Derby County Football Club invests in Blackmagic Design technology

The Derby football club in Derbyshire, England, is investing in a multi-camera live production system including the Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K, Micro Studio Camera 4K and URSA Mini 4.6K.

He Derby County Football Club, the Derby city football club in Derbyshire, England, has invested in a system for live multi-camera productions that include models Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K, Micro Studio Camera 4K y URSA Mini 4.6K of Blackmagic Design.

Under the supervision of Matt Reeder, head of broadcasting, and Stuart Fisher, director of technology, the club has adopted an innovative idea that involves using its platform RamsTV to become the first to broadcast its own coverage of English league matches, as well as a wide variety of content before and after each match.

Peter Knowles, from the firm Stvdio Expert, was responsible for developing this system with Blackmagic Design products.

“The club has a very clear notion of how it wants to transmit high-quality content to its 300,000 fans around the world,” he explained. “Matt and Stuart's goal was tremendously ambitious: to create the infrastructure necessary to produce audiovisual material that was on a par with the major television channels.”

4K Capture

The club uses 11 channels to cover the team's home games, and according to Knowles, this system continues to grow and evolve. "Currently, the Derby has a special studio where connections with the presenters are recorded in advance, using three 4K cameras from Blackmagic Design. Likewise, we have two more units at the midpoint of the catwalk located in the main stand, and an URSA Mini 4.6K next to the touchline, which is also used in interviews before and after the games.”

"On the other hand, we have radio receivers on this line and at the entrance to the stadium for the arrival of the teams, which gives us greater flexibility in terms of what we can film and where to do it. At the same time, we have a Micro Studio Camera 4K fixed in the tunnel that allows us to capture a general shot of the preparations and the pre-match lineup," said Knowles.

This entire system depends on a fiber optic network 24-core single-mode, with a 40×40 Smart Videohub matrix to distribute signals in the sports venue.

“Our matrix provides a base that covers the club's production needs, especially in these first months, during the implementation of the new systems,” he added. "It will certainly be used often by the creative team to connect additional sources, as it offers great flexibility to continue experimenting with the variety and complexity of the system. In addition to the 11 cameras, we have other devices for replays and slow-motion replays, along with special graphics for match analysis."

"The club's idea is to offer its followers a more dynamic and attractive transmission, with the best quality in terms of sports coverage. The key to achieving this objective has been choosing the most appropriate devices," concluded Knowles. “By creating a solution based on Blackmagic Design equipment, we can capture every pass and input with confidence that the production will be first class.”