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Friday December 05, 2008 at 14:35

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I’m not sure how many people are familiar with bowling beyond the occasional visit to the local alley (I know I wasn’t until recently), but in the past year, I have learned more about that sport than I ever could have dreamed about.  It’s really quite fascinating. Things all started about a year ago when US Bowling Congress (USBC) contracted with Daktronics to replace their flip dot scoring system with LED technology.  I was challenged with the task of helping the client bring their new display to life, adding an entirely new atmosphere and dimension to their tournament in Las Vegas this year. Since bowling is not a sport Keyframe typically designs content for, grasping the full scope of the project was a bit of a challenge.  On top of that, the display they purchased was huge - about 7.5’ tall by about 350’ wide (see the picture above).  Picture a 60 lane bowling alley with that LED video display on the wall above the pins from one end to the other, broadcasting your scoring results for all to see.  With the way I bowl, this seems a bit overwhelming. Myself and a number of other individuals from Daktronics spent an early November week in Albuquerque, New Mexico to perform testing with the client.  While Daktronics set up the support structure, display, and control system, we were able to test some of our content on the actual display. I will be the first to admit how surprised I was by how much cooler it looked on the display compared to what we had been seeing on our computer screens. Some of the graphics produced included a one minute video highlighting the game of bowling and last year’s tournament (which will run as the bowlers enter the “grand stage” to start the competition), multiple logo treatments, an animated graphic that will be used to display Champion bowlers, a very large national anthem treatment, sponsor graphics, and five sets of scoring layouts. There is more to be done before the tournament in February, but after seeing the display come together I look forward to more production and am happy to report that everyone’s hard work paid off. The content looked great and all of the stats and scoring information functioned wonderfully. It all seems a bit much for bowling, doesn’t it?  But to these guys it is a big deal, and rightfully so. This year the organization expects about 17,400 teams participate in the USBC Open Championship Tournament, making it the largest bowling tournament in history.  Just to give you a little more background on the Open Tournament and USBC here is how it works each year. The tournament moves to a different location each year, and they have to find a city with a convention center and hotel inventory large enough to accommodate them. Here’s the most unbelievable (but true) part:  once they decide on a location, they start the three month process of building an entire bowling center within the facility (that includes all the lanes, pin setters, office space for USBC personnel, spaces for vendors and concessions as well as seating for the fans).  The tournament itself lasts for about five months (7 days as week, 22 hours a day), and once the winners are declared, they tear it all down until the next year.  Crazy huh?!?! (post by Trisha Schuver)

I’m not sure how many people are familiar with bowling beyond the occasional visit to the local alley (I know I wasn’t until recently), but in the past year, I have learned more about that sport than I ever could have dreamed about.  It’s really quite fascinating.

Things all started about a year ago when US Bowling Congress (USBC) contracted with Daktronics to replace their flip dot scoring system with LED technology.  I was challenged with the task of helping the client bring their new display to life, adding an entirely new atmosphere and dimension to their tournament in Las Vegas this year. Since bowling is not a sport Keyframe typically designs content for, grasping the full scope of the project was a bit of a challenge.  On top of that, the display they purchased was huge - about 7.5’ tall by about 350’ wide (see the picture above).  Picture a 60 lane bowling alley with that LED video display on the wall above the pins from one end to the other, broadcasting your scoring results for all to see.  With the way I bowl, this seems a bit overwhelming.

Myself and a number of other individuals from Daktronics spent an early November week in Albuquerque, New Mexico to perform testing with the client.  While Daktronics set up the support structure, display, and control system, we were able to test some of our content on the actual display. I will be the first to admit how surprised I was by how much cooler it looked on the display compared to what we had been seeing on our computer screens. Some of the graphics produced included a one minute video highlighting the game of bowling and last year’s tournament (which will run as the bowlers enter the “grand stage” to start the competition), multiple logo treatments, an animated graphic that will be used to display Champion bowlers, a very large national anthem treatment, sponsor graphics, and five sets of scoring layouts. There is more to be done before the tournament in February, but after seeing the display come together I look forward to more production and am happy to report that everyone’s hard work paid off. The content looked great and all of the stats and scoring information functioned wonderfully.

It all seems a bit much for bowling, doesn’t it?  But to these guys it is a big deal, and rightfully so. This year the organization expects about 17,400 teams participate in the USBC Open Championship Tournament, making it the largest bowling tournament in history.  Just to give you a little more background on the Open Tournament and USBC here is how it works each year. The tournament moves to a different location each year, and they have to find a city with a convention center and hotel inventory large enough to accommodate them. Here’s the most unbelievable (but true) part:  once they decide on a location, they start the three month process of building an entire bowling center within the facility (that includes all the lanes, pin setters, office space for USBC personnel, spaces for vendors and concessions as well as seating for the fans).  The tournament itself lasts for about five months (7 days as week, 22 hours a day), and once the winners are declared, they tear it all down until the next year.  Crazy huh?!?!

(post by Trisha Schuver)