Apple - Final Cut Studio 2 - In Action

It all becomes clear at 200 miles an hour. That’s when the serene scream of precision-tuned MotoGP bikes resonates with race fans across the globe, summoning a visceral need for speed that can only be satisfied by breathtaking footage, exhilarating audio and complete coverage. The team at Dorna Sports delivers, serving up a medley of sensational media to satisfy the most serious speed junkies. For all intents and purposes, Dorna is MotoGP. The Madrid and Barcelona-based media company covers the races worldwide, from Spain to Qatar to California. It has more than 120 full-time staff members. Its camera operators cover every curve of the track. Its timekeepers track race progress. Its engineers have designed on-bike cameras to give spectators a behind-the-bars view of every race. Its editing team cuts live footage for more than 40 networks across the globe. And after every event, its editors stitch the best footage together for network TV spots and a DVD using Final Cut Studio.

“The best of the best ends up in Final Cut Pro on our Macs,” says Manel Arroyo, Dorna Managing Director. “We cut highlights for TV stations almost immediately after the race. Then we produce a DVD of the race within hours and it’s available to the public within a few days.” They also port the pristine footage to motogp.com, a massive compendium of race videos, rider stats, news and technical information — in eight languages. If that wasn’t enough, Dorna streams the videos to mobile phones across the globe, giving hardcore fans a fix anytime, anywhere. It’s some of the most technically advanced sports coverage ever and the best of it is primed, cut and polished with Macs.

“We value the stability and power of the Final Cut Studio,” says Sergi Sendra-Vives, TV Production Department Director at Dorna . “It is a very reliable system. It is also easy to edit very complex projects and we always know that we still have more and more tools if we need them.”

Freeze Frame

It’s not easy to snag great footage of a motorcycle in motion, even when it’s circling a track. Dorna uses dozens of stationary digital video cameras, swing-arm mounted beasts and even an aerial rig attached to a helicopter. The crack camera crew has memorized every turn of every track they visit.

“We now know where the best spots are at every track that MotoGP visits,” says Sendra Vives. That’s currently 18, from Laguna Seca in California to Mugello in Italy. Each track is different, but Dorna manages to set up their equipment within a few days of each race. And they have tons of equipment — literally. The company has its own freight planes to carry cameras, computers, live editing equipment and EVS digital video capturing gear. They have one Xserve RAID to store and edit their select cuts and several Final Cut Pro editing stations to splice highlights together and craft DVDs. They also contract with local live TV equipment companies to secure even more gear when they’re on the ground.

Walk into a Dorna control room on race day and you might think you’ve stumbled into Cape Canaveral during a shuttle launch. Three control rooms ingest live feeds from dozens of wireless cameras. The digital video shots are sorted and dumped into an EVS system for live editing. Graphics — race data, rider info and other stats — are pasted in on the fly using custom Dorna software. It’s a boggling amount of data, but it’s a key part of covering the race and the Dorna crew incorporates it with their footage seamlessly.

In the Saddle

Lap times and standings are key in any race, but the most exciting race info comes out of the bike. Dorna has developed an on-bike camera system that also gathers engine data, lean angles and in some cases even rider pulse rates. Each bike is equipped with small box of gear and four cameras. One clings to the tail and faces the back of the rider. Another points forward, the third is aimed at the throttle and the fourth, a wide-angle, peers down the side of the bike. Video and data is streamed wirelessly to the control room, where custom Dorna software can splice it in with live footage. All those great shots and intriguing bits of info eventually end up in Final Cut Studio.

One of Dorna’s digital minicams perched on the side of a Ducati race bike.

“We have our Mac editing stations with us and we put all the best footage on our Xserve,” says Oriol Icart, Technical Director for Dorna. “We stay on after the race is finished and create highlights and the DVD before we move on to the next circuit.” The crew has only hours to ingest the footage, cut it together and churn it out. Final Cut Studio can handle the various digital video formats, from DV to HD, and Compressor can convert those formats for broadcast or DVD. “Final Cut Pro and Compressor are invaluable tools for us,” says Xavier Soler, Dorna Programs Manager. “We can edit any video format with them and change those formats to meet all our needs.”