Animators hole out with TV golf deal

By CHRIS BARTON IT editor

Auckland-based Virtual Spectator has signed a deal with broadcasting giant ABC to supply its GolfTrac animation software in TV coverage of the PGA Tour, British Open and the primetime Battle at Bighorn.

"It's the biggest TV contract we've had, both financially and in terms of profile," said Virtual Spectator director Ian Taylor. "The global audience for golf is huge - 10 per cent of the United States population watched the last Battle at Bighorn."

The made-for-TV battle between "the world's greatest male and female golfers" is played under lights in Palm Springs, California, at the end of next month.

This year, Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam take on David Duval and Karrie Webb for a $US1.7 million ($4.1 million) purse.

The NZ software will enhance ABC's TV coverage with photo-realistic fairway fly-overs, 3D models of the courses and gps (global positioning system) tracking of the golf balls.

The software also shows animated wind direction, green slope, ball positioning, with distances from tees and to pins, and 3D ball flight with best shot options.

The 10-tournament ABC contract follows Virtual Spectator's success last month with International Sportsworld Communicators and a 10-year multimillion-dollar revenue-sharing deal to provide live internet coverage, as well as TV animations, of the World Rally Championship.

Mr Taylor said the deal was signed on Monday. ABC wants Virtual Spectator ready for coverage of a tournament next Thursday in Connecticut.

Anticipating a tight deadline, the company had already done aerial photography of the course.

From these, NZ Aerial Mapping staff built a topographically accurate digital model of the course. Staff at Virtual Spectator then "draped" the aerial photograph over the model.

On the day of the tournament, four Virtual Spectator staff armed with gps-enabled iPaq handheld computers walk the course, pinpointing on screen the position of the ball after each shot is played.

The data is then fired back to a controlling computer for the TV broadcast.

Mr Taylor said the company was close to delivering golf tournament animations over the internet on a subscribe-to-view basis.

GolfTrac was first used on the 1996 New Zealand Open and has been used for the past three years on Australian PGA Tour tournaments.

Links


Virtual Spectator

Battle at Bighorn