URSA Broadcast G2 and ATEM Constellation 8K Cameras Bring Banana Ball Energy to Global Audiences

The Savannah Bananas professional baseball team uses a live production workflow that includes eight Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 cameras and an ATEM Constellation 8K switcher. Blackmagic Design for the transmission of content on television and the Internet.

Founded in 2016 and based in Georgia, the Savannah Bananas team is famous for creating its own version of baseball (which they call Banana Ball), which is played at a faster speed, with additional rules, and is highly entertaining thanks to the choreographed dances and unique maneuvers of the players. Each match offers a unique, dynamic, fan-designed experience that can be experienced both in person and on screen. The popularity of the equipment is growing rapidly, which is why Blackmagic Design products have been turned to to meet the ever-increasing demand for audiovisual content from gamers.

Griffin Them, broadcast engineer for the Savannah Bananas, the production team began to face new challenges as the organization grew. Realizing that it needed special devices for transmission, the technical staff opted for eight URSA Broadcast G2 cameras, with which you can catch everything: from the transmission of the matches for television stations and Internet broadcasts, including the YouTube of the team, to the publication of featured stories on social networks. Additionally, the team replaced a ATEM Television Studio mixer with a ATEM Constellation 8K due to the additional inputs and functions of the latter, in addition to using a device ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel 30 to control the system.

An affordable and quality solution

“I had always been very curious about Blackmagic products, having seen many churches using ATEM mixers over the years,” explains Ellis. "The URSA Broadcast G2 cameras have increased the quality of our production significantly. Despite the rapid growth of the organization, it was still necessary to limit expenses, and Blackmagic Design was the answer by offering an affordable solution that at the same time allowed us to continue growing and adapting to the gigantic level of production that is now required."

To capture the action in both home and away games, URSA Broadcast G2 cameras are positioned around the baseball field and stream content to an ATEM Constellation 8K device, located at central control. Two of the device's four mixing and effects banks are used for live switching between game broadcasts, while another bank is used as a matrix switcher for multiple monitors in central control and on-site. Ellis points out that one of the most useful tools of the mixer is the SuperSource function, which is used very frequently in the segments known as Mic’d Up, where players share their thoughts and reactions in real time during the game via microphone.

“The SuperSource tool in the ATEM was definitely an innovation for the Mic’d Up", as it allows you to transmit an individual image of the player at the same time as the live game," Ellis points out. "We also used the ATEM Constellation 8K for our show on the giant screen at Grayson Stadium [in Savannah], and we plan to continue doing so for a long time. With this and other types of entertainment in the field, we want to offer our fans an immersive and entertaining look at the behind-the-scenes fun.”

The recording team also uses a device ATEM Camera Control Panel To operate the cameras remotely during special events, a unit UltraStudio 4K Mini for the alpha channel and the main image in the graphics system, four devices HyperDeck Studio Pro for high-resolution recordings in clean signals and with overlapping elements, and the post-production program DaVinci Resolve to create conversion tables, as well as a large number of Mini and Macro Converters by Blackmagic. Recently, devices were added ATEM Talkback Converter 4K, Mini Converter Optical Fiber 12G-SDI and a transceptor SFP 3G for fiber optics for the team's 2024-2025 tour in Major League Baseball (MLB) stadiums. The cameras and other devices functioned as a fiber optic conversion system that beamed the camera signal to the transmission vehicle, and then to Savannah.

"We love Blackmagic Design products, and they will always be part of our workflow. Not only do they help maintain good production quality without spending too much, but they also give us the flexibility to be creative with our workflow and content," concludes Ellis.

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