Virtual Graphics & Enhancements

Virtual Advertising Insertion

For All Sports

VIRTUAL
PLACEMENT
FAMILY
EBOOK
INTRODUCTION
As a producer, youre driven to create moments
within a live broadcast that not only grabs
your viewers attention, but also enriches
the acute nature of visual storytelling.

Placing virtual graphics via camera tracking

within live video is the new normal among news,
sports and entertainment producers who are
constantly dreaming up fresh ways to engage
their audiences. While some have regarded the
placement of virtual graphics within live video
to be a complex art, made possible only by
expensive specialist cameras that, by definition,
require a lengthy calibration process, ChyronHego
has taken a decidedly different approach.
From our point of view, placing virtual graphics
within live video should be a quick and simple
process, with no need to add any specialist camera
encoders or lengthy calibration processes. Your
virtual graphics should be capable of being
placed into a scene within minutes of setup,
ready for use in virtually any live broadcast
scenario, from augmenting physical studio-sets
with virtual objects to much larger scenes such
as sports arenas, race tracks, or landscapes.

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The aim throughout is simple: to place virtual
elements into a live scene via camera tracking to
make them look physically real and in harmony with
the environment they are projected onto with the
added benefit of incremental advertising placement
revenue, should your business model require.
For even more insight into how Virtual Placement
can inject that high-touch production value to
your next live broadcast, watch a behind the
scenes video narrated by Mark Bowden, Head of
Sports Product Management at ChyronHego.

This eBook focuses attention on three BEHIND THE SCENES WITH

ChyronHego solutions: Virtual Placement, VIRTUAL PLACEMENT
Virtual 1st, and Virtual Football.

With regards to Virtual Placement, its important to

note and to understand that Virtual Placement is the
umbrella label for our augmented graphics line of
products for sports broadcasters, while also the name of
a solution within that product line. Virtual Placement
is capable of analyzing an incoming video feed and
extract the camera pan, tilt and zoom (PTZ) in real-time
for every frame of incoming video. This is the basis for
a vast amount of augmented graphics, most of them
tailored for real-time sports broadcast enhancements.

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SCENE TRACKING & VIRTUAL PLACEMENT:
INCREASING VIEWER ENGAGEMENT
& REVENUE STREAMS

VIRTUAL
PLACEMENT
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5
SCENE TRACKING & VIRTUAL
PLACEMENT: INCREASING
VIEWER ENGAGEMENT &
REVENUE STREAMS
Weve all seen camera tracking in one form or
another on television. Most typically in sports, and
used to deliver information or advertising messages
to viewers from the playing field or its boundaries.

However, there are five different types of camera

tracking technologies, and it is important to
understand how they differ and why Scene
Tracking is now considered the superior
technology from a technical, workflow, and
potential revenue-generating standpoint.
Its very important to keep this in mind: Anything
you put on-screen can be an aid to or a
distraction to the viewer. You do not want the
viewer to perceive what you do with tracking
as clutter getting in the way of the actual
program itself, whether its statistics that improve
the understanding of the match or advertising
sponsorship. While its true that viewers with only
one viewing option have nowhere else to go, you
do not want negative perceptions affecting how
your advertisers and sponsors are perceived.

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TYPES OF TRACKING
TECHNOLOGIES
Motion Tracking - The fastest method of tracking,
this simply takes the video information and tries to
determine which way the camera thats producing
the image is moving. This is as basic as it gets and
works well in a number of situations. However, as
you might expect, it can be confused by elements
of the video that move against the video, or large
objects moving in the opposite direction of a pan.
Also known and referred to as flow, this method has
no understanding of depth and all video is treated
as flat two-dimensional (2D) with no Z value its
a mathematical guess at left and right movements.
Anchor Tracking - While not technically a different
method of tracking, it could be better referred to
as motion tracking with anchor recognition. When
a video feed recognizes a predefined snap (a
predetermined location in the frame) any graphics
related to this snap will be placed in a position as
defined earlier by the operator. Once this recognition
has taken place, motion/flow takes over from this
point to manage the camera tracking. Again, this
process is still only 2D as we are dealing with a flat
video feed with no ability to recognize depth.
Pitch Tracking - This is a common method used
in and around sporting venues, where known
pitch lines (or any standard field lines) can be
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captured by the camera. Throughout the process
of calibration, a pitch tracking system gathers both
the pitch curvature and creates a lens distortion
map based on a preset selection of images.
The system will follow these lines throughout the
match, and when lines are lost from view, it will
seamlessly switch over to Motion Tracking. The main
difference between Pitch and the previous tracking
methods is that because cameras can see the lines, the
system has an understanding of three-dimensional
(3D) space and can start to extract metrics from the
video. Metrics at this level of tracking provide the
ability to measure the distance between two points.
Pitch tracking is used in ChyronHegos Virtual 1st
graphics placement, and where ChyronHego uses
TRACAB real-time player and object tracking Top Fonts.
As the system is aware of the position of the pitch and
then the relative position of the players, it can overlay
the graphics onto the field and under the players.
Instrumented Tracking - This is the standard method
of tracking used in studio environments. Mechanical or
digital sensors are attached to camera heads and lenses
that are pedestal or jib mounted. Then a constant stream
of data is supplied from the sensors (normally via a
proprietary box) back to the render engine. The engine
then creates a virtual camera to match the real one.
While this is seen as the most stable and
reliable method of camera tracking, it comes
at a cost, literally: hardware overhead.
Instrumented Tracking can be used to describe
any form of virtual camera system that requires
additional hardware. This includes hybrid optical
and sensor based systems that are on the market.
They tend to allow more freedom of movement,
but come with further technical overheads.
Its assumed that all Instrumented Tracking
systems have a full understanding of the 3D
space in which they operate and are able to
extract metrics based on that understanding.
Scene Tracking - This is the latest method of optical
tracking thats been created by ChyronHego, and
is part of the updates in the latest version of Virtual
Placement. The system is unique as its able to gather
metrics without using pitch lines or sensors.
In Virtual Placement Scene Tracking, a panoramic
image is created, so the system can learn what
the world it is viewing looks like. From here,
the user will indicate various real-world actual
distances. For instance, the distance from Point
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A to Point B is input into the system as 10 meters
or 25 feet or whatever the actual distance is.
Based on these data points from a number of
cameras, a map of the cameras world is created,
where the system understands metrics based
on nothing more than the video feeds.
The big advantage of Virtual Placement Scene Tracking
is that the system is scalable you dont need encoders
or anything attached to the camera head or its lens to
produce a virtual graphic that is actually in the scene,
instead of on top of the image which is the case
with the Motion and Anchor methods. The entire 3D
world the venue and the athletes are totally and
accurately extrapolated from the calibration data points
and what the camera sees at every moment in time.
Virtual Placement Scene Tracking can work with
multiple cameras, and the cameras can be in different
areas on the field and traditional stadium camera
positions. This differs greatly from Pitch Tracking
where cameras have to be within 90 degrees of one
another. With Virtual Placement Scene Tracking,
cameras can be on opposite sides of the stadium.
USING VIRTUAL PLACEMENT
SCENE TRACKING TECHNOLOGY
As elements within the cameras view
must be known and their relative distances
measureable, Virtual Placement Scene
Tracking can be used in a variety of sports.
The system also learns as the event transitions from day
to night, as the calibration points can appear visually
different from daylight to night with artificial lighting.
When considering weather conditions, the ability of
the system to work accurately is based on a simple
common sense rule: If the camera can see it (its
calibration data points), the system can see it. That
means that light rain, fog, or snow will have little
or any effect on performance, but heavy fog and
snow where the camera can hardly see the field
will mean the system cant see the field either.
Without any additional hardware such as camera/
lens encoders, there are no hardware issues at the
camera, leading to simple set-up and operation.
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 SCENE TRACKING & VIRTUAL PLACEMENT PRODUCTION WORKFLOW
The production workflow is straightforward, with an easy to learn UI that requires less training time to get a user
up to speed, making calibration and operation simple.

Virtual Placement Scene Tracking also integrates into other ChyronHego products, including our Paint telestrator and
TRACAB real-time player and object tracking solution to provide an end-to-end on-screen enhancement workflow.

Broadcast
Camera(s) TRACAB Camera
TRACAB Server
Raw Data

SDI
Clip Export

X, Y coordinates

VIRTUAL PLACEMENT Camera PTZ data PAINT

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INCREASING VIEWER Depending on your specific circumstances,
ChyronHegos Virtual Placement system can easily
ENGAGEMENT & pay for itself with sponsorships and ads.

REVENUE STREAMS When considering a tracking technology, its imperative

PRICING, TCO & ROI
While it should be obvious by now that Virtual Placement is
more cost-effective than instrumented tracking, it is also less
expensive when considering Virtual Placement against all
other solutions as theres no hardware or logistics overhead
just the Virtual Placement server. Moreover, unlike other
solutions that require one server per tracking camera, the
Virtual Placement server is designed for multi-camera use.
to consider all the costs involved: initial solution
purchase, upgrades, operational costs, and the ability
to offset those costs with revenue generation.
ChyronHegos Virtual Placement answers these questions
and allows you to produce the best possible moments for
live television, for both your viewers and your bottom line.
Before we dig deeper into the other members of the
Virtual Placement product line, lets take in a brief video
demonstration recorded during the recent NAB Show.

Nevertheless, even with a smaller investment, the ability

to generate revenue is always a plus. While viewers
tend to think of tracking technologies as a way to
enhance a broadcast with player/team statistics, it also
has the ability to generate revenue to increase ROI.

Virtual Placement has the ability to bring in multiple cameras

and output multiple feeds with one server. Users have the
ability to generate more airtime, equally for information to
enhance a broadcast and for potential ad placement revenue.

For example, American football 1st down lines and

Red Zones are a standard opportunity for stadiums
to deliver information to their in-stadium fans, AND
sell sponsorship opportunities to reach those fans.

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 VIDEO

VIRTUAL PLACEMENT/PAINT DEMO

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 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS BRING
FIELD DATA TO THE FANS WITH
CHYRONHEGOS VIRTUAL 1ST

VIRTUAL 1ST
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NEW
ORLEANS
SAINTS
BRING FIELD
DATA TO
THE FANS

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CHYRONHEGOS VIRTUAL 1ST
is unique as a Down & Distance solution
for professional and collegiate football. Its
uniqueness comes from the fact that unlike
other systems it does not rely on additional
sensors or hardware to be installed on cameras;
its simplicity in both deployment and set-up;
and in the import of standard PNG graphics
files for customized on-field markers.

Virtual 1st is a completely optical system

providing a virtual line of scrimmage, 1st down
markers, red zone highlights and other on-field
graphics that are easily customized to match
both in-stadium and on-air styles. The optical
technology takes into effect and corrects for lens
aberrations and curvature of the field, and accepts
popular scoreboard data feeds, such as OES and
Daktronics for near automated operation.

This season, the National Football Leagues New

Orleans Saints began using Virtual 1st in the
Mercedes-Benz Superdome (also home to the

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Sugar Bowl and New Orleans Bowl in college football) system calibration is so simple and fast that now
on their two new Panasonic HD end zone video they calibrate game-by-game on game day.
boards that stretch 330 feet wide and 35 feet high,
Its best to have an empty field while calibrating no
the third largest in the NFL. This complemented the
bands, no cheerleaders, no players but its so simple,
new HD control room that went online last season.
even with the three cameras we use, said Campbell.
This is what fan engagement is all about, delivering Its an art, not a science. The three cameras left
the same experience in the stadium that viewers are 25, mid-field, and right 25 just shoot the field. The
used to getting at home when watching a game on operator clicks and draws the field markers for various
TV, said Kyle Campbell, Video Production Manager shots, and were done. Its amazing how efficient this is.
for the New Orleans Saints. The organization first
Originally, calibration took the production team
saw Virtual 1st at NAB 2015 demoed on a soccer pitch,
one hour, but by week 9 of the season, they had
but immediately knew that it would definitely work
it down to less than 40 minutes on game day.
on a football field, and work hand-in-hand with the
Considering that comparable systems require
ChyronHego Paint telestrator system we wanted.
two days of prep before game day to map the
field, Virtual 1st is a significant time saver.
SET-UP & TRAINING
One of the primary benefits of Virtual 1st is its ease
of use. While listening to ChyronHegos two hour
training, I wrote a three-page guide of operator notes,
said Campbell. The system is so easy that if our single
operator [a freelance college student from Southeastern
Louisiana University 1-hour away] is late, anyone
can use my notes to calibrate the system and get up
to speed as we have a limited same-day window.

Initially, the Superdomes video production

crew would calibrate and rehearse the system
on Thursday for a Sunday game. However, the

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REAL RETURN ON
INVESTMENT
ChyronHego offers a variety of
options based on the needs of the
team and facility. Virtual 1st can
be purchased outright, rented
perpetually, or through rent-to-own
with a three year ownership payoff.

While Campbell and his team use three

cameras, Virtual 1st also works with a
single camera, but with an added bonus:
three unique outputs are available
during single-camera operation, each
with their own individual sponsor or
advertising logo all managed by the
same operator from the same system.
Each of the up to three camera outputs
are equipped with a chromakeyer
that can be set with just two mouse
clicks from the operator, and are easily
adjusted as lighting conditions change.

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DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS
Using PNGs and PSD [Photoshop] files are a game
changer, said Campbell. It makes everything
just so easy. With a PSD of the feathers, we can
bring it into Photoshop and make and change
it layer-by-layer for that weeks opponent.
Although the ability to build graphics in-house is
beneficial, at times there are issues. Sometimes we
have to mess around with the opponents feathers,
explained Campbell. The Seahawks colors include
neon green not the best color to overlay on grass.
While no one had a problem with the green except for
Campbell, making the changes was fast and easy. The
contrast was off, so with the PSD in Dropbox I made a
few adjustments on my laptop in Photoshop without
changing the Seahawks color scheme so the fans could
see it better. Then we had the new file into the system
in five minutes. Little game-day tweaks like this help
us to serve our stadium fans in the best way possible.
Early on, the integration with the Daktronics scoring
computer had some issues that were quickly resolved.
Dak wouldnt talk to Virtual 1st correctly, not getting
the down and distance correct, but that was easily
fixed, said Campbell. And at one point, Dak was telling
Virtual 1st that the other team had the ball. While that
sounds like a stadium-wide nightmare, we just went into
the Virtual 1st interface menu and switched the feathers
between the home and visitor teams. Boom...fixed.
While giving fans at the game the same experience
on the video boards that they get at home is a
game changer, it also provides a huge advantage
to the production crew. We have a first down
sponsor, and the information that we see in
the control room from Virtual 1st helps us get
ready for the first down call, said Campbell.
Like every piece of new technology, someone always
wants to put it to the test. Thats no different with
Campbells crew. Our freelance TD is a very smart
guy whos very invested in the show and tried to
outsmart the system going quickly from a tight field
shot to a crowd shot, back to the field, and then to
where the down was, and the system beat him every
time, said Campbell. He was unable to beat it as
the system did that good of a job recognizing the
field. We were very, very impressed with that.
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 MAXIMIZING REVENUE
& FAN ENGAGEMENT

VIRTUAL
FOOTBALL
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IN-GAME STORYTELLING
ENHANCEMENT
Broadcasters are constantly working to
inject value added viewer experiences
to their content to enhance viewer
engagement. Likewise, technology
providers are always looking to offer
solutions that provide high and
innovative production value that
delivers captivating images to viewers.

Based on ChyronHegos Virtual

Placement technology, Virtual Football
is a completely non-instrumented
tracking system. That is, the system
uses image analysis in order to
track the lines on the field.

Once set up, Virtual Football has a full

understanding of Pan, Tilt and Zoom
of three calibrated cameras. Then,
by utilizing the built-in two-color
chromakeyer, Virtual Football allows you
to add virtual graphics for purposes

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of in-game storytelling enhancement or
incremental advertising revenue to the
field, below the players, quickly and easily.

By utilizing player tracking data, such as

ChyronHegos TRACAB optical tracking
system or even wearable data, Virtual
Football lets broadcasters visualize on-
field metrics such as distances between
players, areas of space relative to players,
top speeds, accelerometers and many
more to illustrate to the viewer at home
a much deeper insight into the game.
By being able to generate so much insight into
the game for the fan, Virtual Football provides
that exclusive high-touch of production value
to broadcasters. Similarly, by being able to
generate so much revenue from one system,
Virtual Football pays for itself, until the point
where it then starts to make money for you.

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 BLOG
POSTS
THINK YOU KNOW YOUR TRACKING
TECH? FIVE TYPES OF CAMERA
TRACKING TO BOOST FAN ENGAGEMENT
Published: 2017/05/23

MAKING MONEY & ENGAGING

VIEWERS WITH VIRTUAL FOOTBALL
Published: 2017/06/13

WHO KNEW THAT FOOTBALL AND

KABADDI HAD SOMETHING IN COMMON?
Published: 2017/04/24

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