Cameras / recording for sports pitches

[Gabriel adam]

 

I'm part of a management group that runs and deals with a few football leisure centres around the country and had a task to explore ideas of a recording mechanism that has similar properties to a CCTV camera, to be installed on pitches permanently and fixed to record matches of small sided games and then send these recordings of to players. 

I was wondering if anyone could help with suggestions of the best camera solutions to permanently fix camera recording devices on a 5 aside and 7 aside pitches . 

 

 

 

 

Any suggestions very welcome as there's no doubt a ton of different ways to approach this

[James]

What idea of budget do you have for this project?
Will the matches be daytime or evening? 
Do you have anywhere to mount the cameras?
Do you have anyone responsible for managing the recordings?
Do you want audio with the pictures?
Do you have any idea how you might distribute the recordings to the players?
 

[Dave m]

It ain’t cheap but the VEO sports camera does a good job of recording pitches

[Gabriel adam]

15 hours ago, James said:

What idea of budget do you have for this project?
Will the matches be daytime or evening? 
Do you have anywhere to mount the cameras?
Do you have anyone responsible for managing the recordings?
Do you want audio with the pictures?
Do you have any idea how you might distribute the recordings to the players?
 

No budget at the moment, just weighing up the most cost efficient models at the moment before we make Purchase. 

The pitches are usually booked from 3pm to 11 pm , with several 5 aside pitches. so the cameras would need to be able to handle 7/8 hours of recording. 

Ye, there are 10ft poles on each pitch with 4 floodlights. 

I was hoping to either build a cloud or software to integrate with the proposed camers to store the recordings and allow the players to retrieve there recordings of the game . 

Audio would make it all the more better for the recordings, no harm in that better experience with the game recordings . 

Hopefully we can integrate the camera systems to a website and cloud. to distribute recordings, hopefully there's a solution to automate that process.  

 

Thats why we need a camera with with CCTV type properties, record on demand, no need of charging or setting up cameras everyday. Have good quality recordings and IP rating with the uk weather conditions. 

 

Any recommendation will be welcome

[Gabriel adam]

14 hours ago, Dave m said:

It ain’t cheap but the VEO sports camera does a good job of recording pitches

That was a decent shout, until we realized they need to be charged everyday and come with a lot of man work of setting up before games and after. That'sa good option kids and parents who just want to record kids games on the move. 

[kerry davies]

 

[Brian]

Please clarify how many cameras you see being installed per pitch. And, if multiples, are you envisaging someone cutting between them as the match progresses, or simply streaming multiple angles and letting the viewer decide.

[Stuart91]

There are some cameras out there that will automatically follow the ball, so they pan around the pitch as the action moves from end to end. 

(One famously mistook a bald-headed linesman for the ball)

I doubt these will be particularly cheap - they seem fairly specialist and were aimed at clubs who needed to livestream matches during covid but couldn't afford a full camera crew.

 

CCTV technology has come on a lot in recent years but I don't think there's anything out there that will do what the OP wants. A single camera will either not capture the whole pitch, or be zoomed out so far that you can't make anything out. Multiple cameras would need manually cut, which isn't going to be within the budget for amateur 5-a-side matches. 

[Gabriel adam]

5 hours ago, Brian said:

Please clarify how many cameras you see being installed per pitch. And, if multiples, are you envisaging someone cutting between them as the match progresses, or simply streaming multiple angles and letting the viewer decide.

So it's a 5 aside leisure centre. It wont be live streamed. we just need to be able to put a camera per pitch that can record games and send recordings to players. 

[Gabriel adam]

2 hours ago, Stuart91 said:

There are some cameras out there that will automatically follow the ball, so they pan around the pitch as the action moves from end to end. 

(One famously mistook a bald-headed linesman for the ball)

I doubt these will be particularly cheap - they seem fairly specialist and were aimed at clubs who needed to livestream matches during covid but couldn't afford a full camera crew.

 

CCTV technology has come on a lot in recent years but I don't think there's anything out there that will do what the OP wants. A single camera will either not capture the whole pitch, or be zoomed out so far that you can't make anything out. Multiple cameras would need manually cut, which isn't going to be within the budget for amateur 5-a-side matches. 

ahaha , I  have seen that video was hilarious. 

 

We was exploring alternative solutions such as using a combination of softwares and camers to get the same functionality as those AI cameras and cctv like operation . I feel like if you explore and be creative enough you may be able to mix and match an optimal solution. Any recommendations. 

[Gabriel adam]

6 hours ago, kerry davies said:

 

Ive read this post and could identify a solution. a few ideas though 

[paulears]

I'm left with the impression that you want something really simple, but really easy to use and good enough quality people will watch it (and pay for it?)

I wonder if you have thought this through? 

If I have understood correctly, there will be one camera per pitch. This rather dictates the camera has to be on the halfway line, and then with wide angle lenses you might just see the goal at each side. Corners on the camera side of the pitch will be missing. Of course you could have an automated ball following system, if the budget for multiple of these is there. You also need to factor in the costs for whoever 'collect's the video and makes it available online. One camera is hardly going to be gripping for people to want to watch - a teeny ball, players hardly distinguishable? You either need to cable the power and return video and possible control for the PTZ camera if that's how you wish to go, back to a central point - or wifi capable cameras and a multiple pitch wifi system won't be a set and forget. The cameras will need weather protection probably. 

Why do you want to record at each camera position? How are you thinking about getting the video back to the control position? Some cameras also work pretty poorly in low light, so your choices might be further limited. 

The biggest negative is the purpose.

Do the players want the recordings - either as play/pay on demand or on sticks, cards or other media? 

Remember static video is dreadfully dull. So much football happens in tiny corners of a frame. A dodgy tackle on a wide angle lens will be just a tackle - not detail. If you want detail, you need people, and expensive kit. A 5 a side venue in my area used to have security cameras and the pictures were so boring, nobody wanted to watch them. On a practical issue - don't forget that the camera angles also need height to allow people to assess distance and see detail. The touchline cameras on pro football are great for action near them, but the angles are terrible for seeing goal mouth action - the images are blocked by players and it's impossible to tell if the ball is coming towards or away from the camera. Add 30ft, maybe by mounting on floodlight poles and it looks better. 

Realistically, whatever you want can be done, but for the video to be easy to watch, humans, equipment and money are all needed. You say no budget yet - but if you have 5 pitches, with one camera per pitch, power and video distribution and some simple kit to record - like a recorder per camera, it would not be hard to get to ten grand without even trying. Adding pan, tilt and zoom, cabled or radio links, more cameras and operators and the budget could be a project killer. Waterproof housings, hardware cables, and installation could be a considerable sum before you even turn a camera on.

It's a perfectly doable project - but with people able to see decent sports video so easily, a security camera style, fixed and dull system probably would serve little purpose?