triathlon
The ultimate endurance test! The Triathlon requires athletes to excel at three very different pursuits - swimming, cycling and running. The sport demands particularly intense discipline because each area requires a high-level training schedule.
Two D-Cam wireless camera systems were used to cover the start of the event, a 1.5 kilometre swim. They were then used to cover the transition to the 40km bike ride, the transition to the 10km run, the finish, and finally the medal ceremony. Broadcast RF also provided the link used to transmit pictures from a boat mounted ‘PoleCam’ during the swimming leg.
Olympic Stadium and Other Specialised Applications
In addition to providing standard D-Cam wireless camera systems, Broadcast RF provided a total of six digital links for ‘Wirecam’ and similar applications at different locations in Athens.
In the Olympic Stadium, Broadcast RF provided D-Cam wireless camera systems for the High Speed Track used for athletics, plus the ‘Aerocam’, a kind of wirecam with one end anchored near to ground level and the other anchored in the roof of the stadium. A D-Cam equipped wirecam, rigged across the OAKA Sports Complex, was also used to provide aerial images of the interior of the Olympic Stadium.
In addition to Eventing, wirecam systems equipped with Gigawave digital links were used for White Water Rafting, Mountain Bikes, the Marathon, and theTriathlon
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“We were delighted with the performance and reliability of the 22 D-Cam and D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ systems that we supplied to AOB. With so much at stake there was no margin for error!”
Arthur Dyson, Managing Director - Broadcast RF |
For more information visit the Broadcast RF website:
www.broadcastrf.com
Belgium based Alfacam is one of Europe’s leading facilities companies with nineteen OB Trucks, many of them offering HDTV production facilities. For ‘Athens 2004’, Alfacam was contracted by AOB to provide three OB trucks complete with personnel and specialist technical personnel recourses, including five D-Cam wireless camera systems.
Alfacam’s latest OB Truck, OB21, was used to provide HDTV coverage of the Gymnastics, whilst OB7 was used to provide SD coverage of the Gymnastics and Basketball finals, held in the Olympic Indoor Hall (OIH). State of the art, OB20 was used to integrate all athletics coverage in the main Olympic Stadium (OAKA),. OB20 was also used to control the five D-Cams that were used in the Olympic Stadium.
OAKA Sports Complex comprising the Olympic Stadium and the Indoor Sports Hall.
OAKA Sports Complex (Olympic Stadium/Indoor Sports Hall)
The Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA) was the main site for ‘Athens 2004’, and included the spectacular Olympic Stadium designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The Olympic Stadium was used to host the Opening and Closing ceremonies, the Athletics events and the Football gold medal match. The OAKA Complex also includes the Olympic Indoor Hall, where the finals of Basketball took place.
The five D-Cam wireless camera systems provided by Alfacam were used primarily for Athletics and other events in the Olympic Stadium as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Depending on the event, up to three systems were used with Steadicams. The others were used hand held. All five systems had full remote control (racking) and were operated in 16QAM COFDM mode for the whole of the Games. Signals from all five wireless cameras were received using tripod-mounted MVL-D receivers with Fanbeam antennas.
The RF Heads for each of the five MVL-D receivers were located on the top tier of the Olympic Stadium, overlooking the main arena and linked to their corresponding IF Control Units in OB20 with Triax. Unlike the analogue G-Cam systems used in Sydney, no tracking was required and, once set up the receive site, was normally left unmanned.
The big advantage of using D-Cam digital wireless camera systems for this kind of application is that it was possible for the cameramen or Steadicam operators to go anywhere in the Olympic stadium, without technical restrictions of any kind. This meant that the AOB directors were able to get the sort of dramatic close-up shots that would not be possible using conventional Triax cameras. The D-Cam systems supplied by Alfacam were also used to introduce individual competitors prior to each race, cover post race celebrations, and film live interviews.
One of the most impressive Steadicam shots from the Opening Ceremony was that of a dance routine staged in the huge artificial lake. As the dancers cavorted and frolicked in the water the Steadicam followed them, providing viewers with dramatic shots of the sequence that would only have been possible using a digital wireless camera system. Likewise it would not have been possible to have a camera mingling with the athletes as they paraded round the stadium without the D-Cam wireless camera systems.
Frequency management was the biggest single problem that Alfacam’s Links engineers had during the ‘Athens 2004’ Games, especially as all their receivers were high in the roof of the Olympic Stadium. However, the Greek EETV engineers were extremely efficient, and any problems were soon resolved with their help.
In the Olympic Indoor Hall, which forms part of the OAKA Sports Complex, Alfacam used two additional D-Cam wireless camera systems for live coverage of the Gymnastics and Basketball finals. Here the objective was to provide close-up action shots from places where it would not be possible to use conventional Triax cameras.
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“The wonderful thing about wireless camera systems is that viewers can now share in an athlete’s moment of glory (or despair) as though they are themselves right there on the track, rather than them feeling that they are just a passive spectator.”
Chris Brendall, Technical Producer – Alfacam |
For more information visit the Alfacam website:
www.alfacam.be
Recognising Seven’s leadership in sports television production, AOB, the Athens Olympic Broadcast Organisation responsible for the international television coverage of the Olympic Games, contracted Seven Network to provide a crew of 100 engineers and other specialists to provide live coverage of swimming, water polo, diving and synchronised swimming.
Since the 2003 FINA World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, D-Cam wireless camera systems have been used for virtually every major swimming event. Athens 2004 was no exception. The big advantage of using D-Cam wireless camera systems for swimming, synchronised swimming, water polo, diving etc. being that it is possible to get close-up poolside shots from hand held and Steadicam mounted cameras that, for safety reasons, would not be possible using conventional triax cameras.
In addition, a team of nearly twenty people from Seven was contracted by the AOB to manage and maintain specialty cameras designed and developed by ‘Seven’. Commenting, Seven’s Executive Producer, Olympic Games, Mr Andy Kay, said:
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“We will have the most extraordinary technology in place. We will see coverage that employs some new camera technologies, sets new standards in sports television.”
Andy Kay, Executive Producer (Olympic Games) – Seven Network |
Unlike Broadcast RF, Alfacam, and the Seven Network who were contracted to provide live coverage of specific events and/or locations, Total RF was contracted to NBC Sports to provide digital wireless cameras and other specialised facilities to ‘enhance’ AOB’s multilateral (world) feed.
In total, Total RF supplied NBC with ten D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ wireless camera systems for the live coverage of a wide range of Olympics events, including Swimming, Diving, and Gymnastics, as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. In addition to covering actual events, NBC used their D-Cam wireless camera systems extensively to conduct live interviews and provide local ‘colour’ from the main Olympic venues, plus different locations, in and around Athens.
NBC chose to use D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ rather than the dockable D-Cam wireless camera systems on the basis that they had never worked in a fully digital RF environment, and wanted the option of being able to use conventional ‘Pit Lane Pole’ systems, connected to the camera with an umbilical cable! In the end, their fears proved groundless. The digital links performed superbly, and the ‘Pit Lane Pole’ systems were never used.
One of the D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ systems was permanently located at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA), with a second system at the Helliniko Olympic Complex. At each venue, Total RF engineers installed a single receiver with Fanbeam antenna. These unmanned receive points allowed NBC’s ENG camera crews to provide live coverage from the two main Olympic venues by simply clipping a D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ onto the back of their camera and replacing the battery. The two receive points were linked back to the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) using optical fibre.
Faced with the problem that it may not be possible to use a conventional links truck in the narrow and congested streets of Athens, Total RF engineers came up with the idea of equipping a small truck with a Gigawave ‘Rebro’ system. When filming in downtown Athens, this ‘Rebro Truck’ would be parked in a convenient location and used to relay signals from a D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ equipped camera back to the IBC via a permanent ground receive site located on Mount Imittos, a hill overlooking Athens.
In addition to the ‘Rebro’ unit, the truck carried a couple of tripods, various helix and fanbeam antennas, plus some spare batteries for the camera. Early in the Games, an Iraqi team was unexpectedly leading Portugal in their Group ‘D’ football match. In the circumstances, NBC sent a camera crew with a D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ plus the ‘Rebro Truck’ to a local bar in downtown Athens to record the reaction of supporters who were watching the game live on TV.
The remaining seven D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ wireless camera systems were deployed as required by the NBC Sport production team. This entailed detailed planning to ensure that the requisite systems were in the right place at the right time. For the most part, the seven D-Cam ‘Clip-on’ wireless camera systems were deployed as follows:
- Opening/Closing Ceremonies – 4 systems
- Gymnastics – 4 systems
- Athletics – 4 systems
- Swimming – 2 systems
- Diving – 2 systems
Apart from digital wireless cameras, Total RF also provided NBC with a number of analogue links. One of these was used to provide a downlink from the Blimp, which was used to provide aerial views of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA) and other Olympic venues. It was also used to provide aerial coverage of various events including Rowing, Canoeing, Beach Volleyball, and cycling. To ensure live coverage from all these locations, Total RF installed three ground receive sites, each comprising a PTV receiver and a 0.6m dish.
Four years ago at ‘Sydney 2000’, SOBO used 22 Gigawave analogue G-Cams. In Athens, Total RF engineers once again made use of some of the original analogue G-Cams systems - this time as fixed links! They all worked perfectly despite the high temperatures.
For equipment left standing out in the sun all day, high temperature was a cruicial test, in terms of reliability. During one of the cycling road races, a ‘Clip-on’ transmitter that had been out in the sun all day showed a temperature of 72°C on its digital display, despite the specification listing 65°C as the maximum operating temperature!
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“Apart from the heat, it was difficult to get things up and running. This was partly due to the late completion of some venues and partly due to the lack of effective frequency management in the early stages. However it all worked out right on the night, and that is all that matters!”
Steve Gansky – Total RF |
For more information visit the Total RF website:
www.totalrf.com
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