This case study features a Minor League Baseball team, the Lexington Legends, and their video production crew PrepSpin. PrepSpin uses PTZOptics cameras with a wireless Ubiquiti router system which can cover the entire ballpark. PrepSpin proudly uses vMix to live stream their sports productions using a custom Windows-based computer with a built-in PCIe capture card with four HD-SDI inputs.

The pictures below show the back of their live streaming computer which is where each PTZOptics camera is connected for a 3G SDI cable for video. The IP Joystick (SKU: PT-JOY) is then used for camera control over the network. To simplify the cabling in a sporting venue PrepSpin uses wireless routers to connect their wireless system to the video production network.

PrepSpin also uses its wireless network to send video to vMix via a vMix Call input using an Android cell phone with WebRTC. Using the WiFi throughout the ball-park PrepSpin can send high-quality video from a mobile cell phone to show behind-the-scenes camera angles.

In this video, we talk about live-streaming sports with PTZ cameras and manned cameras to create professional video productions. William uses vMix call with wireless routers to create a wireless video production camera they can use with the fans throughout the ballpark. Since it’s Baseball season, William has given us some great footage of the cameras from the Lexington Legends but we are hoping to get more sports test footage as soon as the Football and Soccer season comes around. Enjoy a fun show and don’t miss the post show Q&A where we answer your live questions.

Warfield explains how live-streaming sports became a reality for him after he decided to quit his current job and start PrepSpin. Today he works with high schools, colleges, and professional-level sports teams providing video production and live content distribution for sporting events year-round. Warfield explains that high school sports is where his heart is because he is helping students get into college and reach the attention of college recruiters. Warfield tells us that coaches and recruiters may only see 1-2% of the games a prospective high school athlete will play in a given season. PrepSpin uses vMix to not only live stream sporting events for viewers around the world but also to provide high-definition quality game footage that can be emailed and sent out to coaches around the world.

SDI Cables

IP controller

The post Lexington Legends Minor League Baseball ​Live Streaming System appeared first on PTZOptics.

The post From Basketball to Soccer, Willamette University live streams sporting events to athlete friends and families appeared first on PTZOptics.

Camera in outdoor housing

Sports TriPod

Live Streaming Area

Live Streaming Area

Willamette University is a small liberal arts school located in Salem, Oregon where Christopher Sabato, the Assistant Director of Athletics for Media, organizes live broadcasts for the sports teams. From outdoor soccer matches to indoor basketball games, Christopher shares with us his techniques for live broadcasting these events and how the students’ families watch from out of state.

Wirecast

Equipment View

At Willamette University, the majority of the student population comes from out of state making it important to the Athletics Department that these families are able to watch the live sports broadcasts online. Using a selection of live streaming hardware and software which includes PTZOptics cameras, Wirecast, Magewell capture cards, xKeys controllers and more, Christopher regularly produces high quality live broadcasts the school’s sports fans enjoy all season long. At the end of the day, it’s all about the fans that cannot make it to every game who are now able to watch live and enjoy the broadcasts from the comfort of their homes.

For outdoor broadcasts during the soccer season, Christopher uses a PTZOptics 20X-SDI camera housed in an outdoor enclosure to capture all the action using a PTZ joystick controller. The Dotworkz outdoor camera enclosure is designed for permanent outdoor use and includes two weather-sealed cable ports, which Christopher uses for HD-SDI video and RJ45 converted to DB9 to be used for camera control with the HuddleCamHD joystick. The camera captures all the action from high above the field mounted on top of a SkyHawk TriPod mount made by US Sports Video. This giant tripod allows Christopher to follow the direction of game play from high above the athletes on field. “I don’t have a big production crew. So everything has been designed to be operated by myself or one other work study student,” says Christopher.

During basketball season, Christopher uses 5 cameras to produce a professional video broadcast with the PTZOptics cameras, Wirecast 7, HDMI & HD-SDI Magewell capture cards and the xKeys 24-button controller. The broadcast quality looks like it could be available on ESPN and Christopher has used a few IP networking techniques to pull in the live scoreboard timer he explained for us. “I have a clock camera setup using NDI^® and Newtek’s Connect Pro with effectively zero latency.” Using a clock camera as you can see in the picture above, Christopher is able to take the video feed and crop just the timer and shot clock for his game title in Wirecast. With a little Wirecast magic, Christopher is able to layer the live shot clock and game time onto his virtual scoreboard title.

During every live broadcast, Christopher tries his best to include a play-by-play announcer audio feed. “It’s our goal to have play-by-play in all our sports broadcasts. ” Once the game starts, a dedicated play-by-play announcer will handle all audio including ad spots, bumpers and pre-recorded interviews. The Technical Director can play video overlays, with no audio, to match what the PxP is sending. The Technical Director mixer is sending an aux out to a Galaxy Audio Anyspot wireless receiver. The play-by-play audio workflow is explained below along with the entire video/audio system outline.

• 5 Cameras
  • 1 x JVC GY-HM200SP
    • HDMI Magewell
  • 2 x endline cameras mounted under the hoop. CV502-MB, CV505-MB
    • SDI Magewell
  • 1 x PTZOptics 20x SDI
    • RTSP (until NDI^® Firmware is available) POE
  • 1 x Canon HV20
    • NDI^® via Newtek Connect Pro via HDMI Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle
• Wirecast 7 running on the PTZOptics Producer Kit Skull Canyon NUC
  • Added Skull Canyon Expansion Ring for additional USB ports including 2 USB 2
  • Logitech wireless mouse and keyboard (these are notoriously finicky with USB 3 but this is mitigated by using the added USB 2 ports)
  • X-Keys 24 –  also using usb 2 ports to free bandwidth on the USB3 bus
    • Allows quick access to graphics, scoreboard and replay. 24 keys wasn’t enough I should have went bigger.
  • Thunderbolt 3 USB hub – Two of the Magewell cards are plugged in to this hub.
    • The NUC couldn’t support three capture cards on its single bus.
  • Mounted and enclosed in an SKB Studio Flyer Waterproof Carry-on Rack Case – 2U
• CAT6 and siamese RG58 coaxial cable.
  • Siamese RG58 coaxial cable from the control area to the two endline Marshall cameras for power and video.
  • CAT6 from the Control area to the network closet
    • One for the streaming computer
    • One for the PTZOptics 20x SDI, including POE for power
  • HDMI from the Canon HV20 to the Network closet
    • Laptop with Newtek Connect Pro and Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle
    • It was too far to run hdmi and I didn’t have any HDMI to SDI converters.
• Play-by-play at the table
  • XLR cable from the mixer on the table to the control area.
    • Ingested by the JVC and sent to wirecast via SDI
  • Once the game starts PxP person handles all audio including ad spots bumpers and pre-recorded interviews.
    • For almost 10 years we have been streaming video with just a camera and PxP. We are upping our production with a technical director this year, but doing it slowly.
    • Technical director can play video overlays with no audio to match what the PxP is sending.
  • The TD mixer is sending an aux out to a Galaxy Audio Anyspot wireless transmitter / receiver.
    • Plugged into the PxP mixer tape in and goes to PxP headphones but not out the master mix.
    • TD can adjust what input are being sent to the PxP via the AUX control. To talk to PxP just turn up AUX on his mic.
    • Audio from wirecast is sent via NUC out into the TD mixer and sent back to PxP via AUX.
      • The TD Mixer doesn’t have any effect on the audio output to the stream. It’s for communication between TD and PxP
      • Because this is going back to PxP it has to be a mix minus so Wirecast is not monitoring the audio from the JVC camera, but it it sending the out to the stream.
      • To hear PxP Audio out of the JVC is plugged into the TD Mixer.

The post From basketball to soccer, Willamette University live streams sporting events​ appeared first on PTZOptics.

This approach not only enhances community engagement but also provides valuable learning opportunities for students interested in broadcasting, media production, and related fields. In this article, we will explore some of the ways that schools are using live production technology to bring their events beyond the classroom and into the wider community.

Here is a list of educational spaces discuss in our blog post:

1. Video Services Lab or Broadcast Media Room
   • Uses include broadcasting school board meetings and community events. Often used for student-run morning broadcasts. In higher education, these spaces are used for intern meetings and career building.
2. Production Studios
   • Uses include student training in the broadcast club. Video creation for student and teacher projects. 
3. Staged Auditoriums
   • Uses include theatrical performances are often recorded and broadcast in stage areas. School presentations and town halls are often recorded and live-streamed for remote students and parent viewing. 
4. School Sports
   • Uses include recording videos for students and coaches to use to improve sports analytics. Broadcasting school sports for parents to watch from home, especially for away games. 

Video Services Lab and Broadcast Media Rooms

Educational spaces known as Video Services Labs or Broadcast Media Rooms are becoming increasingly popular in primary and secondary schools, as well as higher education institutions. These audio-visual (AV) labs provide a space for students to learn about video production and broadcasting while also serving practical purposes such as broadcasting school board meetings and community events. In higher education, these spaces are being utilized for presenting research materials, conducting intern meetings, and career building. Additionally, some universities are even using broadcast media rooms to recruit new students by creating high-quality promotional videos that showcase their campus and academic programs. As technology continues to advance, it’s likely that we’ll see more educational spaces like these in the future.

One of the key features of Video Services Labs or Broadcast Media Rooms is their flexibility in serving a variety of needs. These spaces can be used as conference rooms, faculty development areas, or traditional production studios depending on the specific needs of the institution. In addition to broadcasting school board meetings and community events, these rooms are also being utilized for distance learning, staff development, and other 1-to-1 or 1-to-many presentations. With the ability to switch between various setups and configurations quickly, these spaces can adapt to changing needs with ease. This makes them an ideal investment for educational institutions looking to provide high-quality video services while maximizing their resources.

When you are planning out a space like this, ease of use is generally a top priority because users need to be able to quickly customize their needs. In spaces like this, a cloud-based video communications software solution such as Zoom Room or Microsoft Teams environment is an ideal part of the system allowing users to easily connect the audio and video from the room to the cloud and other users. The audio-video connection diagram shown above outlines how a video production computer can be set up with multiple audio-visual resources including PTZ cameras, joystick controllers, and existing camcorders for video. This system would assume an audio system is also connected to the virtual production computer via a USB connection. These audio and video connections can then be used with lecture capture software, distance learning, and video communications such as Zoom and Teams. 

Video Production Studios

The next logical step beyond Video Services Labs or Broadcast Media Rooms is the full-blown production studio. These studios require a higher level of equipment and expertise to produce broadcast-level content. When working with a school to select equipment for a production studio, it’s important to consider the specific needs of the institution. One key piece of equipment to consider is a PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) camera, which can provide high-quality video footage while also allowing for remote control operation. When selecting a PTZ camera for studio use, it’s important to consider factors such as resolution, frame rate, zoom capabilities, and low-light performance. Additionally, it’s important to ensure that the camera is compatible with other equipment in the studio setup such as lighting, microphones, and editing software. By carefully considering these factors and working with an experienced AV specialist, schools can create a highly functional and effective production studio for their students and staff.

Some of the technology shown in the audio-visual connection diagram above include a dedicated video switcher, tally lights, PTZ cameras, and a joystick controller. In this diagram, Network Device Interface (NDI) is used as a core connection technology that leverages the Local Area Network (LAN). NDI can be used as a simple way to add multiple cameras, manage Tally Lights, and display video content on a confidence monitor. In this sample diagram, a NewTek TriCaster is used as an IP-based video switcher which is connected to the LAN. Each PTZOptics NDI-enabled camera is capable of sending FullHD (1080p) or even UltraHD (4Kp) video to the TriCaster for video switching. Each camera also includes a Tally Light which allows the on-camera talent the ability to quickly see which camera is either live or “up-next” in preview. NDI video decoders are used to convert the IP-based NDI video into an HDMI video output that can power a display and show low-latency video from the production to other areas of the production studio or school campus. 

The Auditorium and Stage Performances

There are many cool things that can be done around a school with a live production studio at its core. One obvious place to utilize such a studio is in the staged auditorium, which is a key venue for events such as plays, concerts, and assemblies. The configuration of cameras used in an auditorium will differ depending on whether it’s a secondary school or higher education institution. In secondary schools, it’s common to have fixed cameras placed throughout the auditorium to capture wide shots and close-ups of the stage. On the other hand, higher education institutions may opt for more advanced camera configurations such as robotic cameras mounted on tracks or cranes to provide dynamic and engaging footage of performances. Regardless of the specific setup chosen, having a live production studio at the center allows for seamless switching between camera feeds and real-time editing to create high-quality recordings of school events that can be shared with students, families, and the broader community.

In the audio-visual connection diagram above you can see two live-streaming computers that are used together in a campus environment. Using two computers for a live production allows the students to share responsibilities and spread video-related tasks across a team. For example, one computer here is used for the main video production switching with vMix. The second computer is running software called ProPresenter which is used to display graphics and power multiple monitors that are on stage. You can see here that three PTZOptics NDI-connected cameras are available for control with a joystick controller but also a smartphone device. Video departments can control PTZ cameras remotely from anywhere on campus and one easy way is to use a PTZOptics SuperJoy controller because it provides an HDMI video output to display the video of the camera being controlled. This is particularly useful if the user is remote to the auditorium or camera location. You can also see that additional monitors outside the auditorium are showing the video output using an NDI decoder. NDI decoders are able to take an NDI video stream and output it via HDMI. The nice thing about NDI decoders is that they can be managed remotely and you can easily choose the NDI video source on the network that you would like to show on LCD tvs on your network. 

School Sports: Indoors

This same technology can also be used to connect indoor sports areas with audiences both inside and outside the school. With a live production studio, schools can broadcast games, matches, and meets in real time using multiple cameras and professional audio equipment. This not only allows for remote viewing by family and friends who cannot attend in person but also provides opportunities for students to learn about broadcasting and production. In addition, schools can use live streaming as a way to generate revenue through sponsorships, advertising, or pay-per-view access. By investing in the necessary equipment and working with experienced AV professionals, schools can create engaging and high-quality live streams of their sports events that enhance school spirit and community engagement.

Because schools often have a lot of sporting events going on simultaneously, it can be difficult to record videos for every event. This is where centrally managed audio-visual systems with IP network connectivity can come in handy. PTZOptics cameras for example can live stream directly from the camera to Content Delivery Networks (CDN) such as Facebook or YouTube. PTZOptics cameras can easily turn off and on streaming to these networks with the click of a button in the cameras web interface. 

Tip: If you want to live stream directly from a PTZOptics camera, you should make sure to connect a line level audio source to the 3.5mm audio input. 

If your school has moved to IP-based video production techniques such as NDI, you should be able to remotely control and produce a video from indoor sporting areas such as Basketball courts and swimming pools. This allows a central production team to remotely control the cameras, graphics, and production elements. In these cases, using a PTZOptics SuperJoy with SuperPresets is a good way to keep multiple cameras in sync during remote production. SuperPresets work by issuing multiple PTZ camera preset commands with a single button press. As you can see from the diagram above, this is ideal for moving cameras up and down a sports field during production. 

School Sports: Outdoors

When schools start live streaming one sport, you can bet that students and parents will hope the schools capture and broadcast outdoor sports events as well. However, there are some additional challenges when working in an outdoor environment. One key consideration is the need for extension-cabling to bring power and network connectivity to cameras and other equipment located far from buildings or other sources of electricity. Once again, this is where IP-based video production technology really helps because a PoE-enabled network switch can extend connectivity for multiple devices including audio systems, cameras, and computers. Additionally, protective outdoor enclosures may be necessary to shield equipment from weather conditions such as rain or extreme temperatures. At PTZOptics, we highly recommend the Dotworkz D3 enclosures for use with our cameras here. Examples of outdoor sports that can benefit from live-streaming technology include soccer, football, track and field, and lacrosse. By using multiple cameras strategically placed around the field or arena, schools can provide viewers with a comprehensive view of the action while still maintaining a professional-quality broadcast. Overall, the use of live streaming technology for outdoor sports events requires careful planning and preparation but can provide many benefits for schools looking to enhance their athletic programs and engage with their communities.

 Conclusion

In conclusion, live production technology is a powerful tool that schools can use to engage with their communities and enhance the educational experience for students. By bringing school events and performances to remote audiences through high-quality audio and video broadcasts, schools can increase community involvement and provide valuable learning opportunities for students interested in media production. Whether it’s a concert, play, or sporting event, live productions allow schools to share their successes with a wider audience while also providing a platform for students to showcase their talents. As technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more innovative uses of live production technology in the classroom and beyond.

Consider reaching out to one of our dedicated professionals at PTZOptics for help designing a video production system. You can email partners@ptzoptics.com to get the conversation started or fill out our contact form at https://ptzoptics.com/contact

The post Beyond the Classroom: How Schools are Bringing Live Productions to the Community appeared first on PTZOptics.