Two staff members from the Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) Video Technology Department along with former students are experiencing the excitement of the 2018 FIFA World Cup currently taking place from 14 June to 15 July 2018 in Russia.
Professor Pete Burnett, Senior Technician Louis de Waal and 2011 graduate Shepherd Xolo are currently part of the technical crew tasked with broadcasting the soccer matches to a global audience of billions around the world.
The trio is working as Vision Engineers for the main broadcaster, Host Broadcast Services (HBS), who subcontract to various other providers, including NEP Belgium, one of the biggest Outside Broadcast companies in Europe.
Television coverage of each FIFA World Cup game by NEP involves a crew of around 230 people per stadium. Prof Burnett, de Waal and Xolo are part of the NEP technical crew and are doing seven matches in three cities; three in Saransk, and two each in Yekaterinburg and Rostov on Don.
As vision engineers the three along with their colleagues get to set up, configure and test all functions on the cameras before the game; and then, second by second, to match the colouring and shading of the cameras during the live game so that they all look identical as the director cuts from one to the next, thus ensuring a seamless flow of broadcast images.
Prof Burnett said, “It’s fantastic to work with state-of-the-art equipment on such an important broadcast. Our technical team has come together from all over the world and we have Spanish, Portuguese, Belgium, Irish, English, Yugoslav, Russian and American crew working with us. I am especially proud of Shepherd who is holding his own and performing extremely well as a Vision Engineer”.
Other DUT Video Technology graduates who are currently in Russia working in the FIFA World Cup, include Shaun Parrot who is packaging inserts and studio interviews for Kersh, and Sandile Magosa of Gela Productions who has a team of four graduates doing inserts for SuperSport in Moscow and other stadiums.
“The training provided in Outside Broadcasts by the department of Video Technology prepares graduates to work at the highest level in cutting edge television broadcasts around the world, as evidenced by their work on the FIFA World Cup broadcasts. I am very proud of our graduates and it is extremely rewarding to work alongside them here in Russia,” said Prof Burnett.
Pictured: Prof Pete Burnett, Shepherd Xolo, Louis de Waal inside the World Cup stadium in Saransk, Russia.
Carolyn Burnett and Andile Dube
