Trackman is opening up ABS for Fall Ball starting September 14. This is your chance to test the system and get comfortable with the workflow before deciding whether to use it in conference play in the spring. Here's what needs to happen on your end before you can start.

Step 1: Send Us Your Roster's Player Heights

If you plan to use a dynamic, height-based strike zone (rather than a static one), we need accurate height information for every player on your roster. Please send this to the Trackman Data Desk (datadesksupervisors@trackman.com) as early as possible. Without it, the zone won't be calculated correctly for each player which affects both the live call and the challenge animation. Once player heights are in our system, we will enable ABS for your venue.

Step 2: Tell Us Who Will Operate the ABS Animation

While you can use ABS on your system without the animation, only Trackman can set up permissions for the person who will trigger the Challenge System animation from the Cloud Live Dashboard (livedashboard.trackmanbaseball.com). 

Decide who at your program will be responsible for this, and have an admin in your organization grant them Cloud Live Dashboard access through the Team Portal. Then, submit a request to the Data Desk via the email above to have the animation account permission added for your designated user. Those who have access to the Challenge System animation will see the following button appear in their Cloud Live Dashboard:

This requires manual setup on our end, so we recommend reaching out prior to game day to request it. If you need to add or change who has access later in the season, please contact us once more to adjust user permissions.

Step 3: Select the Right Settings for Your Session

For official games, be sure to select NCAA Team Exclusive as the league and Team Exclusive as the level if you want to use the strike zone we've pre-configured for you based on the NCAA's guidelines. If you're running a private or practice session instead, you can configure the zone however your team prefers in the private session settings as part of the Tagging App session start flow.

Step 4: Add the Strike Zone Decision Tiles

If you want to see the in/out call in the Local Live Dashboard or the Tagging App during a session, enable the strike zone decision tile from the list of available metrics. You can also see the in/out call under the 3D and 3D Strike Zone tiles once ABS has been enabled on your system.

Step 5: Tag Challenge Metadata on a Play

Taggers can now add challenge system metadata to a play once completed. To tag that a pitch was challenged, click the drop-down menu beside that play in the Tagging App and fill out the dialog box. This information will then appear as new columns in your game data CSVs once applied in session.

Step 6: Make sure you can get the animation onto your videoboard (if you want fans to see it)

Right now, the animation can be displayed by mirroring the computer running the Cloud Live Dashboard onto your videoboard, using whatever screen-mirroring setup your venue already has in place. This should work regardless of your videoboard's manufacturer.

This workflow relies on your program's AV/broadcast setup though as opposed to something Trackman provides. We recommend confirming your AV operator has this capability ready before your first session.

Step 7: Use a Laptop that can run smooth Graphics

The animation is graphics-intensive. If you notice it looking choppy, check that the computer running it is set to its best performance mode (rather than a battery-saving or balanced setting). This alone usually resolves it.

Step 8: Know How the ABS animation Works on a Gameday

• Only the most recently tracked pitch can be played in the animation. Currently, it is not possible to go back to a previous pitch, but the tagger is able to tag previous plays as challenges in the Tagging App.
• The Challenge System animation option is only available in the Cloud Live Dashboard for 15 seconds after the pitch is tracked. Afterwards, it locks until another pitch is thrown.
• Once triggered, the animation can be replayed as many times as you want using the replay button in the bottom right corner of your animation. To be safe, initiate an animation as soon as a challenge is made by a player. Then, you can time the replay of the video to get it onto your videoboard.