Magic lines:

[jrittenhouse]

One of my great questions: how the heck do they draw stuff  like lines *under* players on a football field or flags *under* speed skating racers on an Olympic track?  Well, the answer is: tech magic, explained here.

Comments

[barondave]

Ah, pretty much what I expected, though more complicated. Determining the first down marker is easy. The hard part is matching the line with the camera angle and zoom, and chromakeying only to the field.

[jrittenhouse]

Bascially, that was my reaction too, but it's still tricky and cool to look at.

[almeda]

When they first started doing it they keyed it to 'grass' and 'mud' colors, which meant in sloppy spring games once the players got their calves messy sometimes the line went over their legs.

I found this very amusing on my (deceased) grandfather's behalf.

[jcw_da_dmg]

Total coolth. (Dammit, if there's warmth, there's coolth!)