Colorado is a state known for its picturesque views, and now superior views are expanding from the Rocky Mountain ranges to Denver’s Ball Arena. The arena is now the first facility to permanently install a Skycam video camera, allowing Nuggets and Avalanche fans to capture the action from a whole new angle.
The addition of the permanent Skycam makes the Nuggets and Avalanche the first and only NBA and NHL teams to have access to this technology throughout the entire season.
According to Denver7 ABC, “The aerial camera technology uses cables rigged up inside the arena to fly around the action.”
The Skycam has been used for NFL broadcasts in the past, but the suspended cameras have yet to make their way indoors on a permanent basis. The Skycam has been used sparingly at basketball playoff games, but this installation is the first permanent indoor setup. Footage from the camera will be used in Denver’s local Altitude TV broadcasts as well as on the digital scoreboard.
Skycam operator Marcel Lopez told Devner7, “It's like a dance, you know, sometimes he leads, I follow. Sometimes I lead, he follows. I’m able to, you know, spin the camera around 360. We get crowd shots, anything that looks pretty in the arena.”
The camera is built with a virtual map that identifies obstacles and prevents accidents. And it is all controlled by a Skycam pilot from a control room above the suites in Ball Arena. Soon, operators hope to add augmented reality graphics to the Skycam.
“I know of a couple of NHL teams that are now talking to their teams and bosses, saying, ‘Hey, we want Skycam. We're seeing it in Denver. We're seeing what it can do.’ So it's getting other teams around the league excited about it,” said Travis Honderd, director for the Avalanche NHL broadcasts on Altitude TV.
