Pac-12 Networks Bolsters Camera Complement for Gymnastics Championships

Live coverage of a gymnastics meet can be a tremendous task, but Pac-12 Networks has issued itself a challenge. When the network carries the Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics Championships on Saturday (first session airs at 1 p.m. PT, the second at 6 p.m.), the network has committed to airing every student-athlete’s routine from every team live during the broadcast.

A diagram of camera positions at the Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics Championships (Courtesy: Pac-12 Networks)

To do that, the Pac-12 production crew is deploying more cameras inside the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City than they have ever used for a gymnastics event. In addition to the seven hard and roving cameras that the network uses on gymnastics productions, the crew will add four robotic POV cameras: two high cameras pointing down at the vault and bars, two lower ones pointing at the vault and beam.

There will also be an added X-Mo camera for those special, super-slow-motion replays.

“The extra cameras are really nice to have on a sport like gymnastics, where so many impressive things take place throughout an evening,” says Will O’Toole, coordinating producer, live events, Pac-12 Networks. “The most impactful addition is probably the X-Mo camera. This will bring viewers those crisp, super-slo-mo looks that everyone seems to really enjoy, … and, when these ladies are flying through the air the way they do, it really does look impressive.”

Pac-12 Networks will have MIRA Mobile’s newest, top-flight production truck, M14, equipped with one of Pac-12 Networks’ MI/O boxes, “Monster.” The MI/O box will allow the production team to tap into the Pac-12’s IP network. Although the truck onsite will do the traditional live cutting and production, ISO feeds of a selected number of cameras will be fed to the network’s studios in San Francisco. There, editors will build high-end replay content and feed packages back to the truck for insertion into the live show.

“The show will absolutely have that ‘Big Game’ feel more than ever,” says O’Toole.

The Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships will be produced by Michael Shames and directed by Tim Lay.