Cómo funciona Skycam

Es Skycam, la cámara voladora original, y probablemente hayas visto muchas imágenes creadas por este artilugio de aspecto radical. Skycam es una cámara con control remoto que se vuela por cable , y ha estado recorriendo estadios y otros lugares durante años, brindando vistas de cámara fantásticas que de otro modo serían casi imposibles de lograr.

Con Skycam, las personas que ven fútbol americano en la televisión tienen una vista de pájaro justo por encima y por detrás del mariscal de campo. En comparación con las antiguas vistas laterales, Skycam es casi como estar en el grupo.

¿No está seguro si sabe exactamente qué es Skycam? Si alguna vez vio un evento deportivo importante en la televisión, como el Sunday Night Football de la NFL, es posible que haya vislumbrado de manera intermitente un dispositivo en el aire flotando con gracia sobre el campo, colgando de varias cuerdas. Ese es el sistema Skycam.

Skycam ofrece una vista de tipo videojuego que se apoya en gran medida en las tecnologías modernas. Sin computadoras rápidas y un software fácil de usar, así como algunas cuerdas guía realmente fuertes, toda la configuración sería inviable.

Pero gracias a la ingeniería inteligente, Skycam ahora es casi un elemento básico de la transmisión de eventos especiales. Sigue leyendo y verás cómo a las cámaras de video les crecieron alas nervudas y se elevaron por los aires.

1. De Steadi al cielo
2. Una cámara de celebridades
3. Cómo se eleva Skycam
4. Skycam en el horizonte

Antes de caminar, gateas. Antes de Skycam, estaba Steadicam . Ambos surgieron del cerebro del operador de cámara, inventor y empresario Garrett Brown. A principios de la década de 1970, Brown se dio cuenta de que tenía que haber una mejor manera de grabar videos desde una cámara en movimiento, sin la tradicional plataforma rodante y los rieles que consumían mucho tiempo.

Se le ocurrió Steadicam, un chaleco equipado con un equipo de contrapeso que prácticamente eliminó el temblor de la mano y las vibraciones cuando un camarógrafo caminaba para seguir la acción de una escena. A mediados de la década, Steadicam se había hecho muy popular en Hollywood y se usaba en películas icónicas como "Rocky".

El éxito de Steadicam dio impulso a Brown para probar algo aún más audaz: filmar la acción atlética desde el cielo. Los helicópteros no funcionarían por todo tipo de razones, como el desagradable potencial de decapitar accidentalmente a los espectadores. Así que se dedicó a planificar e diseñar un dispositivo que pudiera atravesar espacios abiertos, ofreciendo una vista panorámica de la acción a continuación.

Imaginó una cámara suspendida de cuerdas o cables, haciendo zoom y grabando ángulos nunca antes posibles. No le tomó mucho tiempo realizar su sueño.

En 1984, Skycam realizó una de sus primeras pruebas reales durante un partido de pretemporada de la NFL entre los San Francisco 49ers y los San Diego Chargers. Funcionó lo suficientemente bien como para que en 1985, NBC obtuviera la licencia de Skycam para su cobertura del enfrentamiento del Orange Bowl entre los Washington Huskies y los Oklahoma Sooners.

Al público le encantaron las vistas desde el cielo y los ángulos dinámicos. ABC autorizó a Skycam para grabar los famosos conciertos Live Aid en 1985, cautivando a las multitudes con su magia de audio y video.

Y luego, de repente, Skycam se encontró mayormente conectado a tierra. Era caro de operar y costoso de licenciar, y Brown no podía justificar los gastos continuos.

Skycam en su mayoría acumuló polvo hasta que la XFL debutó en 2001. La XFL fue una liga de fútbol derivada lanzada por Vince McMahon, de la fama de la Federación Mundial de Lucha Libre. Con Skycam, la XFL inmediatamente tuvo un aspecto fresco y dinámico que diferenció a los juegos de las retransmisiones tradicionales de partidos de fútbol.

Aunque la XFL cerró después de solo una temporada, la NFL se dio cuenta de la amplia cobertura de Skycam. A partir de 2002, Skycam se convirtió en un elemento básico de Sunday Night Football y, desde entonces, se ha utilizado para todo tipo de eventos.

Winnercomm bought Skycam in 2004. And in 2009, Outdoor Channel Holdings (which operates The Outdoor Channel) purchased Winnercomm. The Skycam patent expired in 2004, so other companies have developed competing products, such as CableCam. Because Skycam was first and most famous, though, many people refer to all cable-mounted camera systems as Skycams.

Regardless of the brand, these cameras aren't cheap to deploy. Setting up Skycam costs tens of thousands of dollars. That's why you most often see Skycam coverage during major events that are sure to draw a large number of viewers (and thus, revenues to help pay for the Skycam).

Now the system is used often for the Olympics , college football, NFL games and NASCAR and IndyCar races. It's also seen plenty of action during NBA and NHL games, as well as golf. Deep-pocketed musicians use Skycam for concert coverage, and all sorts of directors want Skycam as they shoot feature films.

The Skycam system has been used in more than 100 different arenas around the globe. It takes several people about two days to ready Skycam for a broadcast. As they work, they prepare the core pieces that make Skycam fly.

For starters, there must be four high points surrounding the action. In the case of football, these are often lighting towers on the periphery of the stadium. For non-football events, organizers must utilize other elevated points or even erect temporary platforms.

Below each of these four points are large reels loaded with coils of Kevlar -reinforced rope 0.1-inched (2.5-millimeters) in diameter. Each reel has an onboard computer controlling motors that precisely reel the thousands of feet rope in or out as needed.

These ropes spool from the reels to pulleys in the towers and then meet in a center point above the field. In the center, of course, is the suspended Skycam unit, bundled with other components in what's called the spar.

The spar weighs roughly 50 pounds (22.7 kilograms) and includes a 1080i HD video camera paired with a Fujinon ZA12x4.5mm wide-angle lens, sensors for stabilization, a microphone and motors that pan and tilt the camera. The camera can pan a full 360 degrees and tilt 180 degrees for a maximum view of the action.

The spar is integrated with gyroscopic stabilizers that prevent wobbly or shaky video. So instead of a gut-churning home video look, viewers see smooth, crisp video that looks colorful and sharp on their television screens.

Video signals travel along the suspension ropes, which are coupled with optical fiber line for fast data transmission. Using this hardwired approach instead of wireless transmission means greater reliability in varied settings.

All of this connects to a central control computer. In real time, the computer controls and monitors dozens of parameters. It also accepts inputs from the pilot, who controls the camera's flight path, as well as the camera operator, who focuses, pans, tilts and otherwise makes sure that the camera is following the action and not broadcasting random shots of passing clouds.

Some fans and even team owners may cringe as Skycam hurtles at 30 miles (48.3 kilometers) per hour past their favorite (and highly compensated) athletes . After all, a heavy camera doing its best impression of meteorite could leave a permanent crater in the back of someone's noggin.

Skycam's operators always tout the system's redundant safety features. It all starts with the software.

Critically, the software automatically performs obstacle avoidance duties. Before a broadcast, the computer operator presets boundaries for the camera and uses the software to designate no-fly zones, such as the scoreboard and video screen suspended in the middle of a basketball arena. Doing this work in advance leaves the pilot free to follow action on the field below without having to worry about causing a spectacular collision and equally spectacular public relations fiasco.

These precautions can't prevent every incident, though. During a 2007 NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints, the camera pilot accidentally guided the camera onto the field. The game was stopped momentarily.

At the 2011 Insight Bowl between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Oklahoma Sooners, a fastener on the Skycam assembly came apart, causing the camera to crash onto the field below. The unit narrowly missed Iowa quarterback Marvin McNutt.

During the 2013 Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a suspension rope snapped and fell into the fans in the grandstand. As if that wasn't bad enough, the rope also landed on the track, where stock cars snagged it, causing it to whip through frantic spectators. Ten people were hurt, three cars were damaged and the race was delayed. Fortunately for everyone involved, no one was seriously injured.

These kinds of accidents have been rare. Mostly, audiences have been dazzled by the constant improvement and dynamic coverage that Skycam provides.

Skycam and its cousins broke all sorts of new ground in TV broadcasts. They bring flying, Superman-like angles possible for sports, concerts and movies and make these experiences more powerful than ever before.

Yet even as Skycam coverage becomes more common, it may face serious competition from drones. Drones can carry increasingly heavy payloads and they don't require a system of ropes and reels to remain airborne.

So in a few years, you may see swarms of drones hovering over your favorite team. But until then, Skycam coverage offers views and angles that no other camera system can match.

Originally Published: Aug 14, 2014

How much does a Skycam cost?

Is a Skycam a drone?

Does the NFL use Skycams?

Author's Note: How Skycam Works

I used to actually go to sporting events. These days when a game is on, like so many other sports geeks, I often prefer to stay in the comfy confines of home or a local bar. Why? The television experience, in so many ways, is actually better than the live action. Sure, you'll miss out on the electricity of the crowd and the so-so food in the concourse, but instead of paying hundreds of dollars for nosebleed seats, you can have the Skycam view for next to nothing. These are heady days for sports broadcasting, and with drone cameras coming soon, the fun is just beginning.

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