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The Unseen Technology Behind the NFL's Virtual 1st-and-10 Line

Ever wonder how they CGI that yellow line in, in real time, without obscuring the players?

By Rain Noe - February 8, 2016

in Tech

Those of you watching Super Bowl 50 yesterday undoubtedly take that virtual yellow 1st & 10 line for granted, as it's been there since the late '90s. But some of you have undoubtedly wondered: How do they lay that into the picture while masking out the players in real time? As it turns out, it took a fair bit of cleverness to pull it off:

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The company they refer to in the video, by the way, is Sportvision.

Core77 reached out to Cam Newton to ask for some commentary on the technology, but he delivered a monosyllabic answer and left the room. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

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Vladimir Stein

8 years ago

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And the company that does the First Down Line for CBS isn't Sportvision.... lol Its SportsMedia SMT

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Red Stone

8 years ago

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its the line of scrimmage not the 1st and 10 line.

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- Rain Noe
  
  Red Stone
  
  8 years ago
  
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  Dude, the blue line is the line of scrimmage. (The Red line is the guy who didn't read the entry before commenting. Zing!)
  
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Brian Hackett

8 years ago

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Zing!

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Ramses Reyes

8 years ago

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wonderign how it works since 90s :D thank you core77

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