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July 27, 2021

Sports TV in 4D? Check it Out at the Tokyo 2020 Games

author
Fergal Ringrose
Live Production Community Director
NAB Amplify
Production using 4DReplay technologies
Production using 4DReplay technologies

4DREPLAY is a video-making company based in Silicon Valley, San Francisco. 4DReplay is a 360-degree perspective video-making solution; 4DVar is a judgement system that acts as a “real-time” referee; and 4D-Live is a mobile gesture-based, real-time, free viewpoint, multi-view video media service.

4DReplay is currently being used at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The system has been installed at 11 stadiums and is being used to film approximately 50 sporting events and producing many dramatic videos, including the Opening Ceremony at Japan National Stadium.

Four-dimensional #Judo
Keep your eyes on the last day of Judo at #Tokyo2020 and discover #4DReplay pic.twitter.com/yzZmlxmRan

— 4DREPLAY (@4DReplay) July 30, 2021

4DReplay is on the ground capturing athlete performances in athletics, artistic gymnastics, track, golf, volleyball, 3X3 basketball, sport climbing, skateboarding, BMX racing, Taekwondo, wrestling and Judo. For Taekwondo and wrestling, 4DVar, an official game judging system, is being used. For Judo, the 4DLive video solution is being used as a means of supplementing the sportscaster’s commentary.

READ MORE: Sports in 4D: 4DReplay Video Technology Shows 360-Degree Immersive Views to Sports Fans (Yahoo! Finance)

Hongsu Jung, CEO of 4DREPLAY, said, “The prolonging of COVID-19 and the resulting consistent hosting of sporting events without on-site spectators is making viewers even more nostalgic for the feeling of watching a game offline in person. The broadcasting company personnel who are responsible for streaming the world’s biggest sporting event have the added responsibility of conveying the atmosphere on-site to fans watching from home so that fans feel like they are physically present.

“4DReplay features each athlete’s performance in a 360-degree view, which allows us to show every movement made by the world’s top athletes — the outcome of years of sweat and tears — in a high degree of detail that we believe will impress viewers. For team events, performances will be shown for different angles per team. Our videos will help viewers to better understand a particular sport through their multi-angle portrayal of athletes’ momentary decisions and performance.”

NBC used 88 cameras on one hole at Torrey Pines for the 2021 US Open. According to Tod Leonard in Golf Digest, “On the sixth hole on the Torrey Pines South Course alone, there were 88 cameras to capture the players’ swings. Let that sink in. Eighty-eight. On one tee box. That’s more cameras in one spot than NBC had on the entire grounds at Torrey Pines in 2008. The cameras, set up in a ring around the tee box, are part of the 4DReplay developed by Cisco that show a player’s swing at 360 degrees, and the video can be paused at 34 different junctures in the motion.”

READ MORE: U.S. Open 2021: Here’s why NBC will use 88 cameras(!) on one hole at Torrey Pines (Golf Digest)

After recording the swings, the video went to a 4DReplay truck on-site where producers pushed the content to the US Open app, allowing fans to choose and watch the swings of their favorite players on their phones. This footage was also available to NBC lead analyst Paul Azinger, allowing him to examine in unprecedented detail the swings of the world’s best male golfers.

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