bajalera
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Trivial Superbowl Question
How did they get that movable blue arrow, with the down and yardage on it, onto the field? Players could walk on it.
And at the Packers game in Green Bay, how did they get the yellow line marking the 1st down distance UNDERNEATH the snow?
Computer magic, I suppose, but where is it controlled from, and how?
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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vandenberg
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Aaaah......Lera,
At your age you're just seeing things.  
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BMG
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Cut & pasted info
First and ten
Consider the humble yellow line, now a staple of football broadcasts in the US. Companies like Princeton Video Image and Sportvision have developed
and marketed the technology so well that it has a 98 percent approval rating from fans, and it's hard to imagine football without it anymore.
The line is overlaid on the field to show how far each team has to go for a first down. It's the kind of effect that is immediately intuitive to
viewers, and it looks like the sort of thing that should be simple to generate. Just slap a graphic on the field and be done with it, right? After
all, networks have doing fancy computer-generated graphics for years, so a line would seem to be well within their capabilities.
But the tech is is actually quite advanced. For the line to function properly, computers in the production truck must know exactly where the various
cameras are pointing, how far they are zoomed in, and whether they are tilted at all. To make things worse, football fields are not entirely level,
and players are constantly running back and forth across the line. In addition, the computer model of the stadium needs to be so accurate that the
line can be projected within a foot or two of the official sideline chains.
Making the system work requires several hours of pregame setup. Sportvision, for instance, takes a laser surveying system out to the center of the
field, then uses it to precisely map elevations and contours. This information is used to create a detailed stadium model that is then passed to
computers in the production truck. The cameras on the field are equipped with specialized sensors that measure pan, tilt, and zoom data so that the
line can be properly projected and kept in the correct perspective as the camera moves. (This last requirement is also the reason why many replay
angles do not include the line; it only functions with sensor-equipped cameras.)
Out in the truck, techs use color keying to paint the line only on the field, not on the players. One palette tells the system what colors it can
paint on, while another palette includes skin tones and uniform colors that cannot be painted on. Another operator is responsible for manually
entering the first down yard line number whenever it changes, and the digital model of the stadium is then used to draw the line in the right place.
I think the world is run by C- students.
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Hook
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Football really IS the perfect television sport. Short stoppages that allow for quick replays that make the game seem like it rarely stops.
Perfect for today's immediate gratification world.
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marv sherrill
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Heck - and I thought that they repainted it during the commercials after every first down..
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bajalera
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Thank you, BMG, but that doesn't explain how they get snow stop the yellow 10-yard line, or how they get the down-and-yardage arrow under the players'
feet.
Guess I'll have to settle for computer magic.
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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BMG
Super Nomad
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People behind the scenes.
| Quote: | Originally posted by bajalera
Thank you, BMG, but that doesn't explain how they get snow stop the yellow 10-yard line, or how they get the down-and-yardage arrow under the players'
feet.
Guess I'll have to settle for computer magic. |
"Out in the truck, techs use color keying to paint the line only on the field, not on the players. One palette tells the system what colors it can
paint on, while another palette includes skin tones and uniform colors that cannot be painted on."
I think the world is run by C- students.
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bajalera
Super Nomad
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Okay. So there's a tech who tells the snow to go on top of the yellow line instead of under it.
Cool!
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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MrBillM
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BUT
How do they get that Baseball Strike Zone to hang in the air in front of the plate without anybody getting tangled in the wires ?
[Edited on 2-6-2008 by MrBillM]
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BMG
Super Nomad
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Ahhh grasshoppa...
| Quote: | Originally posted by MrBillM
How do they get that Baseball Strike Zone to hang in the air in front of the plate without anybody getting tangled in the wires ?
[Edited on 2-6-2008 by MrBillM] |
...some mysteries are better left unsolved.
It is pretty amazing how far technology has come in the last decade, let alone the last 25 years. Just look at some of the 'old' film footage from way
back in the 80's.
I think the world is run by C- students.
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bajalera
Super Nomad
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And speaking of baseball, is the a microphone that catches the "whoosh!" sound when a pitched ball reaches home plate, or is there some techie who has
the boring job of orchestrating whooshes at the proper time?
Sports didn't use to have all these serious problems.
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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OK, speaking of baseball (mini-hijack)........did you ever notice the advertising behind home plate changes every couple of innings.......AND....when
they do a replay, the advertising is......gone
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BMG
Super Nomad
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| Quote: |
OK, speaking of baseball (mini-hijack)........did you ever notice the advertising behind home plate changes every couple of innings.......AND....when
they do a replay, the advertising is......gone |
Green background, same as when you watch a weatherman on TV.
| Quote: |
And speaking of baseball, is the a microphone that catches the "whoosh!" sound when a pitched ball reaches home plate, or is there some techie who has
the boring job of orchestrating whooshes at the proper time? |
They used to spell it out like in the old Batman TV series but it just didn't have the same effect.
I think the world is run by C- students.
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Al G
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Hook
Football really IS the perfect television sport. Short stoppages that allow for quick replays that make the game seem like it rarely stops.
Perfect for today's immediate gratification world. |
Hook, I don't disagree, because I am not sure, but keeping track of 53 race cars at 200 MPH in the milliseconds, with graphics with GPS tracking, has
to rank as high or higher...
The Budweiser Shootout is...Saturday, Feb. 9 (8 p.m. ET) with The Budweiser Shootout. This 70-lap exhibition pits last season's Sprint Cup pole
winners and past champions in an all-out "sprint" for the checkered flag.
Daytona 500 is The 17th. for you Baja race fans.
I will be in Mulege at the Serenidad to watch the Shootout...come visit...Please.
Albert G
Remember, if you haven\'t got a smile on your face and laughter in your heart, then you are just a sour old fart!....
The most precious thing we have is life, yet it has absolutely no trade-in value.
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MrBillM
Platinum Nomad
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Constant Motion ?
As litttle as I watch of Football these days, I must still be watching it on the wrong channel. Those commercials are REALLY Long.
Back when I had first met my wife, I took her to the first Pro football game she'd ever been to. When she asked me why the players were standing
around so often seemingly for no reason, I told her they were waiting for the TV commercial to be over.
Same thing happens in Baseball and it's much more obvious when you're at the game.
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