It seems as though CBC has changed their mind and the Calgary's home game on Thursday will not be in HD anymore since it will only be shown in Alberta and Windsor. My guess of trucks being used on that day has changed as follows:

Thur., Apr. 19
PIT - OTT [g5*] HD - Encore
DET - CGY [g4] - ???
DAL - VAN [g5*] HD - Premiere

I also noticed a flaw in my original estimate unless the Sunday game is at 1:00pm MDT (maybe 2:00) as there is no way Premiere can be in Calgary on Sun., Apr. 22 and Vancouver on Mon., Apr. 23 otherwise. They must be planning on renting a truck for one of those games if necessary.

Tues., Apr. 17
OTT - PIT [g4] HD - Encore
VAN - DAL [g4] - D86
DET - CAL [g3] - No more HD ?? But still in HD on cbc.ca/hdtv

DET - CAL [g3] - No more HD ?? But still in HD on cbc.ca/hdtv

Hmm. That is strange. I wonder what is up?

Also, does anyone know if tonights VAN - DAL [g4] game will be available on live streaming video online since it is only being broadcast in BC? I would like to watch the 3rd period of that game after the Sens clobber the Pens. ;)

I'm guessing tonight's game from Calgary will be in HD since it's full network and CBC would want to show Calgary's first home game in HD, even if it meant they had to drive the truck all the way from Vancouver and back. Then they get the day off tomorrow to move the truck out to Vancouver for Thursday's full net/HD game.

I doubt Calgary's home game 6 on Sunday will be in HD (if it happens).

I saw "Premiere" parked in front of CBC Calgary this morning on the way to work.

At one point there was talk of having cole just do the leaf games.This would be the best move for all.

>><Also, does anyone know if tonights VAN - DAL [g4] game will be available on live streaming video online since it is only being broadcast in BC? I would like to watch the 3rd period of that game after the Sens clobber the Pens.<<<

For those with Center Ice, the Vancouver-Dallas game appears to be on that tonight (Rogers 454 in Toronto).

Sorry, no idea about streaming video though.

EDIT: 454 in Rogersland, 455 in Cogecoland according to the onscreen listing.

hey stoakley...

i have a question for you about audio at the games. how does the placement of atmospheric mics work? do they simply hang from the rafters or are they placed elsewhere?

i guess my question is about those times when you can clearly hear one particular fan. maybe he/she is cheering off key or has some noisemaker that dominates the audio if they or it are making noise. sometimes it sounds like the mic is about 5 feet away from them.

in those cases what do you do? i guess you can't turn it off as it would kill the background audio for that area. do you move it at intermission?

just wondering.

I think Shaw here in Thunder Bay is showing the Dal/Van game on their preview channel (1 and 4)

Right now despite it saying the Digital Screening Room it is showing Coaches Corner and the commericals are not local ones.

At one point there was talk of having cole just do the leaf games.This would be the best move for all.

Hey! Don't we Leaf fans suffer enough? :)

The Preview channel in Thunder Bay on Shaw is showing the Dal/Van game.

hey stoakley...

i have a question for you about audio at the games. how does the placement of atmospheric mics work? do they simply hang from the rafters or are they placed elsewhere?

i guess my question is about those times when you can clearly hear one particular fan. maybe he/she is cheering off key or has some noisemaker that dominates the audio if they or it are making noise. sometimes it sounds like the mic is about 5 feet away from them.

in those cases what do you do? i guess you can't turn it off as it would kill the background audio for that area. do you move it at intermission?

just wondering.
Hi Billy416,

If you're referring to overhead mics (specifically in a hockey arena), the A1 (the mixer) will usually ask for us (the A2's) to hang 4 shotgun microphones over the slots and blue lines. I'll ususally hang 816's or 815b's or MKH-77's. It really depends on what's available on the mobile and what preference the A1 wants.

You usually don't pick up any real pin-pointed crowd noise from the overheads as they are hung out over the ice and are more there to pick up the game's noises.

More than likely what you're hearing when you hear an over-excited fan is from boar mics or other EFX mics the A2's have hung.

For example: In Toronto, for CBC HD/SD games here is what I put out for all mics in the arena..

4 overheads - 4 x 816's
6 PCC board mics - 2 behind the nets, 4 on the blues
Sometimes the A1 will use the Holophone, but the main A1 for CBC East games doesn't really like using the mic.
Main camera stereo mic
3 Hand held mics - usually 416's (a mini version of the 816)

From these sources, the A1 creates his stereo mix or 5.1 mix depending on what they are outputing for transmission - this will also include PxP, Colour, host, music, etc.

I believe there is an A1 who works with TSN in these forums as he has messaged me privately before. Perhaps if he see's this post, he can explain to all of you how he likes to create his stereo and 5.1 mix.

Now... back to your question: You are more than likely hearing some drunken fan making loud noises, banging on the glass, shouting near the mic, etc and that causes great consternation for the mixer. More than likely he/she will pull that mic down in their mix until a remedy can be rectified. Usually, we will try to politely ask the person if they wouldn't bang on the glass or the like and most people are nice, however, depending on the city you're in... ahem, New York / Philly, you usually just try and deal with it :)

It's hard to move mics during the game / intermission because depending on the arena you usually have to bring out a ladder and ask people to move and people who pay $175 a ticket don't like being asked to move.... LOL!!! Oh yeah, as well, when you're the visiting team in a different city, the home building is responsible for providing the main I.S. (international sound) and so you have to deal with the house A1's and A2's which is a whole other kettle of fish.

I hope I somewhat answered your question. If you have anymore, please ask away.

Cheers!

I hope this is the right thread for this question. Especially since there seems to be some talk of the audio at games.

I'm watching the Dal/Van game on CBC HD and though the cable box indicated 5.1 sound and my receiver shows it's getting 5.1, during the game play signal is only coming out of the front L and R speakers. So basically 2.0. Is anyone else getting that?

Now I know DD can be anything from 1.0 to 5.1(7.1?), but the audio seems quite poor.

Other times I've watched hockey in 5.1 you can hear specific localized sounds like board and glass hits in the left speaker, or the goalie slapping the stick on the ice (off camera) to indicate the penalty ending, in the right speaker. I don't seem to be getting any of that in this game. Even the 2.0 signals don't seem to have much stereo separation.

The intermission show from CBC does seem to be using more of the channels.

Is this due to using fact that it's in Dallas and not Vancouver?

Interested in any input. Thanks!

Hi Robby,

I'm sure about how the sound from the arena's are being decoded and how your cable provider is transmitting them... there are far smarter people to answer those questions than I :)

The intermission show is coming from the broadcast studio in Toronto using a full 5.1 HD show and I'm sure they are receiving all feeds in HD 5.1 for playback.

I guess you will have to get concensus from other people in Vancouver.

Cheers!

"Is this due to using fact that it's in Dallas and not Vancouver?"

Yes. CBC is using a SD mobile. The game is in SD Widescreen and have DD2.0. In Vancouver, CBC was using "Premier", a HD mobile that produce DD5.1. The studio in Toronto is always in DD5.1.

By the way, DET vs CGY tonight = great PQ, and great sound, just like in Vancouver. No SD cam also... so Premier is now full HD. Encore still have one SD cam.

I hope I somewhat answered your question. If you have anymore, please ask away.

Cheers!

you sure did. truthfully, i'm surprised that you would actually go and try to reason with a fan. i was going to ask that but thought that if they are already that loud then something like this would just stir them up more.

what's a "holophone" ?

By the way, DET vs CGY tonight = great PQ, and great sound, just like in Vancouver. No SD cam also... so Premier is now full HD. Encore still have one SD cam.

i have trouble keeping track but who is using fish eye HD net cams for their broadcasts?

you sure did. truthfully, i'm surprised that you would actually go and try to reason with a fan. i was going to ask that but thought that if they are already that loud then something like this would just stir them up more.

what's a "holophone" ?
Hey Billy,

Cool... well, sometimes we have to go and 'take one for the team' so to speak. People are pretty good most of the time, but it's that one drunken, idiot fan that screams at you which makes you wonder why you work in TV at all!!! LOL.

As for what a Holophone is - it's a surround sound microphone (7.1) built by a Canadian company here in Toronto that's used in sports, movies, beta, etc to either create the 5.1 - 7.1 mix (mostly in beta) or augment a mix by an A1 in a truck for sports. There is debate among A1's (at least the ones I've worked with in Canada) about who likes it and who doesn't like it. I have no real opinion really - I just know I either set it up or don't :)

If you want to learn more about it, check out www.holophone.com The guys are at NAB right now in Vegas and just launched a newer version of their beta version.

Cheers!

By the way, DET vs CGY tonight = great PQ, and great sound, just like in Vancouver. No SD cam also... so Premier is now full HD. Encore still have one SD cam.
Hey Bruno,

I agree! The HD netcams they're using look gorgeous... sound's not bad either ;)

Cheers!