In Broadcast - In Show Guide 2016 - 14

www.inbroadcast.com | IBC2016 InShow Guide | 9-13 September

Live 'Human Arrow'
Wingsuit Flight
Vislink's HEROCast supports GoPro's live broadcast of Jeb Corliss' daring wingsuit flight over the Great Wall of China...

hen GoPro, together with the
World Wingsuit League (WWL),
wanted to achieve their first-ever live
point of view wingsuit broadcast, they
used the GoPro HERO4 camera with
the Vislink HEROCast™ transmitter
system. Vislink also provided technical
assistance and their MDR multichannel receiver system to enable this
truly memorable and ground-breaking
worldwide broadcast.
Jeb Corliss, GoPro-sponsored athlete
and world-renowned wingsuit pilot,
put his skills to the test by performing
the Human Arrow flight at the Great
Wall of China on 1st June 2016. The
feat was broadcast live on GoPro's
Facebook page and blog. It was also
live on Tianjin TV in China and later
picked up by many broadcasters
around the world. The total estimated
global audience was more than
1.25 billion with many watching live
together with extensive newspaper
coverage and links to the video of the
event.
The hair-raising flight, which was 10
years in the making, required Jeb to
drop from a helicopter and fly through
the air at 120 mph to hit an apple-sized
target suspended over the Great Wall
of China.

angles brought this incredible live
footage to the public for the first time.
It could really change the way these
events are covered in the future."
This was broadcasting in a truly
extreme
environment,
with
a
high speed descent and multiple
simultaneous live video feeds. RF
transmission was captured from
ground level to 4000' (1.22km) over
a radius of 2.5 Km (1.6 miles) on
uneven terrain. Antenna sites were
spread over a wide geographic area
Uncompromising Quality
and the antenna fibre heads had to be
Jeb Corliss and GoPro were delighted battery powered, some with backup
with the coverage they achieved with generators.
the Human Arrow flight over the Great
Live POV coverage of the jump was
Wall. Jeb explained: "The set-up of the made possible using HEROCast™
HEROCast solution was really quick technology designed by Vislink, the
and simple and didn't compromise lightest, most compact wireless
any part of the flight safety. The high HD micro transmitter available.
quality video from multiple camera For the live aerial shots, two GoPro
Hero4 Black cameras with
the
HEROCast
BacPac
transmitters were mounted
on Jeb, one on his helmet
with the standard antenna
and the other chest mounted
with an external one watt
amplifier and omni antenna.
A second wingsuit pilot,
James Boole, followed with
another HEROCast BacPac
helmet mounted system and
external Vislink one watt
GoPro with amplifier to capture the 'in
HEROCast™ transmitter
air' wide shot.

Jeb Corliss Human Arrow.
(Picture courtesy of GoPro)

The drop helicopter was fitted inside
with a fourth discreetly wall mounted
GoPro Hero 4 and HEROCast Tethered
system with a one watt amplifier and
the standard omni antenna extended
onto the aircraft skid. Inside a HHT3
handheld receiver was used to monitor
all four airborne feeds. Both the
wingsuit pilots and helicopter were
rigged using the standard HEROCast kit
cables mounts and antennas.
Reception Success
For the receive system, Vislink
provided a MDR (Modular Diversity
Receiver) four channel receive system
with the dual antenna receive heads
placed at strategic locations. This
is specifically designed to receive
multiple RF video channels and enable
unrivalled, uninterrupted coverage of
an event.
The MDR receive system has already
been used for over a decade covering
the Moto GP Moto Motorbike series
and is relied upon for many other
international sporting events including
the World Rally Championships,
America's Cup Sailing, World Super
Bikes, International Golf, Formula E
electric racing series, NHL Ice Hockey,
as well as events such as horse and
camel racing.
Hemang Mehta, Senior Manager Professional Products and Services
at GoPro said: "Clean and sweet

video was delivered all the way from
just before helicopter take off right
through to Jeb landing. It was sent out
by the TJTV OB truck to an additional
14-18 TV stations which carried the
event live or delayed broadcast.
"We estimated a total audience reach
of about 1.25 billion, which is amazing.
HEROCast video footage was used
approximately 80% of the time while
our cameras and transmitters were
active. In other words, they grabbed
and telecast almost everything we
sent out when we were live. And we
were live for the entire duration of the
target hit flight on Sunday morning."
The live POV broadcast of the
wingsuit flight was clearly an ambitious
project, but the solution proved to be
well capable of meeting the challenge
with exceptional results.
www.vislink.com
Aerial Daredevil
Jeb Corliss is an American GoPro
sponsored professional skydiver,
wingsuit flyer and BASE jumper.
He has jumped from sites including
Paris' Eiffel Tower, Seattle's Space
Needle, the Christ the Redeemer
statue in Rio de Janeiro and the
Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. In recent years
he has completed a series of high
profile wingsuit flights culminating
in the Human Arrow flight over the
Great Wall of China.

http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.vislink.com

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