[TV Technology]

… But behind the scenes, the ESPN production crew also achieved new heights in their own breathtaking stunt—producing live broadcasts of different action sports events from multiple venues for delivery on its ESPN 3D stereo 3DTV network, as well as HD for the ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC networks. The event’s international audience was estimated at over 300 million households in 180 countries worldwide. And live webcasts were also delivered via espn3.com, xgames.com, and special Facebook and YouTube X Games sites. 

“While we’ve broadcast the X Games before in native stereo 3D, we still managed to break new ground on this event, both in the use of stereo 3D and our ambitious production plans,” said Phil Orlins, coordinating producer for ESPN.  …

In the 5D workflow, 20 stereo 3D cameras feed both left and right eye signals into the massive 200×100 Sony MVS-8000x production switcher on SS32 to produce the full stereo 3D show, complete with graphics and audio. Then the left-eye portion of the finished stereo 3D program is used to feed the 2D networks, including ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC.  …

With stereo 3D, where the subject can fly towards the viewer, lower third supers and other graphics overlays may not look right if they are not in the right position relative to the video.To prevent this problem, graphics are often keyed at the top of the screen rather than the bottom—where there is less opportunity for collision with the subject—or else graphics are not left on-screen for more than six or seven seconds.” …

“Instead of covering one event at a time, we decided that each of the events would become unique productions for the network they had to serve,” Orlins said. “While this plan was ambitious, all five feeds went off without a hitch and ended perfectly right at 6 p.m.”

See the full story here: http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/123738