By: SVG Staff
Ross Video will partner with Sportvision, an innovator of digital sports data and broadcast enhancements, to provide rendering for specialty graphics on NASCAR broadcast coverage. The Ross XPression 3D graphics system acts as a rendering engine to update the behavior and position of graphics on every frame of video, in sync with the on-air program for greater viewer engagement during races.
Telemetry displays showing the speed of the car, RPM, direction of the steering wheel, and whether the brake is being applied are updated continuously. XPression is also able to display the positions of the cars on the track with Sportvision’s highly accurate tracking technology.
“While we have utilized our own proprietary systems to do rendering on these telecasts in the past, going forward it made sense to go with a multi-purpose engine from a company that is focusing their energy and development cycles on the latest real-time 3D graphics technology,” says Mike Jakob, president and COO for Sportvision. “It also allows us to spend more time on our core competencies and many patented technologies that form the bedrock of our business.”
The migration to XPression was not just about streamlining Sportvision R&D, the company understands the often-changing creative requirements for live sports and entertainment television.
“Using XPression lets us be incredibly responsive to the needs of our customers. What used to take us hours to create, now takes just minutes with XPression,” says Jerone Floor, motorsports engineering manager for Sportvision. “If a producer asks for changes to an existing graphic or even for a completely new graphic, we now have the ability to respond immediately on-site.”
The announcement was the culmination of 18 months of business discussions and co-development by Ross and Sportvision.
“We couldn’t be more excited about partnering with Sportsvision to help improve their workflows and customer experience. With Ross’ predominance in the stadium/arena market and steady growth in live sports, it made perfect sense to join forces,” says Brian Olson, director of marketing product management for XPression. “We hope Motorsports is just the first of many sports we’ll tackle with Sportvision. They are really great people with a corporate culture that blends very nicely with ours.”