Team RBC Golf Fan Tour – 360° Video Series & Activation (2016)

CASE STUDY

CLIENT:
Team RBC Golf

AGENCY:
not disclosed

DELIVERABLES:
• Hardware / Event Consultation
• Promotional Materials
• Marketing & Activation Strategy
• 3x 360° VR Video Vignettes

TECHNOLOGY:
• Custom-built Stereoscopic 3D 360° video camera rig
• PTGui Pro
• Videostitch
• Kolor
• Custom 3D 360° Algorithmic Stitching Correction
• Adobe Creative Cloud

OBJECTIVE:
Under an agency partner’s creative direction, film and edit a series of 360° videos showcasing what Team RBC professional golfers Jim Furyk, Graham DeLaet, and Brooke Henderson think about and do when preparing for major tournaments and events. Fans that stop by the Team RBC Fan Tour trailer will select one of the experiences to view in a VR headset, giving them a front row, “slice-of-life” look into the lives of their favorite Team RBC Golfers.

SOLUTION:
ShowMeVirtual filmed a series of 360° VR video vignettes for the Team RBC Fan Tour featuring professional golfers Jim Furyk, Graham DeLaet, and Brooke Henderson, and also featured other notable members and settings central to Team RBC Golf. The vignettes were filmed using two variations of our custom Sherpa camera rig, a Stereoscopic 3D 360° video camera rig that captures 3D depth, with one configuration being stationary and the other being mounted to a fast-moving golf cart. Filmed in three separate locations over the course of several months (Harbour Town Golf Links & Wexford Golf Club in Hilton Head, SC and Blythefield Country Club in Grand Rapids, MI) these experiences highlighted what a day-in-the-life is like for Team RBC’s top professional golfers. Due to each athlete’s packed schedule around each event, the vignettes were completed with less than 20 minutes of total access to each athlete. After filming each vignette, we went through a tedious, detailed cleanup process of the footage, including use of our own algorithmic stitching tool in order to remove as many seams as possible in each final 360° video clip. At the time of filming these experiences, it was an industry standard to have visible seams between each camera in the 360° rig, but we were able to eliminate these seams entirely in our final processed footage for this activation.

The completed 360° video experiences were then showcased as a VR activation in the Team RBC Fan Tour, first premiering at the RBC Heritage and RBC Canadian Open golf tournaments, followed by several other PGA and WPGA events. Along with taking a photo next to a giant RBC Golf bag at each stop in the tour, tournament attendees loved being able to put on a VR headset to have a unique 1-on-1 experience with their favorite professional golfers, with the experience being most participants first-ever VR experience. The resulting activation generated significant press in the professional golf industry, and the 360° video vignettes were also featured on Team RBC Golf’s homepage throughout the 2016 season on each of the three highlighted Team RBC Golf athletes’ pages.