September 19, 2020 Business Development, Marketing, MyBlog, Video 0

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

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About the Author

Scott: Experienced, “hands-on”, results-driven, digitally savvy marketing leader specialising in customer experience, data-driven marketing strategy, content production and social media. A deep understanding of consumer behaviour, data analytics & marketing technology with over 20 years of managing people, projects, budgets, to business objectives.