 FOX Sports is hoping its new graphics from PVI will hit a homerun with viewers. Here baseball fans can see a silhouette-outline of the strike zone. |
No one could blame Tim Wakefield for being a little anxious when he takes the mound tonight for the Boston Red Sox during the team’s first match up with the New York Yankees.
Not only will this be the two team’s first meeting between the long-time rivals since last year’s American League Championship Series in which the Red Sox lost in the 11th inning of Game 7, but it will be the first time ever that everyone watching the game on television will be able to see exactly for themselves how well the hurler is hitting the strike zone.
FOX Sports will begin its 2004 MLB coverage with the Yankees-Red Sox contest with the debut of special Strike Zone graphics to show viewers precisely where the balls and strikes are being called.
Strike Zone is one of three new game graphics FOX will use to enhance its coverage of the game in an attempt to make baseball more exciting for younger viewers.
PVI Virtual Media Services, the company who inserted virtual first-down lines graphics during football games and virtual ads during events, will provide the new graphics for FOX from its own special-purpose truck that it will roll to Fenway Park.
The new graphics will include:
Ball Tracer, which shows the action track of the ball as it is released from the pitcher’s hand. The ball has a comet trail illustrating its path into the catcher’s glove. Click here to view a photo of the Ball Tracer.
Strike Zone, which provides a silhouette-outline of the strike zone and has the ability to show pitch placement in a sequence.
High Home Camera, which depicts the trajectory of a homerun ball with an action track that creates a line from home plate to where the ball lands and measures the distance traveled. High Home Camera also measures a runner’s lead off first base using three different colors to graphically represent the distance. Click here to view a photo of the High Home Camera.
To see examples of the new graphics in action, go to: http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=2313796.