The Virtual Production Diary
We have a major upgrade coming soon (in the offseason) & I wonder how long it will be before we outgrow this little shack? For now, it will do.
Behind the scenes, there are so many elements that go into producing a live show – sound, lights, technology, talent, & content. AND then there’s all the pre & post (but that’s for another day).
Objectives
The idea behind the Big Dog Studio is to be able to sit someone in the chair quickly & we produce everything else to deliver a live & far more engaging viewer experience than your standard Zoom meeting or webinar.
AND without needing a big production crew (& therefore reducing costs).
Whether for our weekly project The Naked Punt or any other event.
Back in the studio, this week’s focus has been on reducing computer system & network overloads, chroma key improvements & colour correction.
- Added new dedicated machine for Zoom feeds via NDI into video mixer. A massive difference as the machine is not overloading & freezing.
- Added virtual Studio Clock to teleprompt display – to keep everything on track.
- Converted old laptop to the dedicated live streaming unit.
- This unit has a reasonably good GPU so has increased quality of stream from 1.5 to 6.0 Mbs. Note: Still running 720p for now. (Fingers crossed this delivers a much better image – you can all the testing in the world but you don’t know until you go live).
- Switched back to Facebook for livestream channel. Hopefully, system upgrade reduces streaming problems. The Youtube chat engine was a fail with our viewers.
- Added video vectorscope to assist with colour balance corrections across different studio cameras. A whole lot of new learning around LUTs & colour spaces.
- Improvements to on-stage cabling (it was like crawling through a spider web )
- Audio – Studio audio quality now is pretty bloody good but still some Zoom guest tests to do.
Other items in progress
- *Virtual production via Unreal Engine (massive learning curve)
- *Scene automation system (using Voicemeeter Macro Buttons)
- *DMX LED lighting control (early research)
- *Better Music & SFX control
- *CGI system for overlays (on hold)
- *New shows (on hold)
videoproduction, livestream, virtualevents, virtual, virtualproduction