Specsavers Management Meeting

The Challenge

Working in partnership with production company Chimera and their client Specsavers to provide technical equipment and staff to live stream their internal Management Conference from a professional temporary broadcast studio in the midst of the pandemic.

The clients wanted to get as close to the look and feel of one of their regular management conferences whilst working in the virtual environment. In spite of the pandemics regular Zoom meeting scenario, Specsavers wanted a higher level of professionalism. They wanted to have the look and feel of a ‘morning TV show’ broadcast complete with set, cameras, teleprompters, comfort displays, studio lights and more.

In doing so, we would need to provide return feeds and audio communications to the remote sites and ensure high-quality video feeds from all participants. We would also need to supply additional relay feeds to the presenters in the live studios so they could see the event action at the remote sites as well as being able to read their own scripts.

Deliverables

Video mixing & streaming solution.
Virtual green room for remote guests
Broadcast cameras with teleprompting
Large format displays
Greenscreen “weather forecast” type presentation
Professional audio system
Professional engineers

The Solution

During the pandemic, we quickly realised that we needed to provide a high-quality alternative to the Zoom webinars. We pivoted our business from a purely physical events one to a virtual and hybrid event production company. We invested in new cutting-edge technology and skill sets that permitted us to operate in this field.

Video Mixing & Streaming

Using our high end vMix workstation we were able to mix between four HDSDI cameras and many computer inputs over our IP network. The vMix system has huge flexibility and it can manage an entire production in the hands of a skilled operator. We also used separate vMix servers to handle the incoming/ outgoing video calls with the remote presenter and this allowed the vision director to focus solely on video mixing and spreading the workload amongst other systems creating added resilience.

Remote Link With Guernsey Studio

We also used high end laptops with the vMix platform to manage remote guests and video links using the platforms proprietary system, vCall. It can be setup with functionalities such as individual audio talkback which allows the operating engineer to privately communicate with the guest both off and on air. We were also able to set up a Green Room, where multiple guests, show producers and the engineers can see and communicate whilst off air.

Teleprompting & Tally Lights

Teleprompting options at conferences are often provided with the use of large relay screens. However, in a studio environment we use a teleprompting script right in front of but invisible to the camera lens. This allows a very natural presentation to camera whilst being able to read the script simultaneously. Our vMix server includes Tally light functionality, which also allows us to place tally devices on each camera. These provide indicator lights to the presenters, showing which camera is live and which camera will be next.

Studio Green Screening

Using the inbuilt Chroma Keying abilities of our vMix server, it was straight forward to setup a filming location to the side of the studio with a green material backdrop and descent studio lighting. A few adjustments in the server and we had a live “Weather forecast” type presentation area allowing us to super impose the presenter over their chosen background.

Professional Engineers

We have in-house and freelance Engineers, all of whom have worked with us for many years and are highly skilled from a technical standpoint. We pride ourselves on providing the right Engineers for the job, each going the extra mile to make sure any event runs smoothly and looks great. Their attention to detail and knowledge base is of the highest quality.

The Result

Specsavers were able to host and broadcast a studio quality production using Chimera’s web-based platform to reach their management team across the UK & the Channel Islands.

Our team put real time and thought into our solution and in doing so, we were able to change scenes instantly during the live show, even when their presenters began to improvise during presentations without the need to pause or interfere with the productions scheduling.

Our systems are able to operate at up to 4k resolutions, and this production was running at Full HD. The look and feel of the live stream was very high quality and looked stunning to the audience.

Both the client and our partners at Chimera were very happy with the results and see this as a possible format for their events going forwards.

Specsavers Management MeetingB-indigo2022-09-23T08:31:47+00:00