Barclays Center Video Team Delivers for Brooklyn Nets Opener

The Brooklyn Nets finally tipped off their inaugural season in the Barclays Center on Saturday night, and, for Logan Meier, director of event presentation for Barclays Center, and his team, the event capped off a busy first month that offered some preseason games and concerts.

“We have been working to make sure the Nets know exactly how to maximize the building by painting images across the LED boards and building a great show,” says Meier.

At the center of the Barclays Center bowl is a three-story-tall scoreboard with 3,550 sq. ft. of LEDs.

At the center of the action, literally, is a 70,000-lb. center-hung scoreboard featuring four HD main video displays, each measuring 16 ft. high by 27 ft. wide with 6-mm line spacing. Installed above the four main displays are four smaller scoring displays, each more than 7 ft. high by 27 ft. wide.

The center-hung scoreboard also features two ring displays, one above and one below the main group of video displays, to help enhance the information shown. The three-story-tall display contains a total of 3,550 square ft. of LEDs.

Meier says Daktronics Venus 7000 and 8000 show controllers deliver content to the scoreboards in the center of the bowl as well as elsewhere. The exterior of Barclays Center features the signature “oculus,” a one-of-a-kind, 3,000-square-ft., 360-degree LED marquee hanging above the main entrance, and 6-ft.-high, 73-ft.-long ribbon displays in the GEICO Atrium. Also installed inside the bowl are a 360-degree ribbon display and two nearly 190-ft.-long ribbon displays. Two additional large displays hang on the end walls of the bowl.

The control room overlooks the court from high above the baseline nearest the entrance, giving the production team a comprehensive view of the bowl and displays. Technology includes a Sony 7000 production switcher, four Sony cameras, Chyron graphics equipment, and 29 hours of EVS server storage for playing back video packages and replays. There are also 12 lines of fiber connectivity to the production-truck compound, allowing Meier and the team to access camera feeds being used by networks that may be broadcasting a game.

But the core in-venue video experience revolves around the four Sony cameras.

“We have one main follow camera, a wireless camera, and two handhelds under the basket,” says Meier. “We’ll take shots from the handheld cameras under the basket, but, if a shot isn’t there, we can use a low- or high-slash camera from the [production trucks] and mix it into the show.”

Along with the video comes first-class audio courtesy of Parsons Audio, which installed an all-EAW sound system.

“Without great audio, you’re getting less than half the experience,” adds Meier. “Audio is the first thing you notice when you sit in your seat, and the video can never overcome unpleasant audio.”

Fans in the stands will also have a handheld-device experience courtesy of a Brooklyn Nets app that promises to fill in a lot of information gaps. With the help of a free WiFi network, fans can open the app and quickly see scoring information, player bios, and all play-by-play information within seconds of a play’s occurring.

Meier is trying to complement that experience with one that pulls the fans’ attention back to the court and scoreboard.

“We want to have statistics that are engaging, like if a player has their third double-double of the season,” he explains. “When you do that, the fans will pay a little more attention to the team, so we have set up an auto trigger so that, when those stats hit the NBA interface, we can get them on the scoreboard immediately.”

As with the Nets themselves, teamwork and coordination will be an important part of a successful season. That means a lot of close ties between the Brooklyn Nets production team and that of the Barclays Center.

“We have to be one family,” says Meier, “creating, executing, and working together.”

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