SPORT /// See the Sports Now Channel on www.tvtechnology.com for more coverage of the Sochi Games and beyond.


Multiscreen Becomes Mainstream in Sochi


/// By Andy Stout


n 2007 the Russian coastal resort city of Sochi learned that it was to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. Since then,


stereo 3D has come and largely gone, the companion screen has risen hugely in importance, IPTV has taken a prime role in the distribution of such major events — broadcasting every event live is now commonplace — and 4K has threatened to gatecrash the party. Staging the Olympics is all about hitting a moving target far in the future — famously, when London 2012 won its bid, Twitter hadn’t even been launched — so even a seven year lead time is less generous than it seems. And there was legacy to consider too, as following the emergent model there were plenty of sporting events coming soon after to consider. For the Winter Olympics,


eleven venues are grouped together in two clusters: the Coastal Cluster by the Black Sea and the Mountain Cluster in the Krasnaya Polyana Mountains, roughly 30 miles away. The 62,000-square-metre IBC is situated in the Main Media Centre in the Coastal Cluster, while a special 8,900-square- meter Mountain Broadcast Centre includes four studios and six live positions on the roof with allegedly stunning views. The two centres are linked by train (34 minutes apart) and fibre (substantially quicker).


PANORAMA


One of the most important post- bid moves inside the Russian Federation was the creation of Panorama (aka ANO Sports Broadcasting) by a group of Russian broadcasters, which equally swiftly in turn ordered a dozen HD OB units from Sony. These break down into three 24- cam units, four 16-cam units and five 10-cam units, which will be


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The 62,000-square-meter International Broadcasting Centre is situated in the Main Media Centre (Image courtesy of the Sochi2014 Press Office)


joined by seven DSNG vehicles, a mobile master control room and a media office. The bulk of Sochi’s broadcast facilities are coming from this impressive fleet, which will be largely crewed by 1,200 graduates of a three year, 30-event multi-stage training program established specially for the Games by Panorama.


And, since you asked, a


dedicated Russian/English broadcasting terminology app has also been produced to ease the problems of dovetailing local and international crews together. To date, it boasts 16,000 word combinations. The Panorama trucks are


based around a Snell Kahuna vision mixer and host a mix of Sony HDC-1500R and HDC- 3300R camera, the latter being able to operate on either hybrid fibre or triaxial cable. The flagship 24 camera trucks will also be equipped with the latest HDC-2500 3G cameras and VTRs, as well as OLED monitors.


TV Technology Asia-Pacific I February-March 2014


The Slow Motion replay areas use EVS XT3 servers in conjunction with XDCAM PDW- F1600 recorders, while the audio areas are dominated by a Studer VISTA 9 digital audio mixer incorporating a 42-fader console with a number of remote optical


stage boxes. All communications are being provided via Riedel Artist Matrices, and the tender vehicles for the 24-cam trucks are equipped with additional production and audio rooms. Media-Office is Panorama’s


main production platform and allows for the ingest, editing, logging, storing, searching, and delivery of digital content to multiple users in realtime. Feeds coming from any source are captured and stored in a single archive. Utilizing EVS’s IPDirector, the Office enables fast search and retrieval of relevant video content from anywhere in the world, allowing up to 100 users to simultaneously search for and work with video. It also relies on the Octopus6 Newsroom System, available to as many as 39 users at a time, to piece together videos, images and text into a rundown.


A special kit to be deployed at the Games includes a ‘spider


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