Covid-19: Baliprod Shooting Guidelines We Hope All Production Houses Adopt 🦠 😷 [INFOGRAPHIC]
April 13, 2020
HOW BALIPROD USES LIVE STREAMING TECH TO SHOOT MOTION AND STILLS WITH A CLIENT ABROAD
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE (2020)
Let’s face it, the production industry is changing fast and we all need to adapt!
It’s 2020 already. Can you believe it?
For advertising projects, location is everything. For most ad productions, we would normally see agency, client and director fly to their shooting location to shoot abroad. While this is still the normal as of now, the future is coming and Baliprod is ready to handle it.
In the last few months, we have had more and more of our projects turn to streaming technology as a way to reduce the budget of a project.
Covid 19 pandemic played a huge role obviously - read Baliprod's safety guidelines during the Covid 19 pandemic.
With the technology that exists now, it is very easy to communicate while on set even if we have a director in Argentina, a creative agency in France and a client in Singapore.
Sounds farfetched?
It’s a lot more simple than it sounds.
Below we will explain to you how Baliprod uses 3 types of streaming technology for our motions and stills productions where some of the crew, agency client are outside of the country and not able to be on set.
This guide will explain everything about:
Let’s dive right in!
CHAPTER 1:
STREAMING MOTION
For most projects that don’t rely on big crews, visual FX or a heavy audio setup, the basic setup for streaming motion is more than enough.
We can communicate with Clients/Agency/Director who aren’t on set easily and with no delay.
How does it work?
In the infographic above you see a rundown of how the tech works.
1. BASIC SET UP WITH CAM LINK 4K
Almost all digital motion cameras fit the bill and all of the favourites (Alexa Mini, Red, etc..) can use this system with ease. This system works well if we are not using a complex audio setup as the on-board mic is the only audio we will be able to use during broadcast,
The camera will connect to a computer and our crew will broadcast it using Youtube Live or directly within a Zoom conference call.
With Zoom, the footage is displayed in up to 1080p resolution in near real-time (only 2 frame latency).
With Youtube Live, the footage can be displayed up to 4K resolution, but there can be a delay and lag of up to 10 seconds, so depending on the project, this could potentially cause some frustration.
Usually we will use Zoom for a live feed and Youtube Live for high res playback when needed.
It’s safe to say that most of us have these apps already on our mobile and desktop devices.
So the good news here – Nothing extra to download!
Apart from the camera feed, we will also set up a webcam on set so you can see the crew and the setup as well as being able to directly communicate with the producer, 1st AD, DOP or any other departments.
Pros:
- Can stream anywhere in the world
- Direct communication with crew on set
- Virtually zero delay from camera to stream viewing
- Easily links to Zoom and Youtube
- Small setup that requires little time to setup or teardown. Change locations with no waiting time!
- Much cheaper than the advanced setup!
- Not ideal for a very technical shoot
- Can’t use mix and overlay
- Minimal audio setup only
- Everyone has the same feed view
2. ADVANCED SET UP WITH QTAKE
Apart from covering everything above listed in the basic setup, we have some extra advantages in this package.
Everyone knows QTAKE. The most important software for VT on set. They have a product called QTAKE Server that is a streamers dream for the production industry.
With QTAKE you have the option to use mix and overlay for more technical needs depending on the project.
You also have the option to use a full audio setup mixed in for live and playback feeds.
When using the advanced option, each member viewing the stream from abroad is able to have their own personal playback.
VT Operator can adjust who sees what during live stream and during playback.
Also, each streaming member can view, adjust, leave comments and control playback using their mobile QTAKE Monitor app.
This is pretty cool! 🎉🎉🎉
It’s safe to say that this technology needs a faster and more stable internet connection. In some locations, it is not an issue, but for other outdoor locations, this could become problematic.
If we need a higher resolution sent to the streaming platform, then we will need more bandwidth from our internet service provider to go with it.
For remote locations, the basic system is much more efficient.
With this advanced setup, it requires a full VT with QTAKE kit and takes more time to setup on set thus making location moves a bit more difficult and can cause delays on set.
Pros:
- Can stream anywhere in the world
- Direct communication with crew on set
- Virtually zero delay from camera to stream viewing
- Easily links to Zoom, Youtube and QTAKE Monitor
- Works with any audio setup
- Mix & Overlay option
- Individual streams for each member
- Comments through streaming app per clip
- Playback controls (video)
- Larger setup that requires time to setup and teardown. Location changes can cause a delay in production schedule
- Needs a very strong and stable internet connection
- More expensive than the basic streaming option
- Requires a 2+ person VT team
CHAPTER 2:
STREAMING STILLS
Maybe the above doesn’t apply to you at all because you are shooting stills not motion.
Don’t worry, we got your back!
For the stills production industry, streaming services are just as useful and much easier to use.
Read below.
Don’t worry, we got your back!
For the stills production industry, streaming services are just as useful and much easier to use.
When shooting stills production, most photographers are shooting tethered to a computer.
Their Digitech is usually lightly processing the images so that client can view on set.
When live streaming, we do the same thing except that we use a screen share application within Zoom so the client can view each shot as it is taken directly on the computer.
If the client is on a tight deadline and needs to mark their favourite shots during the shoot, no problem.
Using a remote mouse app (Team Viewer for instance) will allow the client to control the mouse of the Digitech’s computer and while the on-set team is moving locations or changing looks, the client can look through and mark shots as we go.
It’s as simple as that!
IT'S YOUR TURN NOW...
Now you know how Baliprod handles streaming on set to give our client’s the peace of mind and confidence to shoot a project even when they can’t physically be there on set.
There are of course other tech options (TV satellite truck for instance) to use but they are way more costly and not as convenient for the kind of shoot we do.
Would love to hear your experience about live streaming.
Feel free to share in the comments below.
Super cool! I am excited to work with you guys again using this approach since we can’t fly there. Looking forward to the next job!
Hey Mark, looking forward to shooting with you again. Come back to Bali! 🙂