Brisbane Event Live Streaming: A Case Study

When you need to live stream a large event, having the right tools for the job is necessary. It’s also important to be able to change your plans quickly as event requirements change.

In this case study, we give a quick overview of an event we live streamed in Brisbane at the Convention and Exhibition Centre where we needed to roll with the changes and scale our production to meet the clients increasing requirements.

Originally planned to be a small gathering at a smaller venue, the event organisers soon realised that there was much more interest in the event than they had anticipated. This meant a couple of venue changes as the guest count increased.

As the venue size grew, our solution for how to achieve the desired outcome also needed to grow as the client realised they now needed to increase the production value.

Here’s a breakdown of what we were asked to supply:

• Minimum 2 x camera coverage
• 1 minute delay system in case the event organisers requested to cut the stream temporarily
• Lower Thirds for speaker titles
• Ability to handle a large number of online viewers
• Live captioning of all the spoken elements
• Live Auslan interpretation to be added as a picture in picture (additional camera required)
• Full event recording including replay

We were also asked to supply:

• Event Photography
• Event Highlight Video

To achieve the best outcome, we had a team of 4 to cover each of the positions required. This included a photographer, highlight videographer, follow camera operator and director to handle the video switching.

For the main switch, we used the Blackmagic Constellation 2/ME. This gave us ample inputs and outputs to be able to route video where we needed. In this case, we had a program record via Hyperdeck plus an output into a decklink card for our 1 minute delay system.

This switcher is also able to handle image magnification outputs too for a seperate switch on projector screens but in this case the venue was handling the in room screens using their own cameras. We got a feed of their cameras which gave us an additional 2 angles to choose from for the online viewers.

To achieve the 1 minute delay, we needed to get creative. Using another computer based video switching software, we used the instant replay feature to start recording a program feed which was then played out at a minute delay.

This delayed playback was fed into an Atomos Shogun which allowed us to record a backup of the live stream. This was then output into our streaming encoder.

The live stream itself was handled using a LiveU Solo Pro encoder. We had a direct hardline internet feed from the venue plus additional mobile internet modems plugged into the encoder for bonded internet redundancy.

One of the early requests the client made was to have the entire event live captioned. To ensure acruate captioning, we used a dedicated live captioning service to achieve this.

We sent our live stream feed directly to the captioning service, who then embedded the captions into the live stream which was then sent to the destination streaming service where the video was hosted.

Additional accessability requirements were then requested when the event size changed.

This required the addition of adding an Auslan interpreter to be shown on the live stream at all times during speaking.

We achieved this by adding a dedicated camera focused on an Auslan interpreter who was located at the front of the event room. We used a wireless video transmitter to send this camera back to our switcher.

We used a picture in picture overlay to show the Auslan interpretation in the corner of the screen for anyone who was hearing impaired. We were able to remove this during any performances.

After all the changes and technical challenges encountered during pre-production, the event was a huge success with all the technology working perfectly as planned. 

If you have an event coming up in Brisbane and you are wanting to record or live stream it, get in contact with the team at ECKOmedia Events today to discuss your options.

Ready to elevate your event with professional video recording or live streaming? Partner with ECKOmedia to ensure your audience never misses a moment. Our expertise in streaming both small and large Brisbane events guarantees a seamless experience for both you and your viewers. Contact us today to learn how we can bring your event to life online.