Live broadcasts have become more accessible. We are no longer tied to specific TV channels or satellite broadcasting: broadcasts can be conducted on the Internet. Here you can more clearly segment the target audience, launch online courses, or hold a conference. But for conducting an online broadcastat a professional level, a special set of equipment is needed. We provide a basic overview and introduce you to our internal kitchen.
Image
For online broadcasts, we use professional video cameras (mainly Sony camcorders). The image from the camera is transmitted to the director's console via an SDI cable.
This cable can transmit images up to 100 meters. At the same time, image quality remains high, and interference—one of the main problems of analog television—practically does not appear. Moreover, the cable itself is difficult to accidentally pull out, as it is securely attached to the camera connector.
When conducting online broadcasts, we do not use cameras. Firstly, they can only transmit a signal via an HDMI cable, and secondly, they quickly overheat, which can cause them to turn off at the most inopportune moment.
Sound
For going on air, speakers use lapel radio microphones. There are also handheld ones: we provide them if questions need to be asked from the audience.
At the site where the broadcast is taking place, there may be its own sound equipment: mixing consoles or acoustic systems. The sound from them can be transmitted to the director's console and then broadcast.
Internet Connection
Uninterrupted and fast internet is an important condition for conducting an online broadcast. If the site has its own internet connection, we use it. If not, we bring our own router.
To avoid force majeure situations, we always bring our own access point for internet channel backup. In difficult conditions (for example, outdoors or in the countryside), we use bonding—a device that sums up the internet channels of several mobile operators to ensure a stable connection.
Service Communication
Several operators usually work at the site, whose work is coordinated by the broadcast director. For communication with them, an 'intercom' is used for internal communication. From the console, the director gives instructions to the operators: which plan and angle to choose, which object to keep in the frame, etc. All this is heard by the operators in their headphones.
We also use the Tally system—green and red camera lights. Green means the camera is preparing to go on air. Red means the camera is live.
Audio and Video Signal Capture
The video signal via the SDI cable goes directly to the director's console. Here the director has a laptop or computer, a video capture card, a controller for convenient camera switching, an intercom for communicating with operators, and a control monitor.
The director sees all incoming images on a separate screen—a multiview. From them, he selects individual frames that go on air; from several images, he composes multi-frames, outputs the speaker's presentations.
Sound sources can include lapel microphones, a signal from the site's mixing console, or microphones of remote speakers. On complex projects, a sound engineer works together with the broadcast director.
