Training I

Here you find various technical resources such as Owner’s Manuals, Video Tutorials, Broadcast Action Plan and more. Each crewmember  is supposed to study this part as far as it is important for his post or function.

Situation Plan

This plan shows the general setup regarding camera placement, microphone positions, supplemental lighting and event seating.

Cameras A total of  7 physical Cameras are positioned and camera 8 is a HDMI feed from the computer’s graphic card. It is used for the opening clip and credit roll after the trophy ceremony. Camera 1 and 2 are Panasonic GH5s and are manned. Camera 3 is a Panasonic AG-UX180 and is manned. Camera 4 and 5 are Panasonic G85’s in fixed position. Camera 6 and 7 are Panasonic GH5s on a “camera tree”. Both cameras can be remote commanded (tilt and pan) from the switcher table. All cameras are controlled by the technical director (TD).

Microphone 1 and 2 are close mikes in the Yamaha C5 piano. Microphone 3, 4, 5 and 6 are stage microphones. Microphone 9/10 is for the Commentator. All microphones are condenser type and are fed wit 48V DC from the ZOOM L-12 Mixer. All microphones are controlled by the sound engineer.

Lights are in addition to the church’s stage lighting. Light 1 (5 LED) are for the program announcer. Light 2 and 3 (each 4x 150W Halogen) are for the Piano. Spot 4 (LED) is a fill light for the commentator. All lights are controlled by the Commentator.

Computers We use 2 computers. One is a Thinkpad Laptop that works in conjunction with the Atem 4K switcher. It allows to control advanced features such as titles, lower thirds, picture overlay, keying and much more. The main computer is a Windows Desktop with a Xeon processor, 64 GB of RAM and a GTX 1080Ti Video Card. This computer drives 4 monitors and streams pre-recorded 4K clips by command. It also streams our broadcast via an ethernet cable to the Internet.

Broadcast Action Plan

This is the broadcast action plan for each of the 6 recitals. It shows the cameras in action. There is no separate action plans for the microphone mixing and light controls. Microphones are always mixed according to the action (performance).

For Stage Performance microphone 3, 4, 5 and 6 for best results. For Piano Performance only microphone 1 and 2 need to be active. When the Commentator is talking microphone 9/10 has to be active.

Light 2 and 3 is on for piano performances and can be dimmed to 50% when the stage is active but no dimming in case of a piano accompaniment. Light 7 is only on after clapping for the announcement of next student performer. Light 4 is a fill light and can be used by the commentator during active talking.

ATEM Switcher 4K

The Technical Director does switching at his discretion. However some camera selections are given by the above action plan. As transition we use mainly direct cut (CUT) or crossfade either with the AUTO button or the T-bar (slider). The switcher will not use any sound from a camera microphone. That means all camera microphones have to be switched off.

The switcher also allows Picture In Picture (PIP) which is handy for piano performances where Camera 4 is set for close up shot for the keyboard.

Advanced functions such as title inserts, lower thirds, alternative images and keying will be activated as needed.

Camera Remote Control

Camera 6 and 7 are remote controlled by a Bescor Head and are commanded by the Technical Director. The remote control is wired to the respective Camera and includes pan 340 degree and tilt plus/minus 15 degree. A slider on the bottom of the remote control allows to change the pan/tilt speed.

Both cameras 6 and 7 work with auto-focus. If for some reason autofocus is not tracking as it should a brief pan to the right or left will handle the focus response and sharpen the picture instantly.

Currently there is no ZOOM remote control. In the next extension stage it is possible that we also add ZOOM control in which case Camera 6 and 7 would be full PTZ (Pan, Tilt Zoom) remote operational.