Casablanca / Sports Solutions

Video Coach

WHAT IS VIDEO COACH?

VideoCoach is an complete video analysis solution that can be used for coaching and optimized training in many different sports. It is a valuable tool for both team sports (Rugby league & union, soccer & Australian Rules) and individual applications (tennis, golf, athletics, swimming, martial arts)

VideoCoach comprises a hardware system and software system that have been specially optimized to work easily reliably and efficiently together

HOW IT WORKS

Video footage can be imported from any digital or analogue video camera using the analogue inputs on the VideoCoach unit. You can start analyzing the footage as soon as it has been recorded. The video can be output on a television or video monitor.

There are many options for analyzing and editing the video material:

• You can freely position a scene anywhere on-screen.
• Two scenes can be synchronized so that you can compare them better.
• Two scenes can be compared in transparency mode and next to one another in real-time (two data streams are displayed simultaneously during playback).
• The transparency and scene position can be adjusted during playback.
• Text can be entered for each scene.
• A scene can be trimmed (i.e. definition of starting and finishing points).
• Fast scrolling and frame-by-frame browsing backwards and forwards.
• You can set a reference point for automatically finishing a recording (recording must be carried out on a tripod).
• Thereafter, the indexes are changed automatically and the system skips to the active index.
• Archive for several thousand scenes whose data structure can be organize as required.
• Markers can be set (e.g. for marking distinctive elements in a sequence of movements).
• Scenes are stored together with markers, starting and finishing points, drawings and text comments.

BASIC FUNCTIONS

Depending on which mode you are currently working in, VideoCoach provides a set of useful basic functions that can be used easily without first having to spend ages learning about them. These include:

• Play, pause, record, variable slow motion, loop mode, scene mirroring
• Drawing functions: freehand, line, circle, parallelogram, parallel lines
• Swing tracing (Bezier)
• Angles can be determined
• Speed can be determined
• Drawn objects can later be edited
• Individual objects can be deleted

INCLUSIONS

• VideoCoach is supplied with a trackball for controlling the software. VideoCoach can also be upgraded with a keyboard (for entering text) or with the Twister (powerful control device incorporating a jog wheel for quick and easy operation).
• VideoCoach is fitted with FBAS/YC and USB ports.

NEW SYSTEM SOFTWARE

The new software is launched with an interface in the Casablanca SMART EDIT design, and offers a host of new functions. To attract a wider customer base to the VideoCoach system, the facility for use of the SMART EDIT video editing software is now included free of charge. Further new features and improvements are as follows :

• In the record menu, the footage can now also be mirrored and preliminary lines can be drawn in during recording itself
• The hotspot is now moved as a graphic and can be activated from the start of recording. This option is very useful on driving ranges, where the player is provided with the ball automatically
• The date is now entered as the default value in the archive
• Recording can now also be stopped by means of a microphone. The ambient noise level can be analysed by means of the "Find threshhold" button in the auto-stop settings. This feature functions as follows: whilst the button is activated, the maximum noise level is measured. This level is indicated by a slider. As soon as analysis is switched off, the measured maximum forms the threshold above which recording is terminated.

• The majority of menus along the bottom of the screen can now be hidden, so as to make the video fully visible. The Twister or keyboard are then used for control
• Special functions are available directly from the keyboard. These include: show/hide recordings; show/hide all menus; delete last recording; simple deletion and setting of the index buttons
• Storage of swings on a SmartMedia card
• Freely selectable default values for the index buttons. These values are selected automatically following an automatic stop.
• The user can select whether to work with one or with two scenes. Comparison is of course not possible when single-scene is selected
• The length of the recording can now be selected. The 256 MB working memory fitted permits 6.5 seconds if two scenes are selected and approximately 13 seconds for a single scene. The program also supports 512 MB, in which case these values are doubled. An upgrade to 512 MB is available as an option at extra cost, and must be enabled separately
• The user can select the duration of recording following stoppage of recording. This is important if the full swing is to be recorded, or in other sports such as the 100 m sprint, for example, for analysis of a runner following the starting-shot
• The brightness, contrast and colour values can be changed (even during recording)
• An Info button is provided in the settings with which the user can view how much hard drive capacity has been used, how much memory is fitted, and the VideoCoach version
• The language of VideoCoach can now be selected
• New products can be installed through VideoCoach
• Export function in the main menu: this enables a scene or a complete folder to be copied into the scene list or directly into the storyboard of the SMART EDIT video editing software (option available at extra cost). The recordings and trims can be taken into account during export
• DVD burning