The biennial EuroHockey Indoor Championships, held in Hamburg’s Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, featured eight nations competing. Deutsche Hockey Agentur (DHA) contracted Video Data Technik (VDT) to provide all aspects of the OB production services. VDT deployed a mixed package of nine cameras, including three Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2s and two Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pros as goal cameras, over an optical fiber backbone.
Workflow Details
VDT routed camera signals through a 72x144 router before sending nine ISO feeds to an ATEM Constellation 8K switcher and vMix replay system. This setup allowed for the creation of three program feeds: one in 1080p50 for Sport1, another converted to 1080i50, and a third in 720p50 for the European Hockey Federation (EHF) and Austria’s national broadcaster, ORF. Kiloview encoders handled streaming duties.
Technical Specifications
The ATEM Constellation 8K switcher was equipped with an ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel to manage multiple layers of production. The system's fourth M/E facilitated the insertion of English graphics, catering to multilingual broadcast requirements. Andreas Meyer from VDT highlighted the flexibility of the ATEM Constellation and its capability to output MADI for audio integration with a DiGiCo console.
Graphics and Recording
The OB used CharacterWorks for on-air graphics, which were split into four separate 1080p50 channels via Teranex Mini 12G-SDI to Quad SDI converters. This setup allowed simultaneous German and English graphic outputs while maintaining simplicity for the operator.
Main program output was recorded using a HyperDeck Studio 4K Pro, while team analytics were captured with an H.264 Pro Recorder in real-time encoding. The robust workflow ensured seamless broadcast and streaming of all matches during the EuroHockey Indoor Championships.