PLUG-INS HELP RALLY CROWD AT LANDSHARK STADIUM
MIAMI — When the energy level at Land Shark Stadium starts to dip a bit, Brendan Nieto, senior manager of production and programming for the Miami Dolphins, knows how to amp-up the crowd. Nieto and his colleagues illuminate the stadium’s HD video boards and 360-degree ribbon board with images that get the crowd moving and making noise.
Nieto and his team of editors have the responsibility of creating video pieces for the 70,000 in-stadium fans. To maximize the intensity, they rely on fast-changing imagery and energy-soaked audio riffs.
His set-up includes six Apple Final Cut Pro editing suites, equipped with a variety of Noise Industries FxFactory plug-ins. “We use FxFactory in almost every piece,” Nieto comments. “It’s incredibly easy to use and really adds the wow-factor.”
FxFactory Pro offers over 150 plug-ins that are optimized for realtime performance on the Mac platform. Nieto keeps his projects fresh by adding FxFactory plug-ins, including fan favorites in the halftone, glow and generator categories. Illuminating a player after a hard-hit — then quickly transitioning to an animated frame overlay of a forced turnaround — really does provoke fans to cheer for their team. Stylization and color correction plug-ins also add an ominous touch, helping to intensify the videos. “It really makes the game clips look beat up,” Nieto comments.
FxFactory distortion, random crop and random close-up are credited for the Miami Dolphin’s smooth animation transitions. Flawlessly switching from one clip to the next, coupled with booming sound, helps maintain the adrenaline. “With FxFactory random crop function, I don’t have to select and keyframe every element… it does it for me. Random crop really makes it look like a lot of editing was done to achieve the look,” Nieto says.
In addition to their own plug-ins, Noise Industries partners with visual effects companies to provide an extensive and diverse set of plug-ins for Final Cut and Adobe After Effects users. Nieto prefers to use MoType from development partner Yanobox for text animation. Motype facilitates production of the ribbon board and Daktronic video boards’ militant cues with its dramatic motion titling designs and background options.
Aside from over-stimulating Dolphins fans, Noise Industries and development partner plug-ins help Nieto and his editors piece together sleek promotional videos for their football demographic, which air on both the Internet and local station affiliates. And these videos are also used to drive traffic to the Dolphins Website (www.miamidolphins.com).
“The Dol-Fans really enjoy videos and promos,” Nieto says.