Baylor Football Turns to Panasonic Camcorders, XOS Digital for Coaching Analysis

As the Baylor Bears get ready to take on Wofford in their at-home season opener August 31, they are hoping for a winning season and a three-peat of their 2011 and 2012 Bowl victories. Baylor Athletics has recently added to its roster of Panasonic equipment for critical football coaching analysis with the purchase of several AG-AC160A AVCCAM HD camcorders.

The Baylor Bears football team, a member of the Big 12 Conference, represents Baylor University in Division I FBS college football. The team plays home games at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. The Bears have relied on Panasonic cameras for practice and game-day analysis for well over a decade, including P2 HD handhelds (the AG-HVX200A and AG-HPX170), P2 HD shoulder-mounts (the AG-HPX500 and AG-HPX300), and AW-HE870 remote HD cameras with AW-RP655 remote controls.

The team utilizes XOS Digital’s Thunder Football HD for video editing and game planning, as well as XOS’ Thunder Capture System, which allows video coordinators to control multiple cameras from a remote location while capturing HD video.

Baylor’s Director of Video Services Michael “Jumbo” Bolding explained that he deploys the HPX500 and HPX300 on the sidelines, recording to AG-HMR10 handheld AVCCAM HD recorder/players. The AC160As (two on towers) capture tighter shots in the end zones. The HE870s are incorporated as the pan/tilt/zoom cameras in the Thunder Capture System. Bolding continues to use the HPX170, recording to an HMR10, for roving footage. The P2 HD camcorder with the AVCCAM recorder configuration yields the lower date rates of AVCCAM recording, and the redundant, higher-quality recordings of P2 HD.

“We’ve depended on Panasonic gear for coaching video many years,” Bolding says. “Our most recent investment, the AC160As, represents an attractive combination of cost-effectiveness with ease-of-use. Our student staffers have easily come up to speed shooting on them.”