AV in sports venues is getting more sophisticated all the time. High-tech electronics are more than ever playing an important role in increasing crowd enthusiasm for the home team. Hornet Animation recently completed animated content for the center-hung videoboard and other LED arena signage boards for the Capital Arena where the WNBA Washington Mystics perform.

"The videoboard is like watching a giant television," said Jon Slusser, vice president of Hornet, "but the LED boards are very thin and span almost all the way around the stadium behind the spectators. Due to the advancements in this LED technology, the audience can view 30 frames per second entertainment and experience the same quality animation all around them."

Hornet was asked to create the introduction and other in-game entertainment elements for these electronic displays. When it came to creating Mystic headshot animations for the LED boards, Hornet was able to use the exact same colors, fonts, background elements and match timing exactly so that the two animations blended perfectly with one another. The background consisted of one tiled image of the Capital building. A layer was placed over the image to tint the background orange. Using animated masks, the color changes to blue, starting from the center and spreading to the edges, then returns from the edge to the center as it changed to orange again, etc.

Hornet's Greg Bedard traveled to Washington, D.C. to shoot footage of each player. The footage-shot on greenscreen so that the background could be composited out-- included a shot of each player turning her head from left to facing forward.

With limited LED board space in which to work, the animation began by showing the player at waist level, then having the player move down gradually until the viewer sees her at eye level. Each player also starts out as a silhouette (backed by the "Charlie's Angels" theme music). CW Edge Finder filled the image with black, allowing for a multitude of outline choices. The player is a black silhouette at waist level, then begins to fade to full-color as she moves down until she is completely in color by the time eye level is reached.

Each player's name and number was animated to fly from one edge of the board to the other. An echo effect was applied so the text appears to trail behind it as it flies back and forth. "The result," said Slusser, "was a perfectly timed, consistent entertainment piece that immersed fans from every direction. The technology and art worked together perfectly."

For more information about Hornet: www.hornetinc.com

 

 

---

Click here to see other Sites of the Week.

 

Keep up on the news with our weekly Pro AV newsletter!

---

[an error occurred while processing this directive]