World-famous 80th FIS Kitzbuehel Hahnenkamm Race relies on Antelope Ultra Slow Motion cameras

posted:

07/02/2020

Host Broadcaster ORF Austrian Television chose LMC as exclusive HSSM camera supplier for the biggest televised sporting event in Austria

The challenge was bigger than ever before at the 80th edition of the toughest alpine ski race in Kitzbuehel, Austria. Austrian Television showed up with its brand-new OB truck so the stage was set to add some state of the art technology to produce a thrilling TV production with crystal clear images and replays never seen before. The idea was to implement HSSM cameras at every crucial part of the race so that no action was to be missed. LMC supplied 8 Antelope systems in total. A mix of Compact 350, MkIIs and Picos. One Polecam and one GF8 crane were added for extra dynamics, one Pico was embedded in the snow to get as close to the althletes as possible. Framerates were adjusted to every position to get the best compromise between timing and action.

The increased recording capacity made triggering obsolete. All sequences we internally recorded and forwarded into the EVS workflow to be available to go on air. A total of 18 alpine skiing experienced LMC crew-members composed of Antelope engineers, Antelope operators, camera operators, EVS operators, Polecam operators and crane operators made sure to be close to the action and support the ORF host broadcasting with their utmost effort. LMC operated out of 2 mobile production vehicles located in the TV compound. As in previous years an additional challenge was the repositioning of the cameras between the individual races.

Traditionally the final practice of the Hahnenkamm Downhill race takes place on Thursday. "This is when Austrian TV performs their dress rehearsal - but the whole practice session goes live to air, so all components of all technical crews have to be in position functioning smoothly so everyone gets into a flow for the upcoming weekend" says Felix Marggraff, CEO of LMC with a twinkle in his eye.

"I have attended all Kitzbuehel races but one since 1996, but this year´s edition has been truly unique for us due to the number of Antelopes on the slope and ORF´s trust in our technology and crew." he states. "Our crew is bigger than ever before and we always make sure to have the best guys on site - both when it comes to technical skill but it´s also important to have a great bunch of people with a good team spirit. Otherwise those cold long days on the mountain would definitely not be possible".

Another major step for LMC was the premiere of the brand-new Antelope Compact V2. The improved design offers new features as a touch screen display for camera settings and slow-motion controls. Increased adaptability allows quick and easy integration for various applications as (RF-) handheld, crane and speedrail or tripod setups using long zoom lenses with a large lens adapter.

New products are always in development and LMC will remain to look into solutions which will increase the quality of TV productions both on the visual and the analytical part. "We are looking into 4K solutions as wee see that standard move forward" says Marggraff, "HD still works great in some regions but most international productions and specially the big multi sports events are going UHD so we definitely need HSSM cameras to meet that desire. Also I can see that the way to go is triggerless for some sports so that´s something we would like to be able to offer in the short term." he mentions.

Additional solutions within the LMC rental portfolio is the Antelope Ultra - a 4K POV camera which paired with a new wide-angle converter is perfect for in-goal solutions or stadium wide shots. The Ultra is based on a 2/3" 4K chip with the housing measuring only 79x36x36mm. The 0.66x wide- angle converter has been specially designed to reveal the whole goal line and all goal posts when used as an in-goal camera. You can find all Antelope products on the manufacturer´s webpage www.antelope-cs.de.