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Camera Corps heads to Canada for Winter Games
January 14, 2010
Source: Camera Corps
Following a number of site-surveys and planning
meetings during 2009, a 44-strong Camera Corps team heads
to British Columbia in February to provide point-of-view cameras
for the duration of the Winter Games.
Two 40 metre tracking systems, nine sports dollies, over 60
robotic heads, 118 HD cameras, and a large inventory of lenses,
controllers, interfaces and support equipment are being installed
to cover events from Vancouver as well as the winter sports
resorts of Whistler and Cypress Mountain.
"We will be fielding four teams in Vancouver plus another
four in Whistler and one at Cypress Mountain, as well as installing
beauty cameras at various sites between the three main venues,"
states Camera Corps' founder and Managing Director Laurie
Frost.
"This will be the first Winter Games to be televised
fully in 1080i HD. Twelve complete Q-Ball robotic camera systems
will be in operation following successful trials at a major
sports event in Africa during the summer. Our particular speciality
is delivering images from positions very close into the action.
"We have 16 cameras mounted in the roof of the bobsleigh
track to follow the passage of each bob down the course. There
are also two special pop-up cameras mounted in the ice which
can be remotely lowered flush with the ice surface if a bob
has turned on its side. That removes any risk of the competitors
coming into direct contact with either pop-up camera. The
pop-up cameras can also be lowered during ice-grooming operations.
"For the speed skating, we have installed a camera inside
one of the marker cones to capture ice level shots as the
skaters flash by. We have also placed cameras at the end of
the ski jump to capture the each contestant's actual 'takeoff'.
Camera Corps beauty cameras have been installed in the prow
and stern of the SeaBus ferry which connects the cities of
Vancouver and North Vancouver. Both cameras will be fully
controlled from the IBC along with five other beauty cameras
around Vancouver and Whistler."
"Our Winter Games installations are thoroughly tested
to ensure efficient operation at sub-zero temperatures,"
adds Camera Corps' Technical Director, Jim Daniels.
"Tolerance of high ambient temperature is often an important
factor at summer sports events but in Vancouver our concern
will be to ensure protection against snow and ice, including
the common-sense element of keeping the camera powered overnight
to maintain a moderate level of internal heating. All our
sports POV cameras are designed to ensure maximum weather
resistance. Q-Ball achieves this by being housed in a 115
mm diameter sphere machined from solid aluminium. A major
part of our activity at this event will be providing RF links
in close co-operation with the Kent-based company Broadcast
RF. These range from relatively straightforward links with
handheld and Steadicam systems to the complex requirements
of receiving camera feeds from the SeaBus ferry without any
signal breakup even while docked at each side of the river."
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