To produce an all-day virtual live stream for the RAF Astra bringing in 32 high profile VIP remote callers from across the Armed Forces and MOD
3 Sony FX9, Tricaster II Elite, Newtek Talkshow, Yamaha TF1 Mixer, Sennheiser Radio Mics and In Ear Monitors
Following the success of the previous RAF Astra event, Brand Emotion approached us to produce a virtual live stream for the RAF’s Astra event for 2021. We were briefed to create and stream an exclusive 8 hour live virtual hybrid event to showcase the RAF’s latest tech developments and to engage a mixed audience from across the MOD dotted all around the Globe.
The studio cameras feeds were ingested into our Tricaster II Elite and a virtual set keyed onto the mixed camera output. The Tricaster’s virtual camera movements and variety of studio shots gave the director some creative choices to work with to create an engaging live programme.
Using a virtual set meant that we were able to quickly edit it to allow more virtual screens and animated elements be added as the day progressed, allowing the versatility the client needed. Along with the virtual and live elements, we also created all the graphics, utilised transparent buffers and lower thirds, mixed in VT’s that were pre-recorded around the UK from various airbases to create a dynamic and engaging days content.
During the RAF Astra live stream, we integrated more than 30 remote callers from around the UK using Newtek’s Talkshow. The Talkshow allows us to control the video and audio quality of each of the remote callers, receiving and recording the highest image and sound quality at all time. The callers all had a tech check before the big day to ensure we were receiving the best signal, video and audio quality and the correct camera positioning for the live stream. The tech check was of great importance when working with the MOD, we had to make sure we could access webcam feeds through any firewalls that the high-ranking officers were using. We had to give ourselves enough time to troubleshoot before we went live.
Due to the complexity of the live session, we had to ensure that the audio was the best quality. We used our Dante Virtual Soundcard to assign audio channels from the in-studio guests, who were wearing Sennheiser True Diversity lavellier mics, as well as our remote callers to the Yamaha TF1. This enabled us to control the individual channels of the guest and mix the audio live to account for any unexpected background noise. The original audio was also recorded for backup and reference purposes. As we also had remote callers, the presenters and in-studio guests required Sennheiser IEMs to be able to hear the guests from Skype TX or vMix.
This is the second RAF Astra event we have collaborated with Broadley to produce and they provided an absolutely flawless livestream for an extremely complex and challenging virtual event. Broadley is our go to provider for a myriad of content production, but we find their virtual and hybrid event production second to none. Richard and his team are friendly and creative and are always willing to go the extra mile.
