ARRI Media camera slows down World Cup action

HBS is using a new HD slow-motion camera system from ARRI Media for the World Cup, recording images at up to 300 progressive frames per second. The camera is one of two high-speed units being used at the World Cup (the other was developed by DVS) and it s expected to be used at 20 matches.

Bill Lovell, ARRI Media head of digital department, says the system, developed by NAC Image Technology in Japan, has an advantage over competing systems thanks to its native progressive image recording. It s a conventional system camera with a black-and-white viewfinder that is operated in a normal fashion like other sports cameras, he says. One option is to send the live camera output straight to air at regular frame rates.

The camera records the slow-motion material on an internal RAM recorder that can store up to 11 seconds of video at 300 frames per second. There are three 8GB blocks of storage, one for R, G, and B. You can get more recording capability by adjusting the frame rate, he says.

By recording inside the camera the playback operator can control slow-motion playback without needing a special CCU. A fiber cable can run about 2 kilometers back to the truck where an engineer can operate a VTR-style controller with a jog shuttle to playback remotely, says Lovell.

The camera will be placed at pitch level towards the corner and will provide mainly extreme close-ups on the ball, feet, tackles, headers and challenges in the air, and goalkeeper action. It will be used chiefly for highlights and analysis applications.