Michael Henry's blog

Following up on my previous post, I wanted to emphasize the significant change that cheap-ish video input and switching solutions has created, alongside open-source tools like OBS.

Option 3 in my previous post was using multiple cameras with a switcher like the Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro connected to a laptop. You can get started with that for under a few thousand dollars; the switcher itself is only $300 if you already have cameras and a laptop.

Compared to ‘traditional’ multi-camera live video production, this is over 95% cheaper. And that opens up all kinds of possibilities for using this kind of equipment. It makes it possible for all kinds of things to be done that weren’t previously possible. In this post, I’m going to focus on how that enables all kinds of events to be streamed; in a second post I’ll focus on how that affects traditional content creation workflows.

First, a note about how much cheaper this is. I took a class in university called ‘Multi Camera Live Production’. It took place in a TV studio, with hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment. Cameras and a video switcher, yes, but also audio equipment, all kinds of video syncing and distribution units, shading, encoding, graphics generation, lighting, etc. An enormous amount of equipment.

Now, is this as good in every way? No, of course not; it combines a lot of the equipment into a single video switcher and that has some limitations. But, for most people, will they be able to tell the difference? No.

Here’s a detailed list of what I ended up purchasing for the university so that they could live stream events in a professional way:

• Laptop: Lenovo Thinkpad
• Capture card/switcher: Blackmagic ATEM Mini
• Controller: Elgato Stream Deck v2
• Camcorder x2: Panasonic HC-V180 (with battery, 32GB SD card)
• Microphone: Rode Videomicro
• Microphone: Rode Filmkit (transmitter, receiver, lapel microphone)
• Headphones: cheap over-ear headphones
• 2x tripods
• External monitor for laptop
• Cables and accessories:
  • Rechargeable AA batteries (x6 and charger)
  • USB-C to USB-A x2 (for Blackmagic and Stream Deck)
  • Mini-HDMI to HDMI x3 (for camcorders)
  • ¼” TRS audio cable x2 (for microphones)
  • 5 outlet power extension cable x2
  • Network cables 15m and 70m
  • HDMI cable x3
  • USB to VGA adapter for external monitor
  • HDMI splitter for second external monitor
  • Roll of gaffer tape (for attaching microphones or labeling items).

That’s enough to produce a professional live stream for events up to 1000 people, and costs about $2000. Does it have limitations? Yes. The cameras are the biggest limitation; they don’t have great image quality and can’t change lenses (although they can be used by relatively-untrained students and can zoom across an entire gym or large lecture hall). You could easily spend a few thousand more and get significantly better cameras.

But, generally, this enables an enormous amount of production quality for very little money. And this wasn’t possible 10 years ago at any affordable price. Because of the low price, it means that a much larger set of events can be live streamed; setting up for a small panel discussion is not complex or expensive, and enables people to share their events on video with a wider audience. It makes it straightforward enough that “ok, stream and record this” becomes feasible for small events in places it wasn’t before.

And I think a lot of the power of this system is not necessarily the streaming itself – it enables recording of events or speakers as well. But that’s the next post…