If you watch team sports competitions on television or online on OTT platforms (like https://skweek.tv/ #Basketball or https://www.hbl-tv.com/ #Handball), you’re familiar with the fact that the main shooting angle offered is a view from above.

Very useful tactical views for the famous analysis tools.

As Nicolas Roman, video analyst of AC Ajaccio, resident of Ligue 1 Uber Eats, rightly says “It is major to be able to film from above to realize the spatial notion of the field”

It is fundamental for the viewer...

Quite simply because it's the most pleasant view to watch a team sport match where it is not essential to distinguish the details of the players' tattoos, but essential to follow the action and the players.

A view from above and a view wide enough to see players from the back of the field as well as those in the foreground and to “swift” to the right or left in the event of a counterattack… without making you dizzy when watching.

Of course when broadcasting you might be in multi cam/isolated cam and sometimes even in spider cam, but in OTT or in live streaming situation on the networks; which is becoming more and more popular; the recording is often limited to an automatic camera for a broadcasting aim: to allow the main action to be followed!

auto-follow camera

With the PIX4TEAM robot-camera, automatically film team sports matches with the right viewing height

 …and for the Staff

As much as the edge of the pitch is a dedicated area for photographers (and influencers!), the middle of the stands is for cameras (and the best places to watch a match!).

This height of view is perfect to watch the game for an Internet user, and also coveted by the technical staff of a team, video analysts in the first place, but also educators and scouts who want usable video material to make an edit on the “behaviour” of a player within a collective.

“It's very important, because we're still a sport with a lot of quick transitions all over the pitch, and it's really important in these phases of fast play or defensive withdrawal to be able to both follow the action and have a vision in height which allows to see all the placements of the players” David Hermine, Regional Technical Advisor of a Regional Basketball League

Adapted capture solutions…

In the tradition and innovation departments, there are several capture solutions to obtain this type of view.

"Hi-pod" masts at the edge of the field, fixed cameras mounted on lighting poles and controlled from below, cameras on tripods in the stands with a cameraman next to it or automatic cameras like PIX4TEAM to be able to film up high without having to stay behind the camera!

…to broadcast and analyze

The latest technological advances make it possible both to film a match automatically (and  obviously to record the video) but also to stream anywhere and without delay and to be connected to sports analysis software such as Dartfish or Sportcode.

https://shop.movensee.com/en/content/36-how-pix4team-compares-with-veo2

Damien Nedellec, Assistant Coach responsible for the individual analysis of a European women's handball team “We use a PIX4TEAM connected to a magewell connected to the computer to sequence live on Dartfish with an image quality easy to process. It is located in the stands because otherwise it crushes and we can’t see anything!