AJA Video Systems Inc. announced Friday that a Power Mac G5 equipped with Apple’s Final Cut Pro HD software and AJA’s KONA 2 video cards is helping Fox Sports broadcast this year’s NASCAR races, beginning with the recent Daytona 500 on February 20, 2005.
Similar configurations have been used by Fox Sports to help broadcast last year’s World Series games and this year’s Super Bowl. AJA says that Fox Sports will use the Power Mac G5 throughout the NASCAR 2005 – 2006 season.
The rig is being used as “a tool for live television,” according to Fox Sports Vice President, Field Operations Jerry Steinberg. “Events like the Super Bowl, the World Series, and NASCAR require things to work right under the most challenging conditions,” he said in a statement.
AJA said that the during the race, editors pulled together live shots, then edited them and put them together for bumpers and teases using the KONA 2, which also grabbed content from various tape sources. The Mac captured 720p HD video and AES audio directly into Final Cut Pro HD; The KONA 2 card was used to send the content back to a router and into an EVS Digital Disk Recorder. From there, it went to a switcher and then onto the air.
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