Neil Melville, Author at Dartfish Blog

In CASE STUDIES

Great Britain Canoeing and Kayaking Case Study

July 28, 2016 No Comments

By Julia Wells, Performance Analyst, English Institute of Sport. A PDF version of this article is also available. In 2004, I started working for the English Institute of Sport as a Performance Analyst and was appointed to provide performance analysis services to the sport of Canoe/Kayak Slalom. The Great Britain Canoe/Kayak Slalom team has been using Dartfish for over 6 years in their World Class Coaching Programme. They have produced Olympic medalists in both kayak and canoe classes over the past Olympic cycles with the latest being a Silver in Beijing by David Florence (single canoe class). The use of Dartfish is filtered down through the whole world class programme (podium to development) and plays an important role in aiding the coaching process during both competition and training environments. How Dartfish is Used The coaches use Dartfish on a daily basis to enhance their key coaching messages through visual interpretation. The…

In COMPANY

TAG Heuer & Dartfish form an innovative partnership

July 23, 2016 No Comments

TAG Heuer require no introduction. As a brand, they are already synonymous with the Swiss watch, yet they have now succeeded in adding more Swissness – by teaming up with our own Fribourg-based software craftsmen. The result? Dartfish video analysis integrated with the latest Pocket Pro stopwatch. The Pocket Pro is no average timing device and it has been rendered all the more remarkable by the ability to remote control the Dartfish Express app (iOS/Android). The video recording is overlaid with time, lap time and other data enabling the coach to be better informed about the metrics around the performance as it is reviewed and analyzed. The app brings slow-motion control over video and enables its user to add coaching points, then shared via Dartfish’s web platform. Now its video is enhanced with supremely accurate data from one of the world’s most renowned timing systems producers. Dartfish is justifiably proud to be approached by Tag…

In Other Features

Dartfish 9 captures web streams

June 26, 2016 No Comments

When it comes to many major events, the chances of your video analyst getting a ringside seat are slim. Let’s make that zero chance if he has his camcorder with him. Smaller sports may not have the budget to put him/her on the plane in the first place but the good news for everyone is that an increasing number of events, large and small, are streaming their competition live over the internet. Their videographers are well-trained and do get ringside seats, covering the action from multiple angles. But how to capture their feed into video analysis software? Sure, you could download the file or screen capture the video as it plays but if you want it on your dartfish.tv channel immediately after the contest is has happened or you want to use Dartfish Live Tagging to mark up salient events, our solution was to re-purpose a piece of hardware called the Live Gamer Portable from…

In Hardware

Dartfish 9 brings new way to stream live from a camcorder

June 23, 2016 No Comments

I’m willing to make a small bet that a majority of Dartfishers got their software to be able to efficiently integrate video into analysis or feedback by recording directly to their PC. I’ll also bet that just a few years back you wouldn’t have bothered taking my bet; a tool which could do this was immeasurably valuable. Furthermore, it would be exactly the right video, defined by pre-record and recording duration; the replay would be automatic and in slow motion if desired; capture could be hands-off by remote control or hands-free by sound trigger. Then, six years ago, almost to the day, the arrival of the iPhone 4 led a big step forwards in instant video analysis on a mobile device. Today, the convenience of apps like Dartfish Express and Dartfish Note have perhaps made the connection of computers and cameras seem as inconvenient as trying to find the right spot on a miniDV tape used to be.…

In CASE STUDIES

AccuPower integration helps professors bring biomechanics to life

June 14, 2016 No Comments

In this article by Pete Leno from AccuPower, he explains why they teamed up with Dartfish to bring visualization tools to force plate data and gives two examples illustrating the simplicity and effectiveness of the approach. The learning styles of today’s students are certainly more visual and hands on, so to effectively teach biomechanics requires that teachers are equipped with the tools to provide that hands on approach to teaching. To this end, AccuPower Software and Dartfish have collaborated to seamlessly integrate 3-D force plate measurements with digital video analysis, providing educators with a robust teaching tool for labs and classrooms. The resulting integration of kinetic data and Dartfish video analysis visualizes the scientific principles behind human movement in a time and cost effective manner. AccuPower Software 2.0 is a software package that integrates data collection and analysis from any AMTI force plate with Dartfish video analysis software. Data streams collected by AccuPower Software can be displayed in Dartfish…

In SOLUTIONS

The keyword is no longer king?

May 12, 2016 No Comments

When it comes to creating a functional video archive, or managing any large amount of video for that matter, in Dartfish everything is, or at least was, ruled by the keyword. Keywords are used to describe videos and events within videos. Keyword tools can be found in the software library and tagging module, in Dartfish Note and on dartfish.tv for videos, events, collections and subscription groups. But one place they aren’t found is in the myDartfish Smart Cloud. Do these latest developments reflect a change in direction for Dartfish? Is the keyword no longer king? The concept of the keyword is a simple one but I know from my years of Dartfish training that it can be misunderstood and mis-applied, so here is a simple guide: You can think of a keyword as a label which describes some aspect of a video. That information is searchable; so if I want to find…

In Baseball/Softball

A breakthrough in baseball & softball competition preparation

March 9, 2016 No Comments

Previously we have taken a look at our next evolution of baseball and soft ball coaching tools; comprising software, apps and reports. In this article Chuck Wilmot turns our attention to an equivalent toolset designed for opponent scouting. How much time do you spend scouting your next opponent? Most coaches spend a lot of time examining video and data, usually using a manual and very time consuming process. But, if you know your opponent’s strength and weaknesses, you can put a game plan together that has a high chance of succeeding and increases your competitiveness. It is a major strategic advantage! Dartfish has created a powerful and efficient way to do this without spending enormous time and resources. This new product is part of Dartfish’s product strategy to provide baseball and softball programs with a complete solution to assist in the development and competitiveness of their team. These scouting tools provide programs with the…

In CASE STUDIES

Dartfish video technology for kinesiology

February 16, 2016 No Comments

Universities today face a growing challenge – to develop relevant, cost-effective learning environments that transition into career opportunities for their graduates. In meeting this challenge, a number of US universities have collaborated with Dartfish to bring video analysis into their labs and classrooms. Video is being used to bring understanding of the scientific principles of human movement to life and to gather data which would otherwise be difficult to obtain or require a far higher investment in technology. This work has yielded some interesting applications, great research and positive feedback for the role of Dartfish, all of which we have now brought to you in a white paper. It makes interesting reading if you operate in a university setting in the fields of biomechanics, sports medicine, gait analysis, physical therapies or physical education. The paper focuses on applied uses of Dartfish and the research resulting from them. Below you’ll find some…