11 NEWTON stabilized remote cameras on Spidercam at EURO 2020
Camera movement at live TV broadcast with Spidercam cable cam at football

Flying overhead shots of EURO 2020 with a Spidercam in all 11 football stadiums

Steady performance of all 11 cable cams with NEWTON stabilized remote heads controlling Sony HDC-P43 & P50 cameras

UEFA EURO 2020

Spidercam GmbH & PMT

The Tournament

Due to Covid-19, the 2020 European championship in football was postponed a year and UEFA EURO 2020 was instead held 11 June to 11 July 2021. This year, the final tournament was played in 11 stadiums in 11 different countries across the continent, from Spain to Azerbaijan, with the opening in Rome and the final at Wembley Stadium in London.

The 51 football matches of the championship aired in 229 territories and it’s one of the biggest TV sporting events in the world. 1-2 billion individuals are estimated to have watched the Euro 2020 live matches via official TV and streaming platforms.

11 Spidercam 3D cable cams

Each of the 11 arenas of EURO 2020 was equipped with a Spidercam Field 3D cable cam, flying across the football field from goal to goal to create beautiful moving overhead shots around the players. The Spidercam camera dolly is pulled around the field through 4 cables, that are attached to a winch in each corner and the Spidercam Field can fly up to 9 m/s, approx. 32 km/h. Each cable has a standard length of 360 m and with a minimal sag of 10°, it can move extensively in all 3 dimensions. The cables are made of woven plastic with fiber optic cables inside, transporting video and data from the camera system to the OB facilities.

A Spidercam dolly is equipped with a NEWTON stabilized remote head that controls the broadcast camera and lens. At EURO 2020, the NEWTONs held 3 different camera models: 8 Sony HDC-P43, 2 Sony HDC-P50 and 1 GrassValley LDX C86N Compact, most equipped with Canon CJ12ex4.3B IASE S lenses. For this production, the Spidercams produced 1080p HDR that was used both live and for slow motion replays. Apart from camera and lens, the NEWTON remote heads also held a microphone for capturing sound nearby the players. Due to a fiber slip ring in the NEWTON head, the camera can still pan without limitations.

A Spidercam team usually consist of a technician, a dolly pilot and a NEWTON camera operator. Depending on the production schedule of each venue, the Spidercams were live for 5-7 hours at each game and the dolly’s 4 top mounted V-lock batteries powers the camera system for around 5 hours.

The Spidercam system supports Augmented Reality overlays, and at for example the opening of EURO 2020, the camera platform was encircling AR rendered objects coming out from virtual holes in the field.

The 3D cable cam received a lot of appraisal on social media for the EURO 2020, both for the sweeping shots but also for the new and intimate camera angles. For example, many users commented on the clear view produced when Spidercam is behind a player shooting a penalty kick.

At the games in Budapest, our Spidercam flew a Sony HDC-P43 with Fujinon 14x lens. The NEWTON S2 Fiber stabilized head with its control panel performed flawlessly during the whole tournament.

Boris Becker, Spidercam Technician at EURO 2020

Camera plan with Spidercam cable cam at UEFA EURO 2020 football championship

Standard camera plan for all matches, featuring 36 cameras. Source: SVG

Spidercam team at EURO 2020 - football with Newton stabilized remote head

The Spidercam team in Amsterdam, Johannes Wolf, Rupert Rennack and Henrik Haftenberger

NEWTON stabilized remote head on Spidercam cable cam at UEFA football championship

In Copenhagen. Photo: Frederik Haensch

SONY HDC-P50 camera movement at live TV broadcast with Spidercam cable cam at EURO 2020

Boris Becker rigging the Spidercam before a game in Budapest. Photo: Angel Martinez

Camera movement at live TV broadcast with Spidercam cable cam at EURO 2020

In Saint Petersburg, Russia

NEWTON stabilized remote camera system on Spidercam cable cam at EURO 2020

Boris Becker changing batteries on the Spidercam. Photo: Angel Martinez

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